Retrieving checked bags from a connecting flight

Upvote:4

If your incoming flight is international, then you will have to reclaim your bags at Houston anyway. You can then just leave the airport.

Edit, as Doc says, this is providing you're not doing an international to international (ITI) transfer on certain airlines.

If not, your options are:

Request that your bags are short checked (as noted by Zach, this may be refused)
Travel with hand luggage only
Ship your bags, e.g. UPS
Change your ticket - Call your airline and ask how much to reprice your tickets. This is usually cheaper after taking the first flight.
Travel to Houston and then inform airline you will not be taking the connecting flight and ask them to unload your bags
Abandon your bags - Risky alternative. Since your final flight is a US domestic flight, your bags may just continue to your destination and you have the possibility of retrieving them later (if they don't go missing)

Berwyn 28355

Source: stackoverflow.com