AirTag removed in airport

Thanks to all for the comments. I’d never considered the possibility that our dog might eat the battery, but given that she’s a lab and revels in recycling her own exrement, it’s certainly possible, and NOT innocuous. LI+ is a potent neurotoxin and nephrotoxin, and the reason certain CR2032 cells don’t work in AirTags is because a bitterant coating covering the battery seeking to prevent children from swallowing them also interferes with the battery retaining good electrical contacts with the AirTag. However, the danger of poisoning is also real if the battery leaks. I HAVE found a plastic holder that retains the AirTag in a pocket in a way that it won’t fall off.

The other issue that I’ve not seen addressed is whether an AirTag will trigger alarms at TSA metal detectors.

There are many episodes online that report owners retrieving their own bags from “misplaced” or uncollected baggage storage areas that the airlines’ agents haven’t yet cataloged, or even from airline employees’ homes. They work VERY well to keep track of your luggage.

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I’ve dealt with lost luggage many times. I’ve never experienced that they said it’s lost at the destination airport. Usually, they’ll see that the last bag scan was at the origin airport and therefore simply assume it hadn’t made your flight. Unless that route is serviced by that airline multiple times a day, it’s probably not worth sticking around at the carousel — especially not if we’re talking long-haul international travel where the next flight might be a day or more away. Depending on how the bag was ‘lost’, it’s not necessarily going to be on the next flight. They will take your address (even if only temporary, such as a hotel) and have it delivered when the bag finally arrives at the destination airport. Some airlines are quite quick, others will take their sweet time — possibly also because they at times will mix many deliveries and the van with your bag (I once had my bag hand delivered by a cab who drove 60 miles from the airport to my hotel with just my bag — must have been expensive) ends up doing many stops before it gets to you. I’ve also had luggage delivered after I had already left. In that case they did send it along to my next destination on an entirely different flight but it did eventually catch up to me. Not a pleasant experience by any means though.

IME they usually know very little about the details (it’s getting a bit better for domestic travel with some airlines though) and if you have an AirTag in your bag you’re likely to know much more than the clerk at the handling company. But that is unlikely to affect their process. These companies are following lots of procedures they have negotiated with every airline (and facing penalty for violation) so agility is definitely not their usual strength. The AirTag in your bag just gives you peace of mind that it’s not really “lost” and you get a better idea of how it’s being routed to you. Especially if you’re at some place that doesn’t have a front desk to receive it for you, it’s nice being able to track its exact whereabouts so you can get on with your work without having to organize an entire rescue operation. :wink:

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Excellent advice. Including the name on the tag.

Many years ago a check-in agent picked a very similar but slightly different name than mine from the list, printed the bag tag for that pax, and tagged my bag with it. Would not have been a big deal except that that bag was lost on the way. Finding that bag and having it rerouted back to me was a lot more complicated because the bag was considered part of somebody else’s itinerary from that moment on. It wasn’t fun.

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Puerto Rico is US territory and in the DOT/FAA’s jurisdiction. I fly in and out of SJU regularly and have had zero ‘Tag issues.

And as for airlines Lufthansa got their ärsche handed to them for trying a ban, after misreading some ICAO rule (and ignoring the battery size exception). It’s unlikely any other carrier wants to share the attention and opprobrium they reaped:
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/10/lufthansa-awkwardly-abandons-airtag-ban-after-baffling-face-plant/

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Considered and dismissed: No territory or state law takes precedence over federal regulations or on federally administered property.

Ever seen a state require license plates or inspection stickers on any USPS or military vehicles?

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We returned from the Galapagos to London Heathrow end of December via Quito and Madrid. Both our bags had AirTags and arrived safely after a very long journey. We had to collect our bags and checkin for a flight to Manchester to get home (checked in around 4pm, 90 minutes ahead of flight). On landing at Manchester we received a text to say our bags did not make it!

A real nuisance as I was flying again 2 days later. We could see the bags sitting in Heathrow and annoyingly they did not fly the bags to Manchester until the following afternoon (if I recall correctly there were at least 4 earlier flights they could have flown on), The bags then sat in Manchester for almost 2 days before the courier picked up and stored in their storage facility in Manchester overnight. The bags arrived 3 days later, by which time I had left on my next trip. I tried contacting BA to find out where our bags were and I offered to collect the contents I needed when I returned to Manchester Airport but got no response. I kept a record of the bags locations and when I submitted my claim BA did not contest (only 1 item I had to replace).

What was annoying/amusing was that when I returned to Manchester Airport for my flight I located our bags, they were behind a wall I passed as I headed to security :man_shrugging:t2:

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Long ago, I had a ticket on a charter flight from Rome to Tel Aviv. The ticket had been sold as including luggage. At the airport, the agents were charging for luggage. Three people objected and produced documentation that there was no extra charge. Three people had their luggage sent to Athens. Yes, there was one-to-one correlation.

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I’ve seen payback like that, with luggage skycaps.

Thanks, Rick

“It wouldn’t surprise me” is an opinion, not fact. I believe Mr. French is looking for answers, not paranoid conjecture.

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Another good “I found my luggage thanks to AirTag, and no thanks to the airline.”

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Interestingly, I’m leaving for the Galapagos tomorrow. I have an air tag in my luggage. I now it works because I forgot where I put it, and used the locater to find it. I hope I don’t have troubles like you did, but it wouldn’t be the first time.

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Fun luggages stories, folks, so they’re fine (as background to why AirTags might be useful in checked luggage), but let’s put the Puerto Rico subthread to rest.

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