Airtag field report: US to EU tracking baggage

[rworne]

Just completed the outbound leg of the LAX-MUC flight with three Airtags - one on my keys and one in each of two suitcases. Here's how it went from LAX-ORD-MUC.

First is the baggage drop off at Terminal 7. Baggage appeared after a few minutes when we were cooling our heels in the lounge:




Later after boarding the plane, I could see this:



We took off, somehow the Internet was open on this flight and Find My showed this (Imagine the map moving quite quickly). Somehow my phone was actually able to ping the bags in the hold below my feet.



Landed in Chicago. Bags were off in the bowels of the airport already. They sat where indicated for nearly an hour.


Got to the gate and one of the bags was already at the plane. The other never updated.


In Munich, I still see a missing bag. I just figured not to panic, the guy driving the baggage cart was probably an android user.


A short while later, both popped up on the app and in a minute or two, the bags came out on the conveyor.



So that's it. An international trip using Airtags to track your luggage.

Sorry for the spartan post. I'm trying to work with an iPad and the new keyboard and MR just sucks making posts like this on it.

 

[iLoveDeveloping]

Wow that’s cool! Thanks for the post, I’m going to try this when I fly in august! Great to see they work to track the bags. Thanks!

 

[rworne]

It's going to be hit-or-miss depending on who is handling the baggage and what type of phones are nearby. Yes, it is a relief to know your bags made it to the plane - especially on a tight transfer. OTOH, it also can cause undue stress if one bag fails to update. I did spend the last leg pretty certain the bag made it - but it did introduce a nagging feeling of doubt that would not go away until it pinged again. The bag that I knew was on the plane was first off the belt in baggage claim in Munich. The unknown one was still unknown at that time. It arrived several minutes later, and pinged its arrival seconds before leaving the labyrinth behind baggage claim.

 

[Khedron]

It's going to be hit-or-miss depending on who is handling the baggage and what type of phones are nearby. Yes, it is a relief to know your bags made it to the plane - especially on a tight transfer. OTOH, it also can cause undue stress if one bag fails to update. I did spend the last leg pretty certain the bag made it - but it did introduce a nagging feeling of doubt that would not go away until it pinged again. The bag that I knew was on the plane was first off the belt in baggage claim in Munich. The unknown one was still unknown at that time. It arrived several minutes later, and pinged its arrival seconds before leaving the labyrinth behind baggage claim.

Nice thread.

For maximum stress over un-pinged luggage I suggest giving unique names to your luggage. Then you can worry about which of your things might have been delayed and how you can fix the situation.

 

[rworne]

I already knew which was which. The bag with the US Dr. Pepper* and macadamia nut chocolates was always tracked. The bag that had my clothes and other necessities was the one that didn't track well.

*I still don't get why Germans are so fond of U.S. Dr. Pepper. They say it's because of corn syrup which is not allowed in the EU. I find Dr. Pepper in Germany all the time and it has pure sugar. I prefer that one.

 

[fischersd]

Somehow my phone was actually able to ping the bags in the hold below my feet.

Unless you were doing something with precision finding, then, nope, you're making an assumption. Someone's iPhone had pinged your bags.

 

[rworne]

You could be right, but tracking was instantaneous, as it showed them with me prior to updating the map location. Sure, someone else's iPhone on the plane could have pinged them, but if so, would they not then move away from me at 500+ mph? They stuck with me for the 30 seconds or so I was tracking them. I still am using my iPhone X, so no precision tracking for me.

 

[BlankStar]

Thank you for this nice post. An airport seems a good spot for AirTags to flourish, always someone nearby with an iPhone.

 

[rworne]

Well sometime in the next week I get to do the return leg. It's a nonstop, so it should prove a bit less interesting.

 

[Lobwedgephil]

I did similar to you and tracked my bags on vacation, one bag took a while to show up but eventually updated about 10 minutes after the others did. Was able to see the bags move locations as we taxied away, so knew they were under me. Was somewhat surprised by that also. All in all a good experience tracking my bags, see how the flight home goes.

 

[rworne]

Here's the return trip. Much less exciting:

Bag drop-off at Lufthansa in MUC:



Somewhere off on the bowels of the Airport, then later on baggage carts on the tarmac:


Now one at the plane while I am stuck in secondary screening. Both on the plane when I get my seat.



Now in LAX, nowhere to be found (for quite a while). When they do, only one position is reasonable (bottom most image, that's where my arrival gate was), as the other bag is shown in the parking structure.


Finally both pop up while I am waiting in baggage claim, and are marked as "with me" as they come down the conveyor belt to baggage claim 8.


All done as the bags are with me as I am on the curb outside of arrivals.


So there you go, a round trip. But in my case, it was pretty useful for keeping track of the bags.