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Looking for a flight from Chicago to Scotland in the summer, and the cheapest by far is to fly Toronto-Edinburgh. Outbound flight is direct while return flight connects through Chicago. I want to get off in Chicago. (This flight + one way Chicago to Toronto is still several hundred cheaper than Chicago-Edinburgh round trip)

Wouldn't I have to pick up my baggage after customs inspection upon return to the US at O'Hare before boarding the connection to Toronto, so I could just leave the airport at that point? It's the last leg of my trip so having a leg canceled wouldn't be an issue.

To add detail as to why this question is different than others -- I am specifically asking about baggage policy, since bags will be checked in this case. I recall a past flight back into the US with a domestic connection and I had to pick up my bags then drop them off with a connection agent to route to my final destination. Is this still policy? The caveat is that I am talking about a flight covering three countries total (Scotland -- US -- Canada) but wish to bypass the US to Canada leg.

JoErNanO
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mojo_wire
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    It sounds as if it could work in this case, +1 because it's a more specific question than usual and generic answers about losing the return leg do not apply. – Relaxed Oct 29 '15 at 16:46
  • I'm pretty sure this is a duplicate though. – JoErNanO Oct 29 '15 at 16:48
  • I edited the title to focus your question on the luggage issue. – JoErNanO Oct 29 '15 at 17:11
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    A few U.S. customs facilities have started using a system where you don't re-claim your bags when clearing customs, but rather you are shown a picture of the bag on a conveyor belt and asked whether it's yours. Presumably the bags are tagged in such a way that they can be easily pulled if they need to be inspected, but otherwise you never touch them while passing through U.S. Customs. I've only encountered this at pre-clearance facilities in Canada, but it would be good to know for certain that they haven't implemented a system like this in Chicago. – Michael Seifert Oct 29 '15 at 17:11
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    In some US airports, you no longer pick up your bags for international-to-international transits; you only go through immigration then directly to departure. – Michael Hampton Oct 29 '15 at 17:33
  • @MichaelSeifert: Obviously, its not your fault, but that's a stupid system. "Is this a picture of your bag?" "How the heck should I know? Why don't you take a picture of the claim ticket instead?" – WGroleau Jun 03 '16 at 09:59
  • In the event that your bag gets transferred automatically. Yes it will still work, and I will tell you why. Bags don't leave unless the owner is on the airplane. If you don't board the agent at the gate will have to call the baggage handlers and ask them to take out your bag from the airplane. What happens after might vary, but you will have to retrieve your bag somewhere and perhaps provide some explanation why you missed the plane. One time I had a long layover and I asked to retrieve my bag because I needed something important in it, at that point I could have skipped the last lag. – Herman Toothrot Mar 14 '18 at 21:18
  • Be aware that there might be different policies to retrieve your bag, so I can't guarantee that they will do it for you, you need to have a good explanation. – Herman Toothrot Mar 14 '18 at 21:19
  • I don't see how this question is a duplicate, but rather it should ask if at ORD bags are transferred automatically. – Herman Toothrot Mar 14 '18 at 21:24

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