Checking a bag on your next trip? Along with your vacation essentials, there’s one tiny gadget you’ll definitely want to toss in: an Apple AirTag. The quarter-sized device has become a go-to tool for frequent travelers — if the airline loses your luggage, you can use it to keep tabs on the location of your bag. Recently, Apple announced a new feature that will make it even easier to track down lost luggage with an AirTag. Read on for all the details.
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Mishandled Bags
In 2023, U.S. airlines mishandled — meaning they lost, delayed, or damaged — more than 2.8 million bags. While that sounds like a high number, it’s still small in the scheme of domestic air travel, equating to roughly seven out of every 1,000 bags that were checked. Yet, you don’t want that scenario to happen to you, so there’s no harm in adding an extra layer of protection by packing an Apple AirTag in your luggage.
Users can track the device’s location using a technology called ultra-wideband, which sends out signals every two nanoseconds. These signals provide the exact location of the AirTag, which is communicated to any nearby Apple devices and relayed to the larger Apple network. Until now, the location details have been kept private and can only be seen by the owner of the Apple account connected to the AirTags themselves.
Third-Party Sharing
In November 2024, Apple announced a new feature available with the latest iOS 18.2 software update called “Share Item Location.” With this feature, Apple users can now create a secure tracking link for their AirTag or other accessories within the Find My app and share that link with third parties. The link directs to a website that shows the real-time location of the item on an interactive map, along with a timestamp of the most recent location update. Apple promises that all personal data will remain private, and that the shared location can be disabled by the user at any time.
When It’s Available for Baggage Tracking
One of the common frustrations with passengers who have packed AirTags is that the devices are often able to track down missing luggage more quickly and accurately than the current systems in place at many airlines, so this new feature promises to be a helpful tool for customers. Apple says that it is working directly with airlines to incorporate the “Share Item Location” into their customer service processes, allowing them to accept these private and secure links directly from customers to provide real-time baggage tracking.
While the company didn’t provide a specific timeline, Apple said in November 2024 that “in the coming months” customers traveling with 15 airlines will be able to take advantage of this useful new feature. The list includes popular U.S. carriers like Delta and United, along with major international airlines such as Air Canada, British Airways, KLM, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, and Turkish Airlines.
David Kinzelman, United’s chief customer officer, said that the airline will begin testing the feature at select airports, with the goal of a systemwide rollout in early 2025. “We know many of our customers are already traveling with AirTag in their checked bags,” Kinzelman shared with Apple. “This feature will soon make it easier for them to share location information with us safely and securely, helping our customer service agents work more efficiently and giving our customers added peace of mind.”
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