One of the biggest nightmares a traveler faces is accidentally missing their flight. Imagine checking in your luggage and then accidentally falling asleep while waiting for your flight, only to wake up a few hours later and find that you have missed your flight completely. Or imagine checking in and deciding to grab a last-minute snack in one of the airport restaurants, only to miss the last boarding call. What a nightmare indeed!
If you are traveling for the first time (or this could be you and you’re in the airport right now, frantically searching for answers), you might be wondering if checked luggage can fly without a passenger.
This article will take a look at what happens when a passenger misses their flight—whether by accident or on purpose—and what will happen to their luggage. It will also provide other shipping options for your luggage, so you don’t have to worry about it and can just enjoy your trip.
Can Checked Luggage Fly Without a Passenger?
In theory, if a passenger checks their luggage and then, for some reason, doesn’t show up at the gate, the airline crew looks for the luggage and then offloads it. This safety measure is called Positive Passenger-Bag Matching (or PPBM) and has been implemented to prevent incidents such as terrorism where a bag could hold a bomb that could be triggered by time or altitude.
If a passenger doesn’t show up (even after the flight has been delayed and the crew has paged the passenger’s name all over the entire airport several times, they will look for the luggage and leave it behind. This is why it sometimes takes 10-15 minutes or more before a plane departs and why some flights are delayed.
Nevertheless, that doesn’t happen all the time. There are several incidents when even after the final call and a passenger doesn’t make it on board, the airline is unable to offload their luggage before the flight takes off.
The PPBM safety rule is often implemented on international flights alone while countries can decide if they want to do the same for their domestic flights. In most countries, however, domestic flights have less strict luggage-matching rules. Even then, there have been some incidents when passengers have missed international flights only to find that their luggage has flown without them.
Read Next: What’s the Largest Size for Checked Luggage – 29 or 32 Inches?
What Will Happen to Your Checked Luggage if You Miss Your Flight?
There are a couple of scenarios that can happen if you accidentally miss your flight.
After they call your name over and over again at the gate and even on the intercoms throughout the airport, and you do not respond, the airline crew will go through your luggage and unload it, especially if you are supposedly on an international flight. You need to approach the airline staff, then, and ask them how to reclaim your luggage.
The other scenario is more common in domestic flights. If you miss your flight accidentally, and your luggage was not offloaded, you’ll have to work with the airline crew to trace the whereabouts of your luggage. You have to provide them with your ticket number and luggage details so they can find them.
You may also have the option of having it shipped back to you (where you might have to pay for the fees yourself) or booking another flight to your original destination and then claiming your luggage when you get there.
Tip: Why not ditch checked luggage altogether? You could travel only with a carry-on and a personal item, such as a small backpack. That way you could stop worrying about everything related to checking in your luggage, arrive at the airport later and save some money on checked luggage fees. A well-made and practical carry-on is the Maxlite 5, which I’ve owned for a while now and it still hasn’t let me down.
What Happens if You Check-In Your Luggage and Miss Your Flight on Purpose?
This might come as a surprise to some, but several travelers miss their flights on purpose so they are able to score better cheaper deals. For example, they book a cheaper flight that has a layover to the destination where they really want to go, rather than a direct flight that’s more expensive. When they get off at the layover, they decide not to take the rest of the flight.
If this happens and you don’t let the airline know, the rest of your flight itinerary is usually canceled. This could even affect your return trip home if it is under the same ticket.
What happens to your luggage then also largely depends on where you’re flying. If you’re on a domestic trip, your luggage will most likely reach the destination and you’ll have to contact the airline crew to get it back.
If you are on an international flight, however, various scenarios could happen. If you are flying with other companions under the same ticket and you are the only one missing your flight on purpose, it might end up being flown under their name. Your companions might also be asked where you are and even, in some cases, removed from the flight.
Your bag might be removed, which will result in a series of delays as they look for your bag and offload it. There’s also a chance that it might fly for the rest of your trip. In either of these cases, you’ll have to talk to the airline crew to get it back or sent back to you, especially if it was flown to your final destination.
Note: While you may be able to save a lot of dollars by getting deals from missing flights on purpose, remember that canceled flights and no-show passengers won’t have the flights credited to their frequent flyer account. That means you won’t receive the corresponding miles or points. If you also do this frequently, you might be banned from an airline.
Tip: If you’re worried about your checked luggage getting lost (or carry-on, for that matter) consider investing in a GPS tracker, with which you can find out the location of your suitcase at any given time.
Read Next: How Is Luggage Stored on Planes?
Alternative Ways to Ship Your Luggage
Have you ever wished that you could go on a trip without having to worry about your luggage? Sometimes, it can be such a hassle to pack your bags while worrying about whether it fits or whether you’ve exceeded the baggage allowance. It can be just as much of a hassle to get your bags to the airport, check them in, and then wait by the baggage carousel with hundreds of other passengers until your bags come out.
Fortunately, there are other ways to transport your luggage from one place to another without having to bring them all on the trip. This is also great if you know you’re bringing a lot more than what is allowed and don’t want to have to pay the hefty extra luggage fees.
Read Next: Can You Leave the Airport During a Layover?
Option 1 (Cheapest): Courier Companies (FedEx, Dhl, UPS)
Courier companies like FedEx, DHL, and UPS are logistics services providers. They’re known for shipping packages around the world, but they can ship your luggage too. If you’ve got some suitcases, duffel bags, or other kinds of baggage that you don’t want to take with you on the trip, you can always ship them with one of these courier companies.
This is an easy and affordable solution because several of these companies can pick up the luggage for you and then deliver it to your doorstep. You are also provided with a tracking number so you can trace where it is and when it will arrive. You also have the option of sending it ahead of time, so it is ready for you when you get to your destination. Plus, you don’t have to worry about it getting lost.
Option 2: Luggage Shipping Services (Luggageforward, Lugless, Mybaggage)
Aside from courier companies, there are also luggage shipping services. Companies like this only have one purpose, and that is to help you ship your luggage. They are a lot like courier companies, except that they aren’t so much about shipping parcels and packages around the world, as they are about shipping your luggage for you.
They are often more pricey, but a lot of them also provide solutions for storing your luggage especially if you need to check out early but your flight isn’t until several hours later and you want to see some more of the city before you go. Like courier services, they are very helpful if you have excess luggage or if you don’t want to have to wait in long lines or take all your luggage with you.
Check out some of the luggage shipping services:
Final Words
Taking a trip can be wonderful and, at times, stressful especially where luggage is concerned. If you accidentally miss your flight and don’t know where your luggage is, ask the airline crew or any of the airport staff. More often than not, they are willing to help you or can point you to the person who will be able to answer your questions or address your concerns.
There are also ways to fly without any luggage so that you have one less thing to worry about. It might cost more but you might find that the extra bucks you spend help you to enjoy your trip better. Find out what makes sense for you so you don’t have to worry about your luggage and can enjoy your trip!
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