Airlines have lost so much baggage this summer that travel professionals are advising people not to check any bags.
Indeed, when you hand over your luggage to airline personnel, you run the risk of being separated from your luggage for the rest of your trip – or longer. Many airlines face shortages of crew and airport staff, including baggage handlers, resulting in baggage piling up at airports around the world.
According to the Office of Aviation Consumer Protection, airlines misplaced about 220,000 baggage in April, up 135% from the same month a year earlier. Flights at London’s Heathrow Airport were so well supported that Delta Air Lines moved 1,000 items stranded without any passengers on board the plane.
Frequent fliers say they’ve come up with an effective and high-tech way to keep track of their checked bags when airlines can’t: check your checked bags with Apple AirTag and other similar tracking devices. Filling the goods
“Bags are lost left, right and center, and often the airline has not only lost the bag, but is also unable to tell you whether the bag is at its origin, destination or elsewhere,” said the aviation analyst. Alex Maceras has been using Airtags to track his belongings since Apple released the devices in April 2021.
Disorganized suitcases are seen in a baggage claim area at Heathrow Airport, west of London, on July 8, 2022. Paul Ellis / AFP via Getty Images
“It’s a small area of air travel that people can take control of when experiences like weather and delays can’t be controlled,” Maceras said. “Anything that can give you a sense of control helps you have a smoother experience.”
“Ground Handling Agents Were Astonished”
Not surprisingly, half the battle in retrieving the missing item is finding it. While airlines track checked bags with barcoded luggage stickers, the code must be scanned and cannot be accessed by customers.
“Airtags are great because you can track them yourself. You don’t need someone to scan the barcode,” said Clint Henderson, editor of The Points Guy, a travel resource for consumers.
Maceras said he gifted an airtag to a friend with whom he was traveling across Europe and whose luggage was missing when they arrived at the destination airport’s baggage claim.
“The baggage desk insisted that the bags were at our arrival airport, but we were showing ground handling agents that we could see that the bags were stuck in Paris,” Macheras said.
Travel difficulties continue in Europe 03:44
This allowed the airline to load baggage on the next departure flight.
“Ground handling agents were amazed that we could actually tell the airline where the bag was,” Macheras said. “We got the bag the next day and they assured us that this wouldn’t have happened if the bag didn’t have an airtag.”
how airtag works
Airtags – small, round Bluetooth devices that can be carried on a keychain as well as in a pocket, purse or suitcase – are designed to help users keep track of everything from purses, keys and backpacks to pets and children. went.
Apple sells an AirTag for $29, while a pack of four tags costs $99.
Users pair the tag with a connected Apple device, such as the iPhone, for continuous tracking and the ability to locate lost items. AirTags send Bluetooth signals that are read by nearby Apple devices, which in turn send you the location of your AirTag. Although the tag is designed for use with Apple products, there are apps available that enable limited use with Android devices.
Similar tracking devices are also growing in popularity. Tile, which makes competing products (compatible with both Apple and Android devices) that can be attached or attached to one’s belongings and paired with an app, said more people tagged amid the boom in the wrong stuff. are using it.
However, in a more troubling development, airtags have enabled stalkers to keep an eye on unsuspecting targets by placing wireless tags in hunters’ bags or inside their car’s fuel tank, for example.
How Apple Airtags are being used to track people 07:25
When your bag is in Düsseldorf but you’re not
Henderson of The Points Guy said that even though you can tell an airline where in the world your luggage is, they may not have the manpower to physically track it and ship it to you.
“You can tell the airline, ‘My bag is stuck in Amsterdam, I can see it there,’ but they may say there is no one who can go to you and get it.”
Henderson said that a reader was so dismayed by an airline’s inability to carry his baggage with him that when an airtag located it in Düsseldorf, Germany, the passenger himself went there to retrieve the bag.
Frequent flier Jassim Al Kuwari said he was recently separated from his luggage while traveling from Italy to Spain via Paris, France. His stop at Charles de Gaulle Airport was so short – just 15 minutes – that he and his plane left without baggage.
Jassim Al Quwari said the airtags helped him and his friends stay attached to their belongings on the go. Jasim Al Kuwarik
“I went to the lost and found desk to report my bag was lost, and Air France had no idea where it was located. Thanks to airtags, I was able to tell them where my luggage was And I got my bag back,” Al Cuwari told CBS Moneywatch.
Nowadays, airtags save virgins from waiting around the baggage carousel, not knowing if their luggage will be visible.
“Whenever I’m at my destination, I open the app and I can tell if my bag is there. If it’s not there, I don’t waste time waiting for my bag, I just go and its I report.”
Airtags haven’t worked that well for everyone. Some users have complained that the tracking is either delayed or incorrect.
“All in all, they’re pretty reliable,” Henderson said. “We haven’t heard any stories of people who haven’t been able to locate stuff. I’m leaning towards them as an investment.”
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