Always use air tags

[BTV]

We recently went on a Cunard cruise from New York. We like the idea of the formal nights and dress accordingly . We live in Halifax and since COVID have very few direct flight options. Imagine how lucky we felt to be able to book direct from Halifax to Newark.  What could go wrong with our luggage?  Well the aircraft was Air Express and a small aircraft. The usual request to check in hand baggage and then an  announcement  that  the plane was weight restricted so they weren’t going to do that. When we arrived at the carousel to collect our luggage one of our cases was missing. Of course this had my husband’s tuxedo in it. Not too worry Air Canada assured us the case would be delivered to our hotel . We arrived Friday and the cruise was Monday.  The case made the journey to Boston later on Friday and then to Newark later that night. We knew this through the air tag . It sat there until we made the decision on Sunday to go and get it. Arriving at the terminal we were told it was with United Airlines at a different terminal . We were eventually reunited with the case. Even though we did separate our clothes into two cases not actually full outfits .Lesson learned for next time. Also need to invest in rain covers for cases but that is another story.

[canadianbear]

@BTV

We just recently purchased air tags for two upcoming flights/cruises.  Soon we will figure out how to use them!

I keep hearing all these stories of people telling the airline where their missing luggage is. 
 

Your situation worries me as we are going on a long cruise with 2 large suitcases & on AC Express as it’s the only one they use for our flight.  Thankfully we booked a hotel for 3 nights prior in San Diego so sure hope our bags show up.  Year ago (before air tags) my suitcase was lost even though it was priority.  Thankfully it showed up the next afternoon before our cruise.  We had also booked a couple nights pre-cruise which helped.

 

 

 

 

[Sophie's Mom1]

In July, we flew West Jet from Toronto to St. John's. My suitcase arrived, my husband's remained in Toronto. (we will now divide up our belongings in both bags). We spent endless hours in total on the phone with West Jet who assured us his bag would be on the next flight. His air tag told us otherwise. We kept calling until the night before we were leaving St. John's to travel to Bonavista. We saw that the suitcase was on route and had arrived at St. John's airport. (after 3 days) We phoned the airport and the baggage claim department said that the suitcase was not there. Once we told them that it contained an air tag, , they put it in a cab and we received it around 11 pm. Air tags are worth every penny.

[CNSfromHI]

We experienced some sort of mix-up with our luggage on our last (Celebrity) cruise in April after disembarking that nearly caused us to miss our flight.

 

With another cruise ahead, I been wondering if adding Air Tags to our cases might help and decided to look here today. Thanks @BTV and @Sophie's Mom1 for sharing your thoughts!

 

cjr

[BTV]

Yes air tags are the way to go. On at trip to Edinburgh earlier this year again our  case didn’t arrive Again my husband’s suit for our daughter’s wedding. The airline said the case was in Halifax but he was able to advise  that it was in Heathrow and it was delivered the next day.  

 We wont travel without them now even in our hand luggage .

 

[CDNPolar]

Note that air tags can be a blessing and also a worry.  They require other Apple devices close to them for a Bluetooth connection and if that is not available, they show their last location.  You must be patient with them.

 

We have had lost luggage and when we informed British Air where they were, they told us that they were glad that we could see them but it did not help them as they could not.

 

We did know however as one person above when they started their journey to catch up with us and they were literally down the street at the cruise ship office (River Ship) and we told the front desk just before leaving port, and they called the office and got the bag before we sailed.  They did save us, but they can be frustrating too at times if they don't update.

[Oceangoer2]

Are there air tags for a system other than Apple?

[burnabyjean]

26 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

Are there air tags for a system other than Apple?

I have a Samsung phone, so I use Samsung Smart tags. They've worked very well for us. I've heard that the Tile works well for other Android phones.

[dawnvip]

We have android phones and use Tiles. They are very similar to airtags, working off any nearby wifi source to ping location. 

We've actually bought extras and put them under the seats on our motorcycles in case they get stolen!

[Ex-Airbalancer]

I keep AirTag in my wallet and FOB 😁

when I lose my keys or wallet in the house it will take straight to their location in minutes , 

when we fly I put them in our bags 

[mexico8]

14 hours ago, dawnvip said:

We have android phones and use Tiles. They are very similar to airtags, working off any nearby wifi source to ping location. 

We've actually bought extras and put them under the seats on our motorcycles in case they get stolen!

We used Tiles on our last trip for both the luggage and my mobility scooter.   I was surprised that I had to pay extra  to have some features.   I forget what was involved but I did have to pay a fee and register them online and I chose to have them covered for about a month.   I will have to do that again for the next trip.

 

I thought you purchased Tiles and that was it but there is more involved.

[3Shelaghs]

Mine just notified my watch reminding the batteries needed to be changed. (Lasted almost 2 years) Great product.

[cmaleblanc]

On 10/10/2023 at 10:49 AM, mexico8 said:

We used Tiles on our last trip for both the luggage and my mobility scooter.   I was surprised that I had to pay extra  to have some features.   I forget what was involved but I did have to pay a fee and register them online and I chose to have them covered for about a month.   I will have to do that again for the next trip.

 

I thought you purchased Tiles and that was it but there is more involved.

 

We use Tile for our Andriod phones, I have a Pixel and my GF has an LG. We've only ever used the basic, you can purchase the Premium if you want, and it will add things like Smart alerts if you leave things behind, think walking away from your keys or wallet, Worry-free warranty, this is mostly for the units that have batteries, Tile will replace those under warranty, and the only other things they've noted was a 30day location history (looking at my app now) Considering we only use our tiles for a bags when traveling, we only need the short term history from when we give the bag over to the carrier and when we get it back. I'm sure people have a use case for the Premium, but for travel, I don't think it's a needed service. 

 

[eltigre]

We have both android & i phone as hubby is Samsung & I am i phone. Very recently we were on an Air Canada flight Vancouver to Montreal then on to New York. Not only us, but another half dozen people did not have their luggage on the connecting flight.  We knew this because of our tags so immediately went to lost luggage & got a claim going. I also took a picture of their computer screen showing our claim.

 

We were going on a cruise & spending 2 days in Manhattan New York before departure. Many phone calls, emails & assurances later our bags were re sent Montreal to Manhattan, then forwarded on to a Queens warehouse & were going to be delivered the evening after our departure. Why Queens when we were in Manhattan & Air Canada knew this...who knows

 

All this we followed on our air tags. Armed with this info we contacted Air Canada told them we could see what was happening & asked for the name & address of the warehouse. Told them we would go & pick up the luggage & to call ahead & give the necessary info to the warehouse. A 3 hour Uber ride, 1/2 a day of sight seeing lost, and all the anxiety for a day and a half BUT we got the luggage before the cruise left the port.

Air Canada paid for the Uber ride (took one month) because I kept the Uber info,the warehouse info, my airline tickets & the screen shot of their computer.

Air tags don't prevent anything from happening, but they help ease the tension when you at least know where your luggage is holidaying. 

PS  I always pack a few "extras" in my carry on just in case. So we managed OK for the 2 days 🙂

Edited December 18, 2023 by eltigre

[CDNPolar]

1 hour ago, eltigre said:

We have both android & i phone as hubby is Samsung & I am i phone. Very recently we were on an Air Canada flight Vancouver to Montreal then on to New York. Not only us, but another half dozen people did not have their luggage on the connecting flight.  We knew this because of our tags so immediately went to lost luggage & got a claim going. I also took a picture of their computer screen showing our claim.

 

We were going on a cruise & spending 2 days in Manhattan New York before departure. Many phone calls, emails & assurances later our bags were re sent Montreal to Manhattan, then forwarded on to a Queens warehouse & were going to be delivered the evening after our departure. Why Queens when we were in Manhattan & Air Canada knew this...who knows

 

All this we followed on our air tags. Armed with this info we contacted Air Canada told them we could see what was happening & asked for the name & address of the warehouse. Told them we would go & pick up the luggage & to call ahead & give the necessary info to the warehouse. A 3 hour Uber ride, 1/2 a day of sight seeing lost, and all the anxiety for a day and a half BUT we got the luggage before the cruise left the port.

Air Canada paid for the Uber ride (took one month) because I kept the Uber info,the warehouse info, my airline tickets & the screen shot of their computer.

Air tags don't prevent anything from happening, but they help ease the tension when you at least know where your luggage is holidaying. 

PS  I always pack a few "extras" in my carry on just in case. So we managed OK for the 2 days 🙂

 

Great story for the information you shared and that AC was willing to "accept" your location data.

 

We were dealing with BA on this where the same suitcase on the way to our cruise and the way home both times was stuck in Heathrow, and when we told BA we knew where the bag was, their response was "good for you but we don't have access to your data, so you will have to wait until we locate the bag and then we will contact you."

 

I don't envy the 3 hour Uber ride that you did, but so good that you located the luggage and were able to get it.

[rodndonna]

I thought I would share our recent related experience with luggage delays ...

 

We don't have airtags .. but had a good experience with Air Canada's newer baggage tracking system. Although it is still only rolled out in Canada (and maybe US by now) it saved us a lot of stress on our recent trip to Mexico.

 

It was a golf vacation starting in London Ontario with a connectionthrough Pearson with 3 bags, 2 of which were the dreaded oversize (always a little more dubious....especially with a connection). In Toronto we could see our normal bag was loaded but that was it. While on the flight to Mexico we received an update telling us indeed the golf bags did not make our flight, but they were now on a later flight to Cancun that day.

 

When we landed it was easy to update their tracking with where we were staying so in the end, we didn't have to waste any time and just went to our hotel with our 1 bag. The golf nags were delivered to our hotel by courier later that night - so we had them for our tee time the next day 😃

 

Lost and delayed bags stink, but just having some confidence where they are helps tremendously whether airtags or airline tracking.

 

A final note those golf bags had some pretty serious plastic tie lock system put on them (not sure if it was AC or the airport) so that was a nice touch until I tried to get them off without scissors or knife (... nail clippers were eventually used to slowly eat though the plastic tie system)

[CDNPolar]

18 hours ago, rodndonna said:

 

 

A final note those golf bags had some pretty serious plastic tie lock system put on them (not sure if it was AC or the airport) so that was a nice touch until I tried to get them off without scissors or knife (... nail clippers were eventually used to slowly eat though the plastic tie system)

 

Interesting... I have not seen this before.  Something that you did not apply to the bags yourself.  Interesting.

[rodndonna]

3 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

Interesting... I have not seen this before.  Something that you did not apply to the bags yourself.  Interesting.

 

It was a lock mechanism applied to the zipper with a plastic bag that has info written on it with a sharpie.  Don't recall the codes on the plastic but I assume it was related to the new routing or for the courier maybe?

[CDNPolar]

6 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

 

It was a lock mechanism applied to the zipper with a plastic bag that has info written on it with a sharpie.  Don't recall the codes on the plastic but I assume it was related to the new routing or for the courier maybe?

 

Ok - gotcha!  This was done to get the bag to the next destination to meet you.  I see.

 

Probably also a way to highlight to airline and airport staff that this bag is redirected and to stand out for that reason?

Edited December 19, 2023 by CDNPolar

[rodndonna]

1 minute ago, CDNPolar said:

 

Ok - gotcha!  This was done to get the bag to the next destination to meet you.  I see.

 

Probably also a way to highlight to airline and airport staff that this bag is redirected and to stand out for that reason?

 

Yeah - I think so. The whole baggage routing and handling for golf bags (oversize) is separate from normal bags  (and why they are more prone to delays and missing connections). Also since it was clearly golf club bags, there could be some VERY expensive clubs in there... and we paid enough for our clubs was happy to see them locked up like that (still worth waaayyy more than our clothes baggage). 😃