Commentary: In the age of device trackers, there’s no reason why we should be mourning our checked bags.

Two years ago, I declared Apple’s AirTags a travel essential when they saved my sanity during a luggage delay as I returned from my honeymoon. As a frequent flier, I continue to sing their praises and encourage anyone who is checking luggage on a flight to invest in the coin-size trackers.

On a recent trip involving six different legs and a journey to the other side of the planet, at every airport I’d check constantly on the whereabouts of my suitcases using Apple’s Find My app. There was so much room for error that I was convinced something would go wrong. Even though the app sometimes took a while to show the latest location of my bags, it provided me with peace of mind as I transited through major hubs and, thankfully, made it there and back with no losses or delays to report.

Apple knows that people have come to rely on AirTags as they move around the world, and the company is about to make these travel accessories even more useful. As part of the latest update to its mobile operating system iOS 18, Apple is allowing people to share secure links to the whereabouts of their AirTags with third parties. That will soon include airlines.

This development will help put to bed one remaining gripe about using AirTags for traveling. That is, until now if your luggage went missing, you might be able to see where it was, but that didn’t mean your airline could. There wasn’t an effective, real-time way to prove to your airline that luggage was where you said it was, giving the airline little incentive to follow up on the evidence.

Apple is now closing the loop, directly partnering with airlines so that your Find My Item location data can be directly integrated into their customer service process for finding mishandled or delayed bags. It’s a step that will hopefully reduce the amount of bags that are lost every year in transit, which usually number in the tens of millions. It’ll also hopefully give travelers more recourse to fight for the safe return of their luggage.

“We know many of our customers are already traveling with AirTags in their checked bags, and 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,” said David Kinzelman, United’s chief customer officer. 

He added that the service will be available in only a handful of airports initially, but that the airline hopes to have integrated the service across its network by early 2025.

A key partner in Apple’s bid to make luggage more traceable is Sita, a tech company that makes the baggage-tracking tech WorldTracer, which is used by over 500 airlines and ground handlers at more than 2,800 airports worldwide.

“With global passenger traffic set to double by 2040, airports and airlines worldwide will face important challenges,” said Nicole Hogg, Sita’s director of baggage. The Share Item Location links will make for more efficient baggage management and be a “huge benefit to customers,” she added.

This looks like the beginning of the end of the road for lost luggage, which feels like an infinitely solvable problem in the age of AirTags. Hopefully someday soon, it’ll be a thing of the past.

How to share your AirTag location with your airline

Apple has introduced the ability to Share Item Location in iOS 18.2, which is available in public beta now and will roll out soon to most iPhone users. On an iPhone, iPad or Mac, you can generate a secure, shareable link for any of your items that’ll show the whereabouts of your AirTag on an interactive map. As in the Find My app, the website link will continue to update as your item moves, with timestamps to show when it was last seen.

If your airline has partnered with Apple, you’ll be able to share your link with the airline directly. Initially 15 airlines have signed up to include Find My Item links. They include 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. 

Apple says more airlines will be added over time.

To keep your data secure, only a small number of people will be able to see the location of your AirTag and recipients will have to confirm their identity using a partner email address or their Apple account.

With precise, transparent location tracking, the idea is that your airline should be able to resolve your lost luggage complaint more smoothly. I’m keen to know if this is working as it’s designed to, so do reach out and let me know how you get on with it as it rolls out across airlines and airports around the world.

In the meantime, make sure you have enough AirTags for all of your checked luggage — and crucially, make sure they have enough battery life to last through your next trip.