The carousel at my home airport stopped moving, and my suitcase wasn’t on it. That moment is a big part of why I pack AirTags for travel now.
I stood there a few extra minutes anyway (you know the move, staring at the rubber flaps like your bag might still pop through). It didn’t. It was sitting in Philadelphia.
My 50-minute layover there had shrunk to 20 after a delay. In those 20 minutes I had to deplane, ride the tram, and hustle to my next gate. I made it. My bag didn’t.
I live 30 minutes from the airport. It took 3 days to get my luggage back.
This was years ago, before AirTags were around, so all I could do was wait. What finally got me tracking my stuff was a broken-down shuttle bus at Disney.
The shuttle bus that broke down
Traveling is stressful enough. Bring a baby along and your anxiety goes up about 10 times over.
On our way home from Walt Disney World, my husband and I were on a shuttle from our resort to the airport with our 9-month-old daughter. We still had other resorts to stop at and more passengers to pick up.
And then the bus broke down.
It happens. We waited for a relief bus, everyone moved over, and we got back on the road. What none of us caught was that the strollers never made it onto the new bus.
One family had an AirTag on theirs, and their phone let them know right away. They told our driver, and he worked with the shuttle company to meet up with the other driver and get it back.
Turns out our stroller had been left behind too. We had no idea. Without that family’s AirTag, we would have pulled up to the airport with a 9-month-old and no stroller, and found out right there at the curb.
That was the day AirTags became part of how we travel.
Where my AirTags go when I travel
These days, anything I’d panic about losing gets one:
- My luggage
- My daughter’s stroller
- My passport
- My laptop
The passport one gets a few raised eyebrows. But it’s the one thing on that list that can stop a trip cold if it goes missing, so it gets tracked too.
Why I tell clients to use AirTags for travel
I always recommend my clients put an AirTag in their luggage, whatever kind of trip they’re taking.
Cruises are a good example. On embarkation day, you hand your checked bags to the porters at the pier, and you won’t see them again until they show up outside your stateroom, sometimes hours later. Most of the time that works fine. But being able to check on your bag from your phone during that stretch is real peace of mind.
And if you’re flying in to meet the ship, a bag stuck at a connecting airport matters even more. The ship sails on schedule whether your suitcase is on it or not.
What AirTags can’t do for you
I love these things, and I still want you going in with realistic expectations.
You probably can’t check on your bag mid-flight. Unless you have Wi-Fi on the plane, your phone can’t pull up an update in the air. The good part: as soon as you land and your phone reconnects, you’ll have current info before you even start the walk to baggage claim. That’s a lot better than what I got in Philly, which was a belt that stopped moving.
The airline still has to bring your bag to you. An AirTag tells you exactly where your suitcase is, and that’s where its job ends. If it’s sitting in another airport, you’re still waiting on the airline to put it on a flight and get it to your door. At least you won’t be guessing while you wait.
2 more things to do before you leave
While you’re waiting on the airline, you want to make their job as easy as possible. These 2 habits help them know exactly which bag they’re looking for.
Take photos of your luggage, inside and out. If a bag does go missing, you’ll have a visual reference to show the airline, plus a record of what you packed.
Always use a luggage tag, and take a photo of that too. That way the info on it is saved on your phone right next to the pictures of your bag.
And for the waiting period after a bag goes missing, that’s where travel insurance comes in. It’s getting its own post soon.
Planning for the bumps
Buses break down and connections get squeezed to 20 minutes. Part of my job is getting you ready for the bumps before you ever leave home, and a little AirTag (plus a few photos on your phone) is one of the easiest, cheapest ways to do it.
If you’re starting to think about your next adventure, reach out. I’ll take the research and the details off your plate (including reminding you to pack your AirTags) so you can just pack your bags and go.
May adventure follow you wherever you may go.