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- United Airlines introduces a new feature for tracking lost luggage using Apple AirTags.
- The Share Item Location feature allows travelers to share AirTag data with United's customer service.
ATLANTA — United Airlines travelers with lost luggage have a new tool to track their bags.
If the lost bag has an Apple AirTag in it that information can now be passed directly to United, the airline announced Thursday.
The new feature, called Share Item Location, allows travelers with an AirTag or other Find My network accessory to share the location with the airline's customer service team to help locate their luggage in the event it's misplaced.
The feature is now available with iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2 or macOS 15.2.
"Apple's new Share Item Location feature will help customers travel with even more confidence, knowing they have another way to access their bag's precise location with AirTag or their Find My accessory of choice," said David Kinzelman, United's chief customer officer.
Travelers on United whose bags do not arrive at their destination can file a delayed baggage report with United and share the link to the item's location either through the United app or via text message. After the report has been submitted, customer service agents will be able to locate the item on an interactive map alongside a timestamp of a recent update.
The shared location will be disabled after a customer has the bag, and customers can also stop sharing the location of the item at any time on their own. The location link will also automatically expire after seven days.
Using AirTags or other tracking devices on luggage is increasingly popular among frequent travelers, with a significant boom following the 2022 Southwest Airlines holiday meltdown, which displaced thousands of travelers over Christmas and into 2023, alongside much of their belongings.
United says lost bags are rare, with more than 99% of its customers arriving with their bags. It says the new technology will help those with lost bags to recover them more quickly because the airline will have more information about them.
Apple previously announced the new service will also be integrated with other air carriers, including Delta Air Lines, Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Swiss International Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Vueling.
