Sharing this experience in hopes that it may help others traveling this summer.
My son's backpack was stolen at the Barcelona Sants train station. He had an air tag in it and we were able to track it down. The thief dropped it two blocks from the station. They stole his laptop and credit card but left his passport and all of his IDs. Needless to say having the passport and IDs was a big relief. We wouldn't have it today if it wasn't for the airt ags. I recommend using them just in case.
Thanks for sharing.
I don't have airtags, never felt a real value of tucking one in a suitcase for a flight. However, I think it is a good idea for a bag or wallet while sightseeing. I just never thought of it.
Always keep your passport and money on your person concealed never separate in a bag even if it has an air tag.
When I travel with children or people that are vulnerable I make a point to carry their passports for them.
Wow, I bet you were relieved to get that passport back in your hands! Thanks for sharing, (and please ignore all lectures) it is a good thought to slip an AirTag in a day bag. I’ve only had one in my suitcase thinking of tracking it if I check it when flying. I appreciate you taking the time to share.
thanks. I too never thought of putting one in my day bag.
That was both bad luck and good luck.
Phew!
I keep my spare AirTag in my car now after a friend’s car was recently stolen.
I do keep one in my day bag while traveling.
Sorry this happened to your son and glad he recovered his passport and identification.
Curious how his backpack was stolen. Was it left somewhere, laying on the floor under a table, ...?
Jeanm, OP said son was "robbed." I take that to mean the backpack was taken from him by force or the threat of force.
Jeanm, OP said son was "robbed."
They didn't.
GerryM, the post is titled "Robbed in Barcelona"
The title says robbed.
I looked at AirTags on Amazon. They are selling them 4 for $79, which I think is less than they were selling for previously. Considering a purchase. Wondering if others have comments, positive or negative.
The title says robbed.
Eek! It does. Thank you. I'd still be surprised if that was how it happened though.
That is a good price. We travel with an AirTag in each suitcase and backpack. When our luggage was 1/2 hour late coming of the baggage carousel this week at LHR I didn’t panic (too much) as I could see that it was “with me” in terminal 3. We too put one in our car recently.
The title says "robbed". In the post it says "stolen". In my mind, those are 2 very different things.
I use one in my suitcase. Going to take it out and put in my day bag after we’ve checked in. Great idea. In fact I saw them at Costco. Maybe I’ll just pick up some more.
Looks like they are also $79.99 at Costco
Considering a purchase. Wondering if others have comments, positive or negative.
Looks like an updated version of Apple's Airtags may be coming out sometime this summer. If you search for 'Airtag version 2' you'll find a lot of opinions.
https://9to5mac.com/2025/04/21/airtag-2-release-date-heres-when-to-expect-the-launch/
https://www.geeky-gadgets.com/airtags-2/
https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/airtag-2-rumors-what-to-expect-from-apples-next-item-tracker/
Non-Apple (android) phones might not support Apple tags, don't know. You may want to consider a different brand, like Tile or others, depending on your phone.
https://www.howtogeek.com/724198/the-best-airtag-alternative-for-android/
I have 3 Airtags. One is attached to my car keys; one to my personal day bag, and one stays in my suitcase, although when I'm not traveling, I keep it in my car in case I lose it in a parking lot (which has been known to happen).
On a recent trip to London and Paris with my two grandkids, my older one had his phone, but I gave my 11 year old granddaughter an Airtag to keep in her waist bag. I definitely gave me some piece of mind.
There is a new version coming out, which is why it's being discounted now. Still a good product and worth picking up at a good price. Here's some rumors of what will be updated. https://www.macrumors.com/guide/airtags-2/
jules, I use AirTags in both my luggage (checked) and my backpack. I have had my luggage take detours 5 or 6 times in recent years.
While not necessarily always useful for retrieving it, my AirTag has been invaluable in knowing what I was dealing with. Once it sat in Dallas for a week after a really short transfer in Madrid meant it didn’t make the flight with me. But I knew the suitcase was in Dallas, and where it was, so I could keep calling the right people. I knew it wasn’t sitting in Madrid.
Once it didn’t make it on my flight to Gdansk and when it was delivered, the delivery guy couldn’t call me (since I had no Polish telephone number) nor could he find the door to my apartment. Having the AirTag meant I could watch its progress through Gdansk toward me and meet him on the street.
Once it didn’t make it to Tirana with me. I left Tirana for 2 nights before it could catch up and although the hotel said they would accept it and hold for me, they refused it. I watched it spend the weekend sitting in front of an apartment building. I could see it never moved. On Monday I was back and the courier, who had been holding it for further directions, delivered it right to me - again, I could watch progress toward me.
I could be an advertisement for carryon, as opposed to air tags. But I used to check for the sake of making connections (flying from a small airport) and now I always seem to have something (like hiking poles or my specific contact solution) that needs to be checked.
An AirTag doesn’t weigh much and gives me peace of mind.
I have one in my backpack because I am afraid of putting it down and forgetting it. I had never thought in terms of it being stolen. While I don’t have any trip-killers in it, I do have things that I would far rather not lose. jfigie100, thank you for the story.
@TexasMom, yes, you sure are an advertisement for carry on only! I tend to be in the carry on camp, but totally understand when it doesn't work. I recently traveled to Seattle to see my son and his family. He has two little boys ages almost 4 and 15 months. I hadn't seen the baby for 7 months. That's a lot of months in baby time. Well, I hurt my back five days before departure. The urgent care ortho did his best so I could go, but he warned me not to lift ANYTHING. So I checked my lightly packed suitcase. I did like that I could watch the progress of my suitcase on the Fly Delta app, but I might have felt better with an airtag.
LOL, @jules. Until the past couple of years, we only had small planes from my home airport and anything over a small backpack had to either be checked or valet checked at the airplane door. The second option meant you had to wait for it on the other side. Once the first short flight was delayed (they often were) and I made my connection with 3 min to spare. It takes at least 10 min to get your bag here if you valet checked, so I would have missed my flight. I decided I could live for a few days without a suitcase but I wanted ME to get to Europe on time! Ha! Nowdays I just would rather not have to pull, push, or carry more than I need to.
Barcelona, the pickpocket and theft capital of Europe.
Apologies for the continued shame of Barcelona
We put AirTags in everything. Suitcase, backpack, and hand bag or tote bag. Important items like passport, ID, credit cards, and money should be in a money belt not in a backpack, wallet or hand bag. BTW unless force was used he was not robbed.
For those traveling with children put an AirTag in their pocket or sew one in the waist band of their pants. If your travel partner is a “wanderer” make sure you can use the Find My app to track their location.
I really appreciate this post. It provided an idea I hadn't thought of. I hope that people continue to post their experiences and not feel shamed. We all make choices based on risk and other factors. Moneybelts are not always secure. People have reported on the forum that they have inadvertently lost a moneybelt when using a restroom. When it was 100 degrees on our last trip, I couldn't bear to have a moneybelt around my neck or waist. I personally think people should look at public transportation before considering a taxi, but there are exceptions. Likewise, people make choices of how they carry their valuables. There are no hard and fast rules, just well intentioned suggestions.
Everyone seems to be much of more "glass half full" people than I'd be inclined to be in the circumstances. The OP didn't get "saved" by an Airtag, someone still had their laptop and credit card nicked.
Sants has always been ropey af, even going way back to before the influx of pro pickpockets that's reached current proportions in the last 10 or 15 years.
If the OP's son's bag was stolen with any threat, than that definitely wouldn't be any kind of win in my book. Knowing a little about how things work, that is unlikely though not impossible.
You need to be careful, especially somewhere historically dodgy like Sants.
