Can someone else pick up your luggage at airport baggage claim if you are not present?

When you check-in your bag they give you a baggage claim receipt (a sticker that matches the one the airline puts in the bag), you need to keep this receipt to help prove you are the owner of the bag. If you give someone else that receipt they can claim your bag.

In most airports there is not a lot of security watching or checking these receipts, I can’t remember the last time I was asked to show my receipt for a bag in the US. Someone can accidentally grab your bag by mistake if it looks like their bag so it is a good idea to modify your bag to be rather unique so it can be easy identifiable as yours with straps or patches or paint. Just make sure it is not something that will get stuck in the conveyor!! Their is always a possibility that someone might try to steal but pretty unlikely since the risk of getting caught is high and the reward of someone’s dirty socks is not worth it.

Normally the airline will collect all left bags after a certain amount of time from the baggage carousel and that receipt or photo Identification will be needed