Which airlines let you use Apple AirTags to track your bags?

For passengers that travel with checked baggage, the period between dropping your bag off at the check-in desk at your departure airport and collecting it from the reclaim belt at your destination can be a time of nervousness.

While we, as passengers, are powerless to do anything once our bag has entered the system, there is often that small tinge of doubt that our bags might have been lost.

Of course, this matter is complicated further when taking connecting flights, as such itineraries require checked bags to be taken from one aircraft to another, with there sometimes being a rather small window of time in which this can occur.

In recent years, the development of personal baggage tracking devices has helped allay passengers' fears on this front, with Apple's AirTags being among the most notable.

In order to find peace of mind when it comes to traveling with checked baggage, it can be useful to gain an understanding of some of the key facts and figures that surround the transportation (and occasional loss) of such bags.

As noted by my in 2023, a study of major airlines in the US found that these carriers lost or mishandled more than 684,000 pieces of luggage in the first quarter of 2022.

This reportedly equated to an average of seven out of every 1,000 bags being lost or mishandled, or a figure of 0.7%. In certain cases, major US carriers had worse figures on this front, with American Airlines coming in at a mean of 0.9%.

On the other hand, Allegiant Air lost or mishandled less than 0.2% of its luggage. These percentages help to place the seemingly huge raw figures in a better context.

Still, while lost luggage is a rarity in modern commercial aviation, it is still something that can happen, and represents a significant problem for those few unlucky passengers who do have to go through the (sometimes arduous) process of getting their bags back.

In the event of bags going missing, passengers are advised to have a detailed description of the bag and its contents to speed up the process.

Even if checked baggage does go missing, it is almost always ultimately able to be returned to its original owner, with only 0.03% of baggage remaining lost after three months of searching.

In recent years, passengers have increasingly turned to Apple AirTag tracking devices to help locate their bags, but many are unsure about how and where they can be used in modern commercial aviation.

One of the biggest questions and concerns surrounding the use of Apple AirTags as a means of tracking your baggage while flying from one place to another is whether or not this is even a permitted practice.

After all, these devices use wireless connectivity solutions such as Bluetooth Low Energy, ultra-wideband, and near-field communication in order to share their location with the corresponding user.

We are always asked to put our mobile phones, tablets, and laptops into airplane mode or flight mode when flying commercially.

Doing so ensures that the wireless signals emitted by these (and other) devices don't interfere with an aircraft's avionics, and, over the years, this is something that we have become increasingly used to. Therefore, won't AirTags face similar usage restrictions onboard?

However, it is worth remembering that, while mobile phones have to stay in flight mode, functions such as Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity are permitted in order to connect to certain plane's inflight entertainment systems and internet networks.

There has also been some concern about the presence of lithium batteries in AirTags, but these fall below the maximum threshold for the amount of lithium.

As a result of these (and other) factors, the use of personal baggage tracking devices such as AirTags has become an accepted practice in modern commercial aviation.

Indeed, Vacations & Travel Magazine notes that "almost all airlines allow Apple AirTags in checked and carry-on luggage," although the publication adds that "it's always best to read the terms and conditions of carriage of your chosen airline."

A key development concerning the use of Apple AirTags as a means of allowing passengers to track their luggage when flying has been the ability for users to directly share the location of their AirTags with airline staff.

It was previously only possible for users to do this with their personal contacts, but a recent iOS update means that tracking links can now be generated to share with third parties.

Apple announced at the time of the update in November 2024 that, "in the coming months, more than 15 airlines serving millions of people globally will begin accepting Find My item locations as part of their customer service process for locating mishandled or delayed bags." The company added that "more airlines will be added over time." David Kinzelman, United Airlines' Chief Customer Officer, stated that:

"Many of our customers are already traveling with AirTag 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. We plan to accept Find My item locations in select airports initially, with the goal of introducing the service systemwide in early 2025."

Alongside United Airlines, fellow North American heavyweights Air Canada and Delta Air Lines were also among the carriers listed by Apple as early adopters of the new system.

The featured European operators are Aer Lingus, Austrian, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa, SWISS, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and Vueling.

Meanwhile, over in the Asia-Pacific region, representation comes in the form of Air New Zealand, Qantas, and Singapore Airlines.

Long-time my readers might be slightly surprised to see the German flag carrier and Star Alliance founding member Lufthansa listed among the airlines that allow passengers to directly share their AirTag locations with them.

After all, the airline briefly banned them in October 2022. However, this decision was quickly overturned, and the Lufthansa Group announced this week that passengers can now use the location feature as part of baggage reclaim processes.

"Thanks to our app and website, passengers can now find solutions quickly and easily in the event of irregularities. In particular, we have been able to achieve significant improvements in the last few months in the area of baggage tracing. The integration of our customers' AirTag data opens up additional possibilities for us to act even more efficiently and quickly." - Oliver Schmitt, Head of the Lufthansa Group Digital Hangar

According to Travel Press, the last few days have also seen similar progress at fellow European carrier Virgin Atlantic , whose "customers can now use the new Share Item Location feature to privately and securely share the location of their AirTag or Find My network accessory with the airline's customer teams." Corneel Koster, who serves as the Chief Customer and Operating Officer at Virgin Atlantic, stated:

"We’re always looking for innovative solutions to ensure our customers enjoy the best possible experience with Virgin Atlantic. (...) On the rare occasion when operational issues or misconnecting flights may require bags to be located, our teams now have this shared source of information, so our customers have peace of mind [about] our progress."

For passengers wanting to ensure that their luggage has been loaded onto the aircraft that they have just boarded, Apple AirTags can be a good way of ensuring that both they and their bags are in the right place.

However, travelers looking to use the technology for this purpose should be aware of its limitations in terms of range, which may mean that users don't always have the most complete picture.

Indeed, Beepings notes that, when users track AirTags with their own device, the range is limited to 10 meters when used in an indoor environment.

When used outdoors, this figure extends to 30 meters, although the size of modern jetliners can exceed this.

On the other hand, for losses further afield, Mysterium adds that "the reach of the Find My network is essentially unlimited, [which] means that if your AirTag is near [any other] Apple device, you'll continue to receive location updates."

Last year, my's Tom Boon was able to utilize this technology in order to get ahead of the game when it came to retrieving a lost bag.

In this instance, the bag was correctly loaded onto the flight, but, upon arrival at Frankfurt Airport , it was sent to the wrong terminal. This proved crucial in retrieving the bag, and expedited the process considerably in what was a true AirTag success story!