Favorite use for AirTags

I have one on my car keys.. See no other need for them so maybe if I rented a car in Europe I would put one on the key chain.

See no need to put them in my checked bags. (no, the airline is NOT going to let you go look for your luggage nor will it do anything to really help you get it back... there were lots of articles in Europe this summer where the people knew their luggage was in Airport X, did them no good in getting the luggage delivered)

I think we have a 4-pack under the Christmas tree 😊 and plan to only keep two for ourselves. We’ll put one in the 24” suitcase my husband takes and after we are on the ground we’ll each keep one in our daypack (him) and purse (me). When we aren’t traveling, we’ll see if we think they will be helpful. We already have the Find My Phone that we have had to use on occasion.

I dont consider the primary reason for them as being for travel. They might tell you where your luggage is, or where they were last in contact with an Apple device, but as was said, doesnt help a third party looking for them. You can use them to stay in contact with a travel partner or child (not secretly, mind you) in case you want to know where they are without constantly calling them. I keep one on my car keys because I tend to leave them around. And keep one in my car so I can find it in a parking lot.

Having one in your checked bag could prove useful for insurance claims. Personally I’d rather at least know where my luggage is rather than have this opinion of “no one’s going to do anything with the info so why bother” lol..

We keep one each in our checked bags and then one each in our day packs.

When we rent a car we take one of the ones out of our day packs and hide it inside the rental car somewhere. Sometimes in a spare tire compartment etc. this is mainly to ensure we know where the car is if it was to be towed for parking somewhere etc. who would know who to call or contact if you were towed from a random spot or lot but with an air tag you could easily get a cab driver to take you right to the the car.

My wife also has an apple wallet which also has the “find my” built into it, so if she was to drop or lose her wallet you can also track it.

One tip I will say when using the air tags, make sure if you’re a couple, or even an individual, that you know your iCloud login. Otherwise these devices are useless if you cannot either use your phone to locate them or use a computer etc. to login to your iCloud account and locate them that way

I have several AirTags. Here are a few ideas:

• One on the collar of each of our two dogs (you can get waterproof AirTag holders for dog collars on Amazon). May be useful should Azumah lose track of us when she attempts to murder another squirrel. Also, when bored, it is fun to ping our dog’s AirTag’s and watch them try to figure out what is going on. Although, me thinks our golden retriever is on to us.
• One goes in my bike bag. Bikes get stolen on occasion here.
• One on my keychain. This is most helpful.
• One in my wallet (also helpful). Again, Amazon has some AirTag accessories that are designed for a wallet.
• Some people leave one in their car to help remember where they parked.
• Backpack/luggage

I keep one in our luggage and one in our day packs when traveling. We recently returned from an extensive trip and more than once my husband left his backpack in a restaurant and that gave us an alert! I find having them in my luggage is useful. I have peace of mind it made the connection and is on the plane if the airline doesn’t provide tracking. I can also tell when it was arriving to be put on the belt at baggage claim as some airports were pretty slow unloading. If I was renting a car home or abroad that would also be a place to keep one. How many times have you parked a rental car than have no idea which car is yours is in a parking lot?

I keep one in my purse at home in case I leave it somewhere or gets stolen. We have thought about putting one in each car at home and one hidden on our bikes. My husband had a bike stolen several years ago. I keep one on our cat as she goes outdoors (in our fenced yard) and hides in the house. That way I know if she is in or out and where she might be particularly if she knows she is going to have to get in her carrier.

I have used mine when I shipped a very valuable item through UPS. I put it in the box and was able to track it the entire way. The UPS employee that packed the box for me said that was brilliant.

I have one in my suitcase, one in my small day bag, one on the keys to each of my cars and one on my adventurous dog’s collar. I wish I could figure out how to attach one to my glasses.

I did put one in my suitcase and as I sat on the plane in Rome, I got a message on my phone - something like - your luggage has been left behind. Made me nervous, but it did arrive in LA with me.

I put one on my car keys, another one in my purse (wallet) and another in my luggage. I agree that having an AirTag in my luggage will not inspire the airline to go off searching for it (although there have been cases of it being useful when a suitcase was stolen), but it's helpful for peace of mind. For example, I had a tight connection recently and was worried my luggage wouldn't make it. However, the AirTag showed that it was traveling with me.

It's great for pets if you live in the city or town. Unfortunately, we are in a rural area so if one of the dogs gets out, there probably won't be enough iPhones nearby to pick up a signal.

The car is a great idea. Just as a back up if I can’t remember where I put it….. I should put one in my small purse, too.

I keep one in my suitcase when I travel and always will, after it getting left in Newark and me in Gdansk. The issue was NOT it being lost or left behind, but help in getting it delivered to me. The airline sent a guy out making deliveries but it was past dark at 8pm, he didn’t call, they had not given me his number, and I was in an apartment where the entrance was through a back courtyard and the address was a store closed at night. He would never have found me. However I was able to follow progress through the city, wait on the street corner, and see when my suitcase was near me - to meet him. Maybe that was a perfect storm of circumstances and will never happen again, but it was wonderful that time!

Thanks for the great suggestions.

I like the idea of having them in my luggage because I am the type of person when I have a window seat above the luggage loading, I watch for my bag to be loaded onto the plane! :) At least I can mentally prepare myself if it doesn't make it.

Someone mentioned airline tracking. I forgot about that! The airline tracking was so helpful and reassuring. I will have to check if the airlines we are using will do that.

I was thinking about putting one in my purse/wallet/daypack when I am out and about.

When I return home, using them for my keys sounds excellent. If my dogs were younger, I would have used them, but they are older and don't get out anymore. And attaching it to my glasses would be a bonus. I might have to get one of those glasses strap/chain and attach the AirTag. Ha!

I was thinking when my child was very young, it would have been helpful to have one in their pocket and another attached to their favorite lovey. We almost lost a lovey on a trip one time if it wasn't for the kind cab driver who drove back to our hotel when he noticed it was left behind.

if you look on Amazon you'll see all kinds of accessories for attaching them to, well, most anything.

Some have said not to bother putting on luggage since they are easily seen and removed. Well no one said to put them on the outside of the bag, just toss them inside! that's what I did and they still work just fine, that's what they are designed to do.

and no they're not for a third party to find your bags, it's for your personal use, information and enjoyment.

I plan to put them in our checked bags, but we won't need them during the trip.

I decided I still do need them for the bags during the trip. The reason is on another trip a while back, one of my bags was lost (presumed stolen) while a hotel was storing it after checkout. So I do leave the AirTag in my main travel bag when it is in my hotel room while I am out and about. If my bag decides to "walk away" from my hotel room for any reason, I'd really like to know where it went.

On my last trip it was reassuring to see the AirTags in our checked luggage reporting in at the same airport we arrived at, after a series of intercontinental flights.

You can use them to stay in contact with a travel partner or child (not secretly, mind you) in case you want to know where they are without constantly calling them.

For the travel partners who have iPhones, you don't need to use AirTags to know where they are. iOS has a Share My Location feature where your phone itself can let people you designate look up your location in their Find My app. We did turn that on for safety during our trip, just so we would be able to know where everyone was when we wanted to wander off in different directions in a city. We turned that off after we came home.

I suppose you could use AirTags to track people who might not have their own iPhone active on the trip, such as very young children.

The Find My app is a one stop shop for all that. When you open it, it has categories:

• Items (where are my AirTags)
• Devices (where are my Macs and iOS devices)
• People (where are the people who allow me to see their iPhone's location).

Anyone following the current Southwest Airlines flight cancellation debacle?* There is massive ongoing cancellation of flights due to the major winter storm last weekend, exacerbated by IT infrastructure issues and the way SWA routes its flight (no hubs). One of the consequences is that massive piles of unclaimed and unorganized luggage have been piling up in airports. Film footage shows people milling around claim areas trying to find their bags and baggage handlers unable to do more than look.

It occurred to me that this is another circumstance (albeit rare) in which airtags in bags would be useful. The Find My app would take you right to it.

* a popular US airline serving mainly domestic destinations. It's the largest carrier at my city's airport and many others.

My air tag saved our backsides on its first two trips.

Having to check bags from Porto to Denver, we were able to track the bag all the way to Frankfurt. From that point, everyone’s bag but mine made it onto the Denver flight. Of course, I have no bag at home. After 24 hours, Lufthansa tells me the bag is in Denver, but they cannot find it. I was able to get a signal and then tell them the bag is actually back in Porto. 2 days later, it makes it to Denver.

Once again, this summer to French Polynesia, air tags to the rescue.

As we were waiting on a ferry to Moorea after being dropped off at the terminal by a large transfer company’s bus, my wife was checking with the tracking feature and saw our bags moving away from the terminal back in the direction of the airport. We were able to contact the tour company and they stopped the bus, found our bags in the hold and had them forwarded by taxi to the terminal just in time for the ferry.

Southwest has an entire hanger full of luggage apparently at the Atlanta airport, I’m sure some of them have AirTags I’m sure there’s no way you’re going to be allowed in there to find your luggage And since they have been totally uncooperative, I wish you luck if your luggage is lost.

To those who think it does no good to have an airtag in your check bag, I can add my experience. I was traveling from Porto through Madrid, then DFW, to Orange County. I was rerouted in Madrid but my bag didn't make it on the plane. I knew before we took off in Madrid exactly where it was, still at the other terminal. On arrival in DFW I didn't need to wait until the end of the connection in DFW for the last bag to come off the Madrid flight, I knew it wasn't there, so I went straight through customs. Upon arriving in Orange County and noticing my bag was still in Madrid, I was able to give very specific information about my bag (I had taken a photo), and showed her exactly which terminal the bag was at. She sent an email to the baggage staff in Madrid with that specific description. During the course of waiting for my bag at home I was able to track my bag as it moved from between terminals in Madrid, checked the schedule and knew what flight it was sent on, then watch it get on a plane, see when it landing in JFK, watch it moved to the correct terminal to get on a plane to Orange County, and then see when it landed. When it landed, I called the baggage staff and said, "I noticed my bag has arrived when will it be delivered?", they were able to tell me the schedule for delivery service so I could be home when it landed on my front door. I usually fly carry on but had brought an extra bag for checking on the way back, any time I check a bag in the future, I will definitely throw in the AirTag. The other valuable feature. When I was in Lisbon and Porto I could meander through the streets and was able to find the easiest way back to my hotel without turning on my phone GPS. It came in handy a few times.

Here's a link to a story on CNN from a woman who's bag was lost by United who told her repeatedly it was safe in their distribution center yet she tracked it to a nearby apartment complex, to McDonalds, a waxing center, lol, found open luggage by an apartment dumpster with United tags on it, etc.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/airtag-lost-bag-valerie-szybala-united/index.html

Yeah, I saw that story. Apple should thank that woman ("disinformation researcher"?). She helped them sell a lot of AirTags today (that "baggage delivery" delivery guy, too). I'm actually thinking about getting some.