iPhone Feature for Tracking Lost Baggage Expands to American Airlines

[Makosuke]

I've generally had one bit of luggage a year never make it on the airplane, so always convenient when plane is backing off the tarmac to know the luggage didn't make it, walk right up to the counter before the carousel spins, and put in a claim, saving about an hour of torment. Grab a ride home, and watch Find My over the next day as it gets to your door.

Wow. Either you fly a lot, fly through airports with awful baggage handling, or need to find a new airline.

I don’t fly that much, but in 25 years of annual international trips to visit family with my spouse, nearly always with four checked bags between us, plus business travel, we’ve never had a bag lost, and I think only once had one show up a day late, which was completely understandable due to a flight cancellation (the weather was such a mess they’d put the humans on a bus to the rural destination, and got the bags there once planes started flying again).

 

[btrach144]

I just wanted to write a comment thanking Macrumors for actually using a headline that respects the reader, as opposed to certain other once-readable sites that have become infested with clickbait.

TBF, Mac rumors also had some cringe articles yesterday. Lots of “last iPhone to have feature XYZ” or “new iPhone lacks X feature”. A single article to cover all features lost or features not found on the new iPhone would have been better than 20 articles IMO.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

In the "rare case a bag is delayed" has to be the funniest comment by an airline!

Would they work with Apple if it were only "rare"? We know that bags get delayed, go missing, lost etc by the airline, do they think we're stupid?? Just look at the service desk queues after people land! 🤦‍♂️

That's their version of "affects only a small number of people."

 

[LordArchie]

Agreed, I use these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B8F6WY94

I bought one of those some time back.. TBH, they are likely a better option for luggage. I bought the other version because I was putting one in a car and another on a bike.

 

[mansplains]

The big downside with TSA approved locks is that there are master keys that can open them, and the specs for those keys have long since leaked. It's trivial to buy them online or even 3d print your own.

The locks themselves are pretty small, and someone can brute force through the fabric (surrounding the locking zippers) with some decent scissors. Locks only protect you from honest folks who aren't determined to take your belongings.

 

[cjsuk]

The big downside with TSA approved locks is that there are master keys that can open them, and the specs for those keys have long since leaked. It's trivial to buy them online or even 3d print your own.

Locks only keep honest people honest.

The TSA approved locks can usually be defeated by kicking the crap out of them.

 

[montuori]

In the "rare case a bag is delayed" has to be the funniest comment by an airline!

In 2022 the "lost luggage" rate world wide was 8 bags/1000 customers. Lots of bags go missing (there are a lot of passengers) but it's still a rare occurrence.

 

[ignatius345]

In the "rare case a bag is delayed" has to be the funniest comment by an airline!

Would they work with Apple if it were only "rare"? We know that bags get delayed, go missing, lost etc by the airline, do they think we're stupid?? Just look at the service desk queues after people land! 🤦‍♂️

I'm probably jinxing myself here, but of the dozens of flights I've taken in the last 15 years or so, I can think of exactly one where my luggage didn't make it on time (had to get it from SFO the next day). So, yeah, for me I'd say "rarely" is pretty accurate.

 

[Justin Cymbal]

That’s awesome because I’m flying American Airlines on Tuesday morning - I have a 7:30am direct flight to Miami and I’m planning on checking a bag as well so I’m glad that American Airlines has finally added this feature (just in time for my trip) 👍👌😎

I actually just purchased that AirTag via a 4 pack of AirTags back in November when I saw it go on sale (at Staples) in the Slickdeals email newsletter:

DoorDash + Staples - 4 Pack of Apple AirTags for $49

For those who have Staples near you, you can buy the 4-pack of AirTags for $69 and use $20 off $60 using the CYBER24 code on DoorDash to make the subtotal $49. Steps - 1. Find a Staples near you on

slickdeals.net

I’m flying basic economy on American Airlines but it’s not going to cost me anything to check the bag because I paid for the flight using my Citi American Airlines credit card

It’s definitely good to have the peace of mind knowing that American Airlines has finally implemented this ability to help find lost luggage via this AirTag partnership with Apple

 

[jicon]

That sounds really unlucky, can I ask how many times you fly a year? I fly between 4-8 times a year and very thankfully have never experienced a delay or loss.

Nothing crazy. I certainly don't have any points to get in to lounges for free. Maybe a dozen flights a year?

But two specific airports... Chicago through United, Montreal with Air Canada.

In fact, EVERY trip over 27 years (There's a large 15 year gap in there with no flights to said destination), I've made in or through Montreal, a bag either didn't make it there, or refused to leave with the plane. Airports in Vancouver and Toronto blame Montreal, Montreal blames Toronto or Vancouver.

 

[Mrjoedot]

Im a bit worried if my airtag would appear upside down on the app with Delta

 

[0049190]

I’m surprised someone like Samsonite hasn’t thought of embedding this technology into their suitcases.

 

[BGPL]

As an extra bonus, all passengers near the baggage compartment will get ambiguous tracking notifications, causing them to search frantically through their clothing and bags for days.

 

[svish]

Good to see another airline supporting this. Very useful if the bag goes missing. Waiting to see all the airlines support this.

 

[Makosuke]

I bought one of those some time back.. TBH, they are likely a better option for luggage. I bought the other version because I was putting one in a car and another on a bike.

Those stick-on holders seem like a good idea for a purse or handbag, but with a suitcase I always just toss the AirTag under the lining layer and zip it back up (since most suitcases have a zipper security can open to get under the lining fabric). The tag has the best possible signal to outside the suitcase, and is a pain to find sliding around even if you know it’s in there, so will be a bit harder for a thief to dig out.

The locks themselves are pretty small, and someone can brute force through the fabric (surrounding the locking zippers) with some decent scissors. Locks only protect you from honest folks who aren't determined to take your belongings.

At least in the case of my stolen snacks, I’ve got to assume it was foreign security that took it, and they by definition have a key.

In 2022 the "lost luggage" rate world wide was 8 bags/1000 customers. Lots of bags go missing (there are a lot of passengers) but it's still a rare occurrence.

It’s very much semantics and very relative, but I wouldn’t personally call a bit under 1% “rare”, I’d call it uncommon, since at that rate any moderately frequent flier is likely to experience it at least once, and almost anyone is going to at least know someone who’s had a bag lost.

A “rare” coin is probably one out of thousands, if not millions, of similar samples, and outside of silly gacha game naming I tend to think of rare that way.

 

[DailySlow]

The big downside with TSA approved locks is that there are master keys that can open them, and the specs for those keys have long since leaked. It's trivial to buy them online or even 3d print your own.

True. But better than nothing. A small pair of dykes will take care of the little cable too.