Last month Apple announced that the Find My feature now enables users to share the location of lost items with third parties. Available with iOS 18.2, users can share a secure link with the location of an AirTag or Find My network accessory with others, and eventually with airlines.
Yesterday it was announced that United and Air Canada are the first airlines to have this capability of finding luggage using the shared Airtag information.
- In the event a bag doesn’t arrive to its final destination, customers can file a delayed baggage report in the United app, and those who travel with an AirTag or Find My network accessory can additionally now create a Share Item Location link in the Find My app on their iPhone, iPad, or Mac, and add that to the delayed baggage report in the United app.
- Once the report has been submitted, authorized United customer service agents will receive the Share Item Location link and be able to view the location of the item on an interactive map. The map will automatically update when a new location is available and show a timestamp of the most recent update.
- United will use the shared location to more quickly find delayed bags and reunite them with customers.
- For customers’ privacy and security, the shared location will be disabled as soon as a customer is reunited with their bag, can be stopped by the customer at any time, and will automatically expire after seven days.
Eventually this will roll out to all of the major airlines and should result in quicker resolutions for lost baggage issues.
I started keeping Airtags in my luggage a couple of years back and I find it helpful to know when the luggage is getting processed. Obviously, if there’s a lost bag then it’s even more useful to give clarity on what’s going on. Now, you’ll be able to share the data with the airline to help them recover it.
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