Pro's and Con's of using Airtags

We tucked air tags in our checked luggage on our international flights for the first time a few months ago. I had all of the same thoughts as you. We flew Delta, and Delta sent us texts regarding the status of where our luggage was the entire time, and I think most of the airlines are going this route now. So it really didn't matter that we had air tags.

I have heard many stories of how being able to tell the airlines where your luggage is located does not necessarily translate to being able to easily retrieve wayward luggage, but I have no personal experience with it.

I was really pleased to have had AirTags in my luggage when it didn’t make the change from a very delayed flight from Heathrow to Cape Town via Frankfurt. As you say, I couldn’t do anything about it but it was reassuring to follow its journey to me the next day. All pros and no cons as far as I’m concerned.

I use them, but I’m not sure about the pros or cons. I do know that when I was in London a few years ago when Heathrow was having a meltdown at baggage claim, I felt like they were causing people almost more stress. They would be interviewed by the media and they were hysterical because they could tell where their luggage was but it didn’t do any good and I think that’s a key point to keep them. If you call Delta, British air, etc. and tell them where your luggage is they’ll be very nice. They will tell you they put a note in their system, but it’s not going to really help and they’re not going to let you go into the back of the airport and get it.

You have to be realistic about what it’s going to accomplish

Now I fly Delta quite often and they basically allow me to track my luggage on their app anyway so I’m not sure that the tracker adds anything

One more con for you is that you are already thinking bout it. If you do not put your AirTag in your luggage, you will still be wondering where it is, and then you will not have the ability to track it.
You are already fretting about this decision and it will stay with you until you hand that luggage off. You will fret one way or another, if it is not then in the luggage or if it is, if it is not on the way with you.
I would say you have to put the AirTag in.

Con - The battery only lasts about a year.

Everything else is a ”pro” as long as you realize that they don’t keep your bags from going missing. Still, I would like to know if my bag is temporarily missing or permanently lost. SAS once lost my bag for 5 days. I called them each day and each day they had no clue where my bag was. I would have liked to have known if it was sitting in an airport somewhere or if someone else had taken it. Also, if my bag doesn’t show up on the carousel, it would be helpful to know if I can just fill out the baggage claim form and leave because my bag didn’t make the flight.

One more thing. I don’t intentionally open the app and check the location of my luggage before departure. I figure if it is not on the plane, I’ll be stressed the entire flight. However, on multiple flights, I have gotten an alert that my luggage is nearby while I am sitting on the plane. It is nice to know. It is also nice to get an alert when I am standing in the bag claim area.

I dont see those two cons as being real cons. But I do note that a tag tells you where it was, not necessarily where it is.

I go by the principle that if a bag is missing, any information is better than no information.

We use them and they proved to be very valuable on one trip. My husband was flying for work and had checked his bag (work stuff that is not allowed for carryon). SEA was having one of its meltdowns, and his flight ended up cancelled after they were there for hours with delays. He found an agent, who used the AirTag and found his bag for him so he could return home. Most people were gathered around other agents very upset that they had no idea where their bags were and the agents could not help them.

I agree with others that the pros outweigh the cons, and given what you noted for your reasons for the pros/cons list, I would opt to use it. Maybe you can agree with yourself to track only twice before takeoff: once when arriving at the gate and once right before takeoff (it would give you automatic notices anyways once you are separated or rejoined). Even if not on flight with you, I see power in the knowledge of knowing they did not make it with you as you can immediately take action once you land, gain assistance on the flight, and/or assist with locating them. You will know either way rather than the unknown, and for me that is more reassuring even if they didn't make it on the flight with me.

I use Airtags -- in my suitcase, in my tote, in my backpack, in my daily driver collector truck.

Pro's: Last year where my luggage didn't arrive in Phoenix when I did, it was good to know that it was in San Francisco instead of still in Munich. It made it easier for the lost luggage agent to find my bag without any arguments or stress (especially after a stressful flight). Suitcase was delivered the next morning.

Con's: I can't think of any but it makes not sense to keep one in my purse with my phone. My purse is always attached to me when out and about (when traveling). If I lost my purse, I'd lose my phone, so won't be able to see its Airtag.

To save battery life, I took the batteries out, following YouTube posts. Won't do that again. It was a real pain to put them back in after a year. The Airtag forms a suction without the battery so the case is difficult to open. Just buy new batteries when needed..

Here's another vote for AirTags. Like stan said, any info is better than none, and I like the peace of mind knowing that my luggage is safely on board.

But let's take one of your cons and suggest that you find out while in flight that your luggage didn't make it on board. In that case, you might worry a bit but at least once you disembark, you can immediately go to the baggage dept. and start the process of getting your bag, rather than waiting for 15-30 minutes for the bag to make the rounds of the carousel and finally realizing it's not there. I would rather know sooner than later.

We have used air tags the last couple of years. Our baggage did not make a connection in Frankfurt and Lufthansa did notify us as did the airtags. They were handy the next day letting us know when our luggage was leaving the Rome airport to be delivered to our hotel; we wanted to be there to get our luggage right away. We plan to continue to use them.

Earlier this year, when I arrived at a destination airport after a flight, my AirTag was showing my baggage still at my departure airport! However, a wise forum member (thank you TexasTravelMom) cautioned me that it could just be that someone with an iPhone had not been near enough to my bag yet. And just a few minutes later, my bag appeared on the Find My app as being at the same location as I was.

So perhaps this could be considered a con (although I don’t necessarily see it that way myself) in that, the AirTag relies on someone near your bag to have an iPhone (say a baggage handler) in order for the bag's location to show up on the app.

Con's
There is not much you can do if the luggage is not on the plane but spend "x" hours fretting about it.
Fixating on tracking the luggage pre-flight.

I'd say this is more of the user needing to manage their expectations.

If the bags get lost or, arrives late, you have some knowledge of where it's at, however the airlines aren't going to jump thru hoops just for your bag. Should things not go right, file a claim, work with the airlines, let them know you've got an AirTag on it. Make sure you have the address of your first destination so they can forward your bags. If you're checking your bags, you've got to give them a chance to get it to you. For cruisers, its always recommended you arrive a day or, two prior to the start of your trip; besides acclimatizing arriving early gives some margin should airlines screw-up and your baggage arrives late.

In 2019 I flew to Harlingen Texas (HRL).
Somehow my checked bag went to Honolulu (HNL). I still don't understand how that happened, and I did not have air tags. The airline was able to locate it on the long flight to HNL, it's time on the ground, and then the multi city journey back to me. I lspent most of a day sitting in my friends apt when the bag was "out for delivery " With an airtag I could have watched while the courier was making deliveries 20 miles away and we could have at least gone out for lunch.

I don't even own AirTags, but I heard about a clever use for them. One group went to the beach (didn't want to bring their phones because sand/theft/whatever). Instead, they took an AirTag belonging to a friend who was going to meet them. It made them very easy to find. Could also work on a child or other fellow traveler who doesn't have a phone.

When we were hiking in the Cotswolds last summer and using a luggage transfer service, it was nice to have the Airtag to check whether our bags had made it to our next lodgings before we did. But as min said--there has to be an iPhone near your bags to see where they are. Some drivers must have had Android phones since it would look as if our bags still hadn't been picked up for hours, only to have them "suddenly" appear at our next stop.

And we had an unusual bag check experience at Heathrow when we were departing, so it was nice to know our bags did indeed make it on the plane.

Thanks for the replies. I think I will go with the Airtags and not be always checking the App. The argument that having th knowledge of the location if the bag is lost was the winning one for me.
Thanks all.

It's so so convenient to use one while traveling. I always do so

Perhaps knowledge of where your bag is can be start to make arrangements for replacing your stuff and keeping receipts to file for baggage delay or loss with the travel insurance you have.

United is now integrating AirTag into their tracking system. Here is the announcement: https://www.united.com/en/us/newsroom/announcements/cision-125359.

As Ed mentioned, a growing number of airlines are adopting a system whereby passengers can share the AirTag information with them, in order to quickly locate luggage. The permission for this expires when the luggage is reunited with the passenger. Here in Canada, Air Canada was the first to adopt this.

Hopefully this will result in passengers getting their bags returned more quickly.

Delta has added this too.

We use the tags with carryon and personal bags. We pretty consistently count our bags when loading the car, leaving accommodation, etc (we check bags on return and add extra carryon) but having the "you have been separated from your bag" notice can be reassuring---even if it is just because we ran down to the cafe. My husband has a tag on a set of keys. He's very consistent in putting his keys in the same location at home, but on the rare occasion when activities disrupt routine, it's easy to find his keys. The audio locator helped us hone in on the keys in a rental car when they had slipped into a small space but we didn't know exactly where they were. The tag is also reassuring for times he adds an important flash drive to his keyring.

I don't use one on my keys. I think I need the excitement of the hunt:)

I was on a group tour of 28 people in October. The same person was always late to the departure, about day 4 we were joking behind her back, wondering if we could get a tag hidden deep in her purse so we would know where to seek her...... restroom? Gift shop? Chatting up the barista?

When we came back to ATL in December, we got two bags right away, then stood by the baggage carousel for quite a while waiting on the last bag (the one with all the cheese and olive oil). My husband could see it was near us by the AirTag. We were thinking maybe it was still down below us (honestly very concerned it had been pulled for further inspection because it had so much cheese in it!). Finally decided to walk around and, lo and behold, for some reason the bag (and a few others) had been removed from the carousel and were just sitting there to one side. No clue why, but without the air tag I think we would probably have been waiting longer than we did before seeking it out.

I also use one in my backpack which I carry around all the time. I figure in the very unlikely chance it’s stolen, I can at least find it if a thief just rifles through it looking for money or something they can easily sell and then they just toss it somewhere

The only con is that I cannot use an Air Tag with my Android phone. There are equivalents but the Android eco-system is too fractured to work as well as Apple.