Amid the travel chaos following the COVID-19 pandemic, a “new hero” emerged. This hero goes by several names, such as “Tile,” “Chipolo,” and one of the most famous ones being “AirTag.”
The downsizing of airline and airport staff led to rampant chaos in the travel sector throughout 2022.
The lack of sufficient baggage handlers and an increased number of travelers resulted in baggage not being loaded onto or unloaded from planes, leading to baggage accumulation in some airports.
The mishandling rate of baggage increased by 74.7% in 2022 compared to the previous year, according to data from “SITA.”
The company offers various technological solutions, including baggage tracking, to the aviation industry.
Rory Boland, Editor of “Which? Travel” magazine, warned that 2023 might be even worse.
Boland cautioned that “there are still major issues with lost luggage this year, and it’s likely to be worse during the peak travel period this summer.”
However, if you place a tracking device inside your luggage, you can inform the airline of its whereabouts.
While knowing the location of your baggage doesn’t guarantee its retrieval, it increases your chances of finding it.
“Airlines do very little”
Emily McNutt, Senior Editor of Travel at “CNN Underscored,” described tracking devices as the “ultimate travel companions for this summer.” She said, “Ultimately, AirTag devices give travelers peace of mind by knowing the location of their most valuable possessions at all times.”
AirTag devices are not perfect
She added, “Although AirTag devices are not perfect (relying on Apple’s Find My network, making them unreliable in low-population density areas), they have given travelers the ability to know the exact location of their bags in many cases, even before airline representatives can do the same.”
Boland mentioned that travelers take matters into their own hands for one reason: “Many airlines do very little to quickly track bags.”
Some airlines offer similar services, such as “SITA” providing a service called “Bag Journey” for airlines, which tracks baggage through four stages and allows airlines to share real-time data with passengers.
So far, only 25% of airlines utilize this service, but “SITA” indicated that 67% of those airlines plan to enable passenger access to the service by 2025.
Meanwhile, Delta passengers using the airline’s app have been receiving instant notifications about the path of their baggage since 2016.