Baggage claim
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The baggage claim area is, in airport terminology, the area of an airport where one claims one's baggage from the aircraft after a flight.
Most of the time, the baggage claim area contains baggage carousels that deliver any checked baggage to the passenger. The baggage claim area will also usually contain the airline customers service counter for claiming items that are too large to fit on the carousel or to report missing baggage.
In some airports, passengers are required to display their baggage check receipt so that it can be matched against the bag they are trying to remove from baggage claim. This serves two purposes: first it improves security, and secondly it helps to prevent passengers from leaving with a bag that looks like theirs but is not.
In areas handling international arrivals, the baggage claim is typically located after the area where the passport is stamped and before customs, so that all baggage can be inspected by customs agents, but the passenger does not have to handle heavy baggage while moving through the passport booth. Because of the need to clear customs, all arriving international passengers' baggage is claimed here and can be re-surrendered to the airline for connecting flights on the other side of customs, unless the passenger is an airside transit passenger in a country that permits such.
Domestic baggage claims are usually located alongside car rental desks and airport exits, and only passengers at their final destination claim their bags here. In most large airports in the United States and in some small ones as well, the domestic baggage claim is located on a different floor than the ticket counter, usually lower.
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