How to use AirTags to track lost luggage
After a summer of watching so many travelers deal with the lost luggage disaster, I warned my parents about checking a bag on their European vacation. They had addressed the issue last year, and it nearly ruined their week-long trip to Florida. But this time they had a plan. “Dad bought AirTags,” my mom told me over the phone.
My parents joined a growing wave of people struggling to regain some control during an unpredictable summer of travel. In 2022, US travelers had more luggage damaged or lost than the previous year, with more than 237,000 bags mishandled in May alone. And it’s not just a US problem; In Europe, luggage has piled up at airports.
Would Apple’s AirTags help my parents stay out of that statistic? I spoke to frequent users and travel experts to get their opinions.
Kathy McCabe, host of PBS travel show Dream of Italy, bought eight Apple AirTags. She had seen Points Guy’s Brian Kelly rave about him and decided to buy them ahead of a trip abroad to film her show.
“It’s not just a vacation,” she said. “There’s a lot of money at stake.”
Packing an AirTag or other Bluetooth tracking device like Tile will help you feel more in control of your trip. The technology allows travelers to see where their luggage (or other tagged items) are at any time from their phone, tablet or computer.
But an AirTag won’t stop your bag from ending up in bag limbo. Mistakes happen, systems fail and the labor shortage continues. Or worse, someone steals your bag. Jen Moyse, vice president of product for travel app TripIt, says travelers should also keep in mind that no tracking device is infallible, meaning they can run out of battery.
While they don’t make it any less likely that your bag will be lost, “the real benefit is that you have more information about where your items are,” Moyse said in an email. “Which can be especially reassuring when the airline doesn’t have an exact location for your luggage themselves.”
Some major airlines will notify customers via their app where their bags are, at least in a general sense.
“American Airlines’ app says it’s checked in, loaded, and unloaded pretty well because their system is scanning stuff,” said Jon Daniel, a frequent flyer who now swears by AirTags for baggage.
As someone who works in consumer electronics sales, Daniel says he was an early adopter of the technology but didn’t think about packing it until travel resumed during the pandemic.
While he generally trusts an airline’s app to see where his bags are going, Daniel says all bets are off if there’s a glitch in the system or someone accidentally takes their bags home from baggage claim – which really does happen is (he finally got the bag back). ). Here AirTags can help to at least find out where the bag ends up.
Even if you have an AirTag on your bag, getting it back might still not be smooth – how proven on social media time and again. So you should still take some standard precautions in case a disaster strikes. (And if your bag does go missing, here’s how to get it back.)
Suzanne Morrow, senior vice president of InsureMyTrip, recommends photographing both your luggage and the contents inside. Read the wording of your travel insurance, if you have one, to make sure you know what is and isn’t covered.
Even if you’re only traveling with a carry-on, Moyse recommends putting an AirTag in your carry-on in case you’re running out of overhead bin space and are forced to check in at the gate.
“However, in this scenario, your luggage is much less likely to be left behind as it usually goes straight from the boarding ramp to the plane’s cargo,” Moyse added.
Daniel and McCabe are already following this guide. Daniel uses AirTags in his luggage and backpack. McCabe, the travel show’s host, keeps one in her computer bag, her carry-on, her checked luggage, a pouch she keeps valuables like her passport in — and “then there’s one on the dog,” she said of her Wire Fox Terrier , Phineas.
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