There’s arguably no worse feeling for a traveler than standing at a baggage carousel and slowly realizing your luggage is nowhere to be found. Some people even go to great lengths to avoid checking their suitcases to avoid arriving empty-handed. But in recent years, many travelers have begun using Apple Air Tags to help keep tabs on their luggage throughout their journey and to locate them in the event they go missing. Now, less than five years after their release, it’s becoming clear that these affordable gadgets are a bit of a no-brainer when it comes to your packing list. Read on for some pro tips for tracking your lost luggage with Air Tags.
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1 | Track your bags before they’re even missing—and replan your travel if they do get lost.
iStockSo, you’ve landed in a far-off destination, and you realize your luggage hasn’t made the trip with you. In prior decades, this could often spell disaster for a hard-earned vacation before things even got started. But if you plan ahead by putting an Air Tag or another luggage tracker in your suitcase, you can seriously increase the chances of being reunited with your belongings.
Once they’re activated, the silver-dollar-sized trackers will regularly beam their location to your phone. This means you’ll always have tabs on them—even before something goes wrong. In a discussion on the r/TravelHacks subreddit, many frequent flyers vouched for the gadget’s effectiveness, saying they regularly check on the status of their luggage while en route.
“I always plan for carry-on, but have been forced to gate check more than once,” one user wrote. “Sometimes it takes a while for the AirTag to update, but by the time I’m walking to a connecting gate or to baggage claim, I can tell that my bag made it to the same airport as me.”
In some cases, knowing where your mishandled bags are can actually help salvage the rest of your trip.
“Air Tags helped me know what action I needed to take when my luggage wasn't on the carousel in Madrid,” another Redditor wrote. “The Air Tags showed the bag was still in Paris, so I knew (1) I might as well leave the airport and enjoy myself, (2) it hadn't been taken accidentally by another passenger, and (3) I was gonna need a toothbrush and some deodorant, but probably didn't need to go buy new clothes (and I was right--it came the next day).”
2 | Don’t forget your carry-ons and totes.
ShutterstockUnfortunately, it’s not just your checked luggage that can go missing in the course of your travels. Air Tags can be vital for relocating carry-on bags, purses, backpacks, and more that might also suddenly disappear.
One Reddit user says this is why they have Air Tags on all the items they take with them on trips. “Once somebody took my carry-on, I was notified when it was away from me, and I was able to retrieve it,” they wrote.3 | Work with your airline.
ShutterstockAir Tags have become so quickly integrated into the travel hack arsenal that airlines are even already getting in on their effectiveness. In November, over 15 major carriers announced they would "begin accepting Find My item locations as part of their customer service process for locating mishandled or delayed bags," according to Apple.
“Find My is an essential tool for users around the world to keep track of and find their belongings,” Eddy Cue, senior vice president of services at Apple, said in the press release. “The Find My network and AirTag have proven to be a powerful combination for users while traveling, providing invaluable location information when bags have been misplaced or mishandled. With Share Item Location, we’re excited to give users a new way to easily share this information directly with third parties like airlines, all while protecting their privacy.”
The initial list of participating airlines includes some domestic and global heavy-hitters, including Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Turkish Airlines, United, Virgin Atlantic, and Vueling, with more expected to be added over time.
Ahead of the holiday travel rush in early December, United Airlines and Air Canada announced they had already launched the service for travelers, The Points Guy reported. Customers with lost baggage traveling with the carriers will now be prompted to share their Air Tags’ location with the company, helping them locate and return the items more quickly.
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4 | Where you put them matters.
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Air Tags’ and other trackers’ tiny size makes it easy to stash them practically anywhere that’s convenient. However, in another discussion on the r/TravelHacks subreddit, one traveler says it’s vital to keep them inside your luggage.
“I wouldn’t recommend using a keychain attachment on the outside,” they warn. “Keychains won’t stop bags from being stolen. Thieves will just take them off and toss them in the trash if they know they’re there,” which includes travel totes like crossbody bags, purses, and day packs.
5 | Be sure to maintain them.
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For better or worse, most Apple products typically require a daily recharge to stay working. However, Air Tags don’t have the same capability and need a little more attention. That means you’ll have to physically swap out the batteries on the trackers roughly once a year, depending on how frequently you use the trackers and the quality of batteries you use, Wired reports.
Fortunately, you won’t have to guess when it’s time for a replacement: The trackers will alert you whenever batteries start running low on juice, hopefully giving you enough time to swap them out before your next trip.
6 | Use a lost bag service or insurance.
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Sometimes, even knowing precisely where your bag is won’t be enough to get it back quickly. And when airlines continually drop the ball on logistics, that’s when a lost bag concierge service can come in handy.
Companies like Blue Ribbon Bags specialize in dealing with the higher-ups at airlines to help reunite travelers with their lost luggage. Being able to hand over your suitcases’ location can help the company expedite delivery even faster, NerdWallet reports.
And if you’ve opted to pay for insurance ahead of time, you can similarly use information from your Air Tag to streamline the process with the insurance company’s help.
Otherwise, knowing where your bags are can still be helpful when communicating directly with the airlines. Just be sure to try and connect with a human customer service representative and not an automated system you’ll often find built into an airline’s app, NerdWallet suggests.
7 | Pick the right tracker for you.
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Of course, Apple products aren’t the only option on the market for travelers who want to keep an eye on their bags. There are also options for those with Android phones, including Tile and Samsung trackers, that might be better suited for your needs. Some can even be recharged!
