Find Lost Luggage: Apple AirTags

Let me share how to find your lost luggage with Apple Airtags.

It’s no secret that the airlines are a complete mess right now.  Flight cancelations and delays have wreaked havoc on thousands of travelers’ plans.

As Paul Harvey used to say, “the rest of the story” is that your luggage may also be lost.

Carol and I just returned from a fabulous small group land tour of Ireland with our friends at Luxury Gold. To read the review from our experience, please CLICK HERE.

As we were gone for two weeks, we both had a good part of our wardrobes in our suitcases that we entrusted to the airlines in Shannon, Ireland.

Well, something went amuck, and we arrived in Phoenix without our two pieces of checked luggage. We were ushered into the British Airways Lost Luggage area and filed a claim.

For reason’s that I don’t fully understand, not only did our luggage not arrive, but Briitish Airways couldn’t tell me where my luggage was.

Well, thanks to our Apple AirTags, we knew exactly where our luggage was.  It was still back in London!  Here is a screenshot from my Apple AirTag locator:

As you can see in the screenshot from the next day, my luggage appears to be on the next day’s flight to Phoenix.  We called British Airways and they confirmed that this was the case.

We arrived home on Wednesday night, and our luggage arrived in Phoenix the following evening.  Take a peek at the screenshot of our luggage at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport from Thursday evening:

Here is where the plot thickens; we could see that our luggage had arrived in Phoenix.  However, because the British Airways staff in Phoenix did not scan our luggage, they had no idea where our luggage was located.  And so, for two days, we were forced to do the “we don’t know where your luggage is located” dance.

As we had grown weary with British Airways, we decided to simply drive to the airport and get our luggage. We arrived at the departure desk, gave the attendant the papers for our luggage and he disappeared for about 10 minutes.  Then, he reappeared with a look of frustration on his face as he couldn’t find our luggage.  We asked if we could go look and he invited us back.  And folks, you wouldn’t believe what we saw: hundreds and hundreds of suitcases stuffed in every nook, cranny, office, and even into the hallways.  It was no wonder that he couldn’t find our luggage.  It would have taken him days to compare our luggage receipts with all of the pieces of unscanned luggage in their back office.

British Airways, you should be ashamed.  How could you possibly store all of this luggage hidden away and unscanned?

As we walked out with our luggage, we both commented about all of those other poor souls that were being told by British Airways that they didn’t know where their luggage was located.

Here’s the Moral to the Story

Before you leave on your next journey, go buy one of these Apple Airtags.  As of this writing, they cost $29 each, or a four-pack for $99.

And if you don’t have an Apple iPhone, this link will give you alternative options.

That way, if your luggage gets lost by the airline, you’ll know exactly where your lost luggage is located.

How cool is that!

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