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Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage
- gigatexal 4y agoBecause they didn’t want the public to know how shitty a record they have with losing luggage?
- savoytruffle 4y agoDo they ban wristwatches with the same battery inside of them‽
- hayd 4y agoApple must fight this and get the regulation clarified. Ridiculous.
- savoytruffle 4y agoIndeed and I expect there's no end of high-level Apple employees flying SFO -> FRA
- kylehotchkiss 4y agoThis can be quickly resolved by moving all those employees to Air France
- ghaff 4y agoHuh. I don't check luggage much and, at least with United, their checked baggage app tracking system seems pretty good. But I've been tossing in an AirTag on the few occasions I've checked luggage in the past year or so and it seems to work pretty well as a backup tracker.
- mintplant 4y agoI check luggage pretty often, and these days I always chuck a Tile into every bag. With all the logistical disruptions at airports of late, waiting at baggage claim is a lot less nerve-wracking when I can see that my bags pinged on the tarmac five minutes ago.
- ghaff 4y agoIt's not perfect information but in a lost/delayed/slow baggage situation, anything is better than nothing.
- 762236 4y agoWe just bought our first AirTag specifically for this reason.
- robg 4y agoGood luck enforcing this ban. How would they? Open up suspect bags and tear them apart looking for a device the size of a quarter?
- exitb 4y agoYou’d have to admit to breaking this rule in order to point out any baggage misplacement.
- mccorrinall 4y agoI have an AirTag which turns off during flights and powers itself on after 24h. Hah. Compliance!
- scottmcdot 4y agoHow do you get the AirTag to do this?
- aaaaaaaaaaab 4y agoOh it's very simple. I can show you if you give me my luggage with the AirTag ;)
- coolspot 4y agoYou just say it does that, so they can’t argue that you violated ruling banning AirTags on board.
- mkonecny 4y agoThese devices beacon every few seconds to announce their location.
- runjake 4y agoAirTags are scannable as an NFC and they identify themselves as AirTag.
- dogsboywonder 4y agoI would say the push for this is motivated by their crappy customer service.
- _hhkc 4y agoI agree with this. Mostly because I had a poor experience with one of their gate agents recently. They forced me to check my hand luggage because it was 2kg overweight. They don't uniformly enforce the hand luggage weight limit, their employees get to pick and choose passengers at the gate. The gate agent scoffed at me putting an AirTag in the bag that they were making me check.
- Kaibeezy 4y ago> They don’t uniformly enforce… Because it’s a scam. They pick “enforcement” targets by guessing who seems likely to pay. I’ve never been charged when traveling solo. But with family or co-workers they have a shot at the “oh, just pay it, we have a plane to catch” gambit. I know their tricks and always refuse. Then I lay the bag down and start rifling through it like Yoda in Luke’s lunchbox. The long line of passengers who think they will miss their flight are staring daggers at me. My travel companions are attempting to activate their invisibility cloaks. I give not one f because it is a scam. I am helping everyone by showing it is a scam. Half the time the agent backs down. The other times I can usually throw a few heavier things into a spare duffel bag. F that s.
- seanp2k2 4y ago"this bag is too heavy" OK, I guess I'll...move a few things from there into another bag that is going onto the same flight, possibly the bag of someone I'm traveling with. Now you have reduced the flying weight of the plane by exactly 0 grams and made everyone a few percent more angry / delayed / stressed out. This is a dumb policy.
- HWR_14 4y agoIt's not just about the weight on the plane. It's about the equipment and people who move the bags around. Clearly, people have some upper limit they need to be expected to lift as baggage handlers.
- TazeTSchnitzel 4y agoThere could be non-cynical motives for airlines not to want customers to be able to track their baggage. Getting weird enquiries about whether bags have been stolen because they are in some unexpected non-airport location, when it's just a place the airline uses to handle delayed baggage, is probably troublesome for them.
- ghaff 4y agoIt doesn't seem as if "We've rerouted your luggage to a different airport and you'll get it at some point" should be a particular secret of the airline.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- awillen 4y agoYeah, but the solution to this is to proactively communicate the status of bags to customers. If you're getting weird inquiries because you're being opaque about something important to a customer, who is confused, it's your own fault if that's troublesome.
- BoorishBears 4y agoDelta has been providing live updates of luggage locations for years without an issue. They're claiming it's due to radio transmission anyways.
- mynameisvlad 4y agoThis. I get a notification when it gets loaded and unloaded from a plane, and I can view the exact times it was accepted, got on a plane, got off the plane, and if it's in the right airport or not. They're scanned every step of the way anyway. It's absolutely ridiculous for a carrier to come back with "we don't know where your bag is". Especially in 2022.
- myself248 4y agoIs it just me or is that even more cynical? Moving my belongings to an off-site location is _precisely_ the sort of thing I'd want to be notified of, and if the airline doesn't feel that I deserve to know that, ahh, well. That would be problematic. I appreciate that you're trying to find alternate explanations, and it's my first impulse to do the same, but I've been racking my brain and I just can't come up with any. This one isn't better, it's worse.
- Ancalagon 4y agoNo more plausible deniability I guess when really you just don't want to pay someone to sort through the lost and found luggage.
- nalaz 4y agoAnd how do they intend to enforce this?
- icey 4y agoAt the least this gives them some poor counterargument if someone says they were able to track their lost bag with an Airtag. "What do you mean, you have an Airtag in your bag? We don't have any guarantees for baggage containing banned materials."
- Tomdarkness 4y agoHow are they even going to know if there is an airtag in someone's luggage? Are they particularly obvious on an x-ray or is there some kind of specialised detector?
- OJFord 4y agoSee the comment about non-cynical motives - and then, you can't complain 'well I can see on my tracker app that..' if you're not supposed to have one.
- thayne 4y agoWell, if they are transmitting, at least in theory it would be possible to detect that transmission. Though I would be kind of surprised if they actually put much effort into actually enforcing it.
- SomeBoolshit 4y agoBut then why is inflight wifi a thing?
- sokoloff 4y agoUnder FAA rules (what I’m familiar with, EU/DE/ICAO is probably similar), the air carrier can determine which portable electronic devices to allow. The law (it’s short): https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/91.21 https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/91.21 An advisory circular relating to it: https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC_91.21-1D.pdf https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/... This allows an air carrier to approve anything they’re confident won’t cause an issue but not approve AirTags.
- savoytruffle 4y agoIf they want to defeat tracking, they can enforce their baggage employees not to bring iPhones to work. Of course eventually on the plane, the luggage will be like ten feet below hundreds of people who might have an iPhone!
- 4y ago
- bilekas 4y ago> This is specifically because of the transmission function. Lufthansa claims that the transmission function needs to be turned off during flight when in checked luggage, just as is required for cell phones, laptops, etc. While this is negligible and I can see a lot of people saying "Well who cares it's just one" if you imagine a lot of interference from a lot of baggage with them on a flight.. I haven't tested, but personally I would prefer to be safer rather than sorry. It's also worth noting this is a de-facto rule for US domestic flights too. All carriers, switching to airplane mode is a federal requirement on U.S. domestic flights. Edit : I found an article saying they were compliant with US but no sources.. https://thepointsguy.com/news/bag-tracking-apple-airtag/ https://thepointsguy.com/news/bag-tracking-apple-airtag/
- ghaff 4y ago>All carriers, switching to airplane mode is a federal requirement on U.S. domestic flights. How many people do you think actually do this. (I mostly do, when I remember.) If it's actually a problem, the FAA would be dealing with it other than hoping passengers individually pressed all the right buttons.
- bilekas 4y ago> How many people do you think actually do this. (I mostly do, when I remember.) I'm EU based and not flying every day but any flight at all it's always in airplane mode. It's like a seatbelt on a car for me, it's just done. I'm biased but I would like to believe most people remember,
- ghaff 4y agoThat is almost certainly optimistic but given that planes are not falling out of the air or reporting a lot of electronic interference issues it's probably OK as things stand.
- yamtaddle 4y agoI'd be a little surprised if 50% of cell phone owners even know how to turn on Airplane Mode. Yes, I know it's usually right there on a screen you'd think they'd look at pretty often. I stand by that. Beyond that, several on every flight who might do it, will forget to, and several more just don't give a fuck. Despite this I've never once seen anyone get hassled over it.
- diebeforei485 4y agoI don't want my luggage to be sent to some lost luggage auction. I actually do want to know where it is.
- phit_ 4y agowhat a joke, I guess that's one way to deal with their terrible luggage handling.. I've been now waiting since a flight on August 20th to receive my "lost" luggage from them. I guess policy like this is easier than fixing the actual issue. The only update I've gotten is this email two weeks ago, their hotline and website are completely useless. Via DeepL > Good day, > We apologize that you have not yet received your luggage and for the inconvenience this has caused. We regret that we are currently unable to meet our standards for a smooth travel experience. > Why are there delays? > There are currently massive logistical and personnel failures and bottlenecks worldwide, which are delaying baggage handling in particular. The world of flying is highly interconnected. We are dependent on our global partners here and are thus confronted with numerous challenges. > We are working hard to ensure that all delayed baggage is delivered within the coming weeks. > If you would like to check the baggage status yourself, please use the baggage status page only. Our telephone service centers will not be able to assist with any questions regarding your baggage. > Kind regards > Your Lufthansa Team
- samueldamon 4y agoluggage this summer in europe has been a mess. air france lost my bag in paris on june 12 and has neglected to compensate me or return it. no way to get a hold of anyone who can do anything either-- left me wishing i had put an airtag in there myself.
- HWR_14 4y ago> luggage this summer in europe has been a mess. Not just this summer. Europe has been worse than worldwide since at least 2018.
- tartoran 4y agoYou’d think they’re stuck in a luggage area and airtags would help you hasten them getting to you? Not sure how it’d solve a logistics problem that is not yours but the airline’s. Thinking further I think the airlines should stick their own air tags on luggage while in transit and get it back when customer picks up their luggage (could be a deposit based system). This would help them automatically track all luggage.
- forrestthewoods 4y agoNeed the ability to program them to not transmit for X hours. Problem solved.
- savoytruffle 4y agoWell, also a GPS receiver to detect flights to or from Germany.
- ivanvanderbyl 4y agoI'm pretty sure AirTags emit less RF than a pair of Bluetooth headphones, and you can of course use them throughout the flight.
- sushid 4y agoThis is going to have the opposite of their intended effect. People are now going to be more interested than ever in AirTags precisely for luggages thanks to them.
- myself248 4y agoBingo! It hadn't occurred to me until just now, but you bet your butt there'll be an Airtag, a Trackr, and a Tile in my luggage next time.
- Maximus9000 4y agoMe too.
- axlee 4y agoTrackr has been gone since 2021.
- yazaddaruvala 4y agoIt’s honestly so nice! I land, and before I check my texts I check for my bags. They have almost always already been reported to the find my network and I have peace of mind. Even at the baggage carousels. I just activate “Find” and it tells me if my bag is “near by” and rarely it’ll even give me the arrow pointing at my luggage. I didn’t even realize that I was previously micro-stressing about this stuff. But I can definitely tell the change I’ve had in mental state with an AirTag in my luggage.
- 4y ago
- dghlsakjg 4y agoThe cat is out of the bag. There is no way that people are going to stop putting AirTags in their luggage, at least not while airlines are still constantly losing luggage and fighting people on reimbursement.
- aliqot 4y agoI do see how they'd find it bothersome. Imagine what it must be like that the situation before was: "Oh no my baggage is lost!" "Oooh that's rough! We'll let ya know!" then nothing. Where now what it might be like is: "Oh no my baggage is lost at XYZ airport at your terminal" and that accountability is somewhat forced now because they can't just say it wasn't found or it is 'in transit' when it really isn't.
- FredPret 4y agoSo inconvenient for them to do what they were contracted to do: fly you and your luggage from A to B. Can’t they just get free money?
- aliqot 4y agoYou might get money for your troubles if your flight or luggage is delayed. For luggage being lost the maximum liability is $3,800 for domestic flights and about $1,800 for international flights https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/19/what-travelers-need-to-know-as-airlines-deal-with-lost-delayed-bags.html https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/19/what-travelers-need-to-know-...
- harha 4y agoIn theory yes, but in practice it could easily cost you more to deal with the airline and it might well be that you don’t have the receipts anymore. With another European airline I recently waited exactly one day less than the three weeks required for them to deliver a child seat. That’s almost three weeks of not having one to safely transport my child, no support or compensation. Since I was returning to my country of residence the credit card company also didn’t refund.
- duxup 4y agoMy bags have air tags in them… just by default when I travel. My kids are tagged when traveling. Elderly in laws at times. This rule makes them look like they know they’re terrible/ don’t want to get caught.
- nortlov 4y agoIf transmissions truly are a problem, I would hope they’d protect passengers and vehicles (e.g. faraday cage luggage compartments) rather than hoping customers do not leave dangerous devices such as AirTags in their luggage.
- PLenz 4y agoNext headline: Lufthansasa installs faraday cages in all their cargo holds
- hangonhn 4y agoTBH, that seems the more reasonable way of dealing with it. If they are truly worried about transmissions while in flight, then yeah do that. Once the luggage is on the ground and unloaded the AirTags will still work. Seems like a win win for everyone — if what they say about in flight transmissions is the real reason.
- andy_ppp 4y agoThey are just tired of people with lost luggage making their staff go find it… there is absolutely zero risk, the amount of energy involved is minuscule.
- runjake 4y agoFor all the people commenting "How would they know?", AirTags are scannable by NFC readers and identify themselves as an AirTag. You can test this yourself by downloading the NFC Tools app on your iPhone (or one for Android) and doing a read on the AirTag. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nfc-tools/id1252962749 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nfc-tools/id1252962749
- Gigachad 4y agoIf you stick it in the middle, it’s out of range. Unless you have some super powered scanner perhaps
- faangiq 4y agoI eagerly await US carriers adding this as yet another contrived upsell.
- savoytruffle 4y agoYou'd expect Spirit Airlines to do this, but do they let you check a bag for less than a hundred bucks?
- heisenzombie 4y ago“ Lufthansa claims that the transmission function needs to be turned off during flight when in checked luggage, just as is required for cell phones, laptops, etc.” On my phone, turning on airplane mode seems to disable the cell and wifi radios (with wifi able to be toggled back on) but Bluetooth defaults to staying on.
- mft_ 4y agoIndeed; and there's no problem with half of a plane using Bluetooth headphones during the flight, either. I don't think this move by Lufthansa has much to do with engineering :)
- aaaaaaaaaaab 4y agoIt's a bullshit excuse and they know it. Lufthansa even has on-board WiFi on their planes. How are you going to use it if your laptop is supposed to have "transmission function" turned off? They just don't want people to have proof they've lost their luggage.
- eftychis 4y agoYeah that is... a non argument by Lufthansa -- i will be polite. (Resources: Here is for FAA, EU ruling is similar: https://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/ped/ https://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/ped/ — check the FAQ also.) They technically can -— the best kind of can I guess —- but it is not in the spirit of course of ILS interference (@108-112 MHz) with Bluetooth at 2.45 GHz and extremely low range. Hell the pilot is likely to have their iPad with Bluetooth on during all plane operations. FAA expects to be communicating with mature individuals and entities and not this in their guidelines. With the same thinking they can ban pacemakers and all cordless headphones, and …breathing. Good luck to Lufthansa. They just declared their baggage handling sucks.
- glitcher 4y agoIt also sounds incredibly dumb when you think about how checked luggage gets scanned and searched. Isn't it typically after you've dropped it off with airline staff and have walked away towards a terminal gate? And when they find an airtag in checked luggage, how can they tell by looking at the airtag itself if "transmission function" has been turned off??? It seems to me they either have to throw away all airtags they find in luggage, or they have to check everyones' phones inside the airplane before they take off, or they're just bluffing.
- kazinator 4y ago> it just can’t transmit, which of course renders it useless Because, what, it's impossible to program things like this to start transmitting after an N-hour radio silence?
- mbreese 4y agoThat’s the fix from Apple’s side — setting a flight mode that only activates after a set time period, altitude changes indicating landing, or some other beacon saying you’ve landed. So long as the Bluetooth radio doesn’t transmit, it should be fine from an FAA/EU equivalent point of view.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- kogir 4y agoI was able to determine that someone with the exact same bag had taken mine from baggage claim and retrieve it from them before they left the airport with it. We both had much better vacations as a result. I’m going to keep mine in my luggage, sorry.
- dmix 4y agoWhy would you stop? I highly doubt they’ll invest in the means to actually stop it across every airport.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- Arubis 4y agoInitiate Streisand effect!
- keyle 4y agoIsn't it a case of false information? I thought the tags communicated with nearby Bluetooth devices that have gps, which there should be none active nearby lost luggage... so people would scream that their luggage is somewhere around while the location is in fact outdated?
- landr0id 4y agoYes, they communicate with nearby Apple devices which have opted in to being part of the AirTag discovery network.
- zwily 4y agoChances are, there is someone around. An airline worker with an iPhone in their pocket, etc. I’ve put AirTags in my luggage since they came out and it’s fun to see how often their location gets pinged.
- null0pointer 4y agoAirtags are great for tracking luggage. Last time I travelled I put one in both of my checked bags and was able to track them as they moved around the airport and onto the plane. My phone in the passenger cabin was even able to receive pings from them during the flight when the bags were in the cargo hold. I have had my luggage lost before and Airtags give me great peace of mind that my luggage is headed to the destination and that if my bags do get lost I can hopefully help direct the airline staff to exactly where they are. I’ve never flown Lufthansa but this ban wouldn’t stop me anyway. The benefit is too great.
- nostrademons 4y agoNote that the reason for airport mode is a courtesy to cell-phone carriers. It's not any air safety issue. Rather, 300-500 cell phones all trying to contact the next cell tower, multiple times per minute, would wreak havoc on cell service. https://www.inverse.com/article/51015-cell-phone-use-on-airplanes-airplane-mode-thanksgiving-travel https://www.inverse.com/article/51015-cell-phone-use-on-airp... At one point, when both cell phones and laptops were new, there was perhaps a risk to the airplane's electronics. Modern cell phones have been steadily tuned to reduce interference with other electronics though - good thing, otherwise you couldn't use them in a modern home with its dozens of connected devices. And modern avionics have been shielded to protect them from outside electronic interference - also a good thing, otherwise the next terrorist could simply turn their laptop on. The ban on electronic transmission is one of those regulations that was a response to technology at a particular point in time but now is largely vestigial. You can tell because it's rarely enforced, and yet bad things do not occur just because you forgot to turn your phone to airplane mode.
- alexnewman 4y agoluckily this happens all the time since people often forget. i know i do.
- sigwinch28 4y ago> Note that the reason for airport mode is a courtesy to cell-phone carriers. This doesn’t track. What about trains?
- joecot 4y agoTrains move significantly slower than planes. They're also on the ground, mostly below the towers, while planes are in the air, moving very fast, with multiple towers in line of sight.
- scandinavian 4y agoIt doesn't track in any way. In the airport there's small cells or femtocells by the operators. In the air, the only cells you can reach are the one pointing upwards. Also, they don't really ask for airplane mode anymore, at least not when I'm flying.
- nomilk 4y ago> This is specifically because of the transmission function. Lufthansa claims that the transmission function needs to be turned off during flight when in checked luggage, just as is required for cell phones, laptops, etc. Can anyone confirm/deny whether Airtags can interfere with aircraft navigation and communication systems?
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- bronco21016 4y agoGiven the frequencies used and the transmission power, I’d be absolutely blown away if it were able to cause any issues. Aircraft rely on VHF and HF for comms and VHF and GPS for navigation. Additionally INS is used for navigation. International operations will also use SATCOM for communications.
- ddingus 4y ago[Banned] [After shocked expression] "I had no idea"
- jupp0r 4y agoAny idea how this would be enforced?
- insane_dreamer 4y agoAre they going to scan bags for AirTags now?
- harha 4y agoThis is exactly why I’m so opposed to government bail outs - even though it was repaid in most countries (famously Austria chose the worst way to save them, give them free money to not repay). It would have been nice to see this massive company (with monopoly on many routes in Germany) broken up and under new ownership competing for customers, rather than treating them as a massive burden.
- andy_ppp 4y agoIt’s almost as if Lufthansa are admitting they are a terrible airline with awful practices like silently cancelling the return leg of flights if you don’t make the outbound. This happened to me on the way back from Germany, I can’t imagine they still do this but I found them extremely unhelpful and this sort of behaviour reinforces my feeling they think you’re lucky to be travelling with them.
- biggc 4y ago> like silently cancelling the return leg of flights if you don’t make the outbound I don't know about the "silently" part, but this is standard practice for most (all?) airlines.
- andy_ppp 4y agoIt’s immoral and illegal in Europe but sure quite a few airlines still try this on.
- CogitoCogito 4y agoI've never before heard that this is illegal in Europe and haven't found anymore info after some quick searching. Do you have anymore information about this?
- andy_ppp 4y agoThey’ve been successfully sued under the consumer rights act 2015 (an EU law).
- CogitoCogito 4y agoDo you have a link with more info about this case?
- jupp0r 4y agoMany airlines do this. Lufthansa did it to me last year. They are usually accommodating if you ask in advance (mine was due to a connecting flight being canceled and driving the last leg was much faster than waiting for the next flight).
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- toss1 4y agoA forward-thinking airline would not ban airtags and the like — they would REQUIRE them. Then offload some of the tracking to the customers. This is obviously simply the airline trying to cut down on bad social media posts, as it is a lot less dramatic to post "I flew from Frankfurt to New York, and two days later where is my bag?" instead of "I flew from Frankfurt to New York, and two days later why is my bag in Hong Kong? And with the ban, what are they going to do, refuse to load any bag that scans as an NFC? Send it but charge extra to collect it? Kick you off the plane? What happens when you have other luggage items that require it? It also seems like this could be easily defeated with a feature that would put the AirTag to sleep for X hours after put in the luggage (set X to long enough to get to the airport and in the air, but shorter than when you are supposed to arrive).
- cm2187 4y agoNot sure what would be the motive for the airline to hide that the bag is lost. If it's not waiting for you at the baggage claim, you know it is lost, airtag or no airtag. Also not sure what good it does to the user either, to know in which particular hall of which particular terminal the luggage is right now. Much more useful outside of airports.
- kylehotchkiss 4y agoGives airlines the freedom to not load luggage for operational reasons (plane too heavy, high paying cargo shipment became available very recently, fuel at this airport too expensive) and pretend it was a simple mistake to avoid (rightful) customer outbursts about being singled out. Airline staff can probably see as much on their screens but not allowed to share.
- cm2187 4y agoMy first reaction in that scenario would have been to blame the baggage handling of the airport.
- robswc 4y agoWow… AirTags on your luggage? What an incredible idea, lol. Really though… can someone who knows what they’re talking about (or a pilot?) tell us if the transmitting excuse is a cover or BS?
- kylehotchkiss 4y agoNext AirTag software update: when any nearby phones indicate they are in Airplane mode via Bluetooth (which they can do because bluetooth isn't blocked in airplane mode), put all nearby airtags on standby for an hour). Apple can figure out all the nuances. Or they'll add cheap pressure monitors and determine tag is on an airplane. Repeat. Your move, Lufthansa.
- duskwuff 4y ago"You can't look for your Airpods because someone around you put their phone into airplane mode" seems like a pretty bizarre limitation.
- jasonpeacock 4y agoAn airline that actually cared about customers would figure out a way to temporarily provide all bags with an Airtag (or equivalent) and encourage customers to track their bags. Or at least, encourage customers to provide their own Airtags.
- jupp0r 4y agoI just ordered AirTags for exactly this purpose. Thanks for the hint Lufthansa.
- nixpulvis 4y agoOn a related note. Has anyone figured out a way to prevent my damn AirTags from randomly chiming? It's driving me insane.
- O__________O 4y agoStrange idea, instead of finding a way to ban technology that makes you look bad — maybe instead be customer friendly, offer free tags and add clear real-time map of where the customer’s luggage is currently and is expected to be.
- eh9 4y agoI have every incentive to stick a tag in my bag and no incentive to take it out.
- LtWorf 4y agoOh Lufthansa… the reason why I stopped carrying more than 1 backpack when taking the plane. They permanently lost 1 item, among all the other times the luggage would arrive well after me. They reimbursed me a tiny fraction of the lost value.
- MonkeyMalarky 4y agoWhy don't they try something new and adopt the same technology. Clip a tag to the bags' handles at check-in and have readers on planes and throughout the airport. Lost luggage should be a thing of the past after that. You don't even need to rely on people physically scanning it with a barcode reader.
- kylehotchkiss 4y agoInterestingly, they're not an issue in carry on bags. Which sit about 3 feet higher than a checked bag inside of an airplane.
- HWR_14 4y agoThey also sit at a much higher pressure. The concern is that the much lower air pressure can cause stress on lithium batteries in the cargo hold, leading to bulging and possible damage, maybe catastrophic. Especially for already damaged or poorly made batteries
- josephcsible 4y agoIsn't the cargo hold pressurized too? Don't pets often fly in there?
- NavinF 4y agoYes: https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/8252/are-cargo-holds-pressurised-these-days https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/8252/are-cargo-... GP is just making up hypothetical dangers of Li-ion batteries, a popular pastime on the internet.
- tengwar2 4y agoThe hold is pressurised. Unless it is a DC-10 with a cargo door popping open in mid-flight, in which case the pressure differential is enough to collapse the floor of the cabin and throw passengers bodily out of the plane.
- Zak 4y agoThe main concern with lithium batteries is fire. A fire in the cabin can be detected and contained much faster than in the cargo hold. Fire is probably not a realistic concern with an AirTag, Tile, or similar low-powered device using a tiny battery, but the regulations are not nuanced. Devices powered by lithium batteries are supposed to be turned off if they're in the cargo hold.
- manv1 4y ago"AirTags leak your private data, thus they must be disabled to preserve your privacy."
- datadata 4y agoNot that they need any sympathy, but it seems unjust towards apple to be targeting a specific product from a specific company, rather than say a blanket ban (no device that will transmit Bluetooth). I wonder if this will boost the market for airtag competitors.
- kergonath 4y ago> I wonder if this will boost the market for airtag competitors. Probably as much as Samsung’s competitors were boosted after a bunch of airlines made noise about exploding smartphones. That is, not at all.
- josephcsible 4y agoThen they'd either have to ban Bluetooth headphones too, or admit that they're doing it because the trackers make them look bad and not actually for safety.
- bogomipz 4y agoThe author states: >"While some airlines provide baggage tracking, it’s awesome to always know exactly where your checked bag is." Can someone say which airlines provide baggage tracking and it works exactly? It's amazing that in 2022 baggage tracking is somehow too exotic for carriers as a matter of course.
- kylehotchkiss 4y agoUnited does, Emirates does. They're just exposing internal scans "bag dropped off", "bag in X storage area", "bag loaded on tug train" and an abstracted "bag loaded on plane" which is probably just a single scan of the tug train barcode, much like USPS will scan bundles of mail instead of individual items. Every airline has this functionality internally. Even the really small ones. They just don't choose to publicize it.
- eftychis 4y agoMy thoughts: https://m.youtube.com/shorts/tQIdxbWhHSM https://m.youtube.com/shorts/tQIdxbWhHSM s/NVIDIA/Lufthansa/g
- scottcorgan 4y agoAirlines don’t lose luggage, airports do. Airlines just carry luggage.
- kylehotchkiss 4y agoAirlines have some liberty to say "We can't load this luggage" or "We can't load X lbs/% of luggage" for operational reasons
- jen20 4y agoAirlines employ baggage handlers. Your contract to deliver yourself and your luggage is with the airline though.
- kylehotchkiss 4y agoWhy don't airlines offer a baggage insurance system? Have a separate check in area for the bag, where the value has to be declared with a staffer verifying said things were in the bag, the bag is sufficiently durable, and charge a large amount for the service. Then maybe ID verification on pickup. $300 a bag would keep this an option just for people moving their cameras and stuff. Or let Fedex open a check in counter at airports with advice on how to receive packages at nearest fedex office?
- seanp2k2 4y agoBecause airlines are a race to the bottom and we live in capitalist hell. "Start your own airline if you think you could do it better".
- yourapostasy 4y agoA long time ago in the US, one could purchase additional baggage insurance at the check-in counter. Insuring for $10,000 USD guaranteed face-to-face hand-off-on-signature delivery at every step of the way. There are crappy third-party insurance underwriters for luggage these days, and the airlines stopped offering their own insurance policies because theft is so rampant in their baggage handling processes. In the US, there is a myth that packing a gun and going through the procedure to declare it would sprinkle magic never lost dust upon the luggage. It was once true a long time ago, but these days it only marginally improves the odds, if at all. An AirTag, Tile, and an old phone with a basic plan, new battery, and on your find device app, is about as good as it gets nowadays.
- namibj 4y agoThe gun is less about anti-disappearance, and more about getting permissions for a proper lock where the key bitting isn't available for ~10 bucks in a ring of ~5 keys.
- yourapostasy 4y agoGood point, thanks for bringing that up. If I had confidence airport baggage handling procedures could guarantee the handlers couldn’t simply walk off with the luggage, I’d get a rotomolded case and lock it with a couple Assa Abloy shrouded padlocks (they offer key blank management systems for the truly paranoid). But from what I’ve read online, it seems baggage handling theft prevention procedures in many airports are lackadaisical at best. These days, if I absolutely want to arrange high-value goods transfer on an airline instead of a normal freight service, I use the airlines’ air cargo service and insure excess value. You have to sign up in advance and they’ll usually turn you down if they don’t think you’re a commercial customer with a volume worth their trouble. As freight is usually b2b and their profit margin bread and butter business, it is tracked more carefully. Roughly estimate the insurance at $8 USD per $1000 USD value. Before anyone gets all excited about sending checked luggage this way, the freight rates explain why this is how many airlines can book a profit with air cargo in the revenue mix; roughly estimate it at $4 USD per pound. Most checked luggage maximum weight allowances in the US is 50 pounds, so you can see why practically no one chooses this option.
- pgt 4y agoLessons from recent lost luggage: 1. Fly direct if you can. 2. Insure your luggage. 3. If you must connect flights, stick with one airline, leave a 2-hour gap between flights and fly earlier in the day so you don’t end up in a dodgy hotel. 4. Put important stuff in hand luggage, incl. warm tops and underwear. 5. Use an AirTag. Recently waited a month for my luggage after a missed Vueling connection due to striking baggage handlers. The airline claimed it was due to a “technical issue.” Wish I had bought an AirTag. You’d be surprised how the cost of small items add up…
- bombcar 4y agoSome airline should advertise that you can put them in and make fun of Luftwaffle losing all your lugs.
- tpmx 4y ago
- Krisjohn 4y agoThe Venn diagram of crappy air carriers and air carriers that ban devices that let travelers find their lost luggage will make its way to a circle.
- apatheticonion 4y agoCan we put a cell tower on the plane?
- seanp2k2 4y agoA lot of flights now don't have screens because they expect that everyone will just use their phone to connect to the in-flight wifi to watch movies and buy things (or get super slow internet access that a few people will use to watch streaming video for the low low price of like $50).
- m463 4y agoTo be most aesthetic, please disguise it as a palm tree... or maybe an additional tail fin?
- konschubert 4y agoBullshit. They just want to keep you in the dark when they lose your luggage.
- GekkePrutser 4y ago> Note that the reason for airport mode is a courtesy to cell-phone carriers. It's not any air safety issue. It was when it was introduced. In today's modern airliner there is not much risk but earlier equipment was not built to withstand this kind of interference. Sometimes you could even hear GSM buzzing through the audio of the pilots speaking, on the airband. It was also a certification issue. Today it's not a technical issue anymore in the western world, and some airlines even permit the phones to be used while in cruise (they provide their own 3G/4G access point on board with satellite backhaul - at a huge markup of course!). Though WiFi is more popular. Airlines that don't still prohibit it for what I believe are more social reasons (and the issue with them swarming cell towers indeed) It's a bit similar to the issue happening now with radio altimeters and 5G. Many airliners still have older radio altimeters that aren't built to deal with 5G interference (in this case from the ground though). The amount of RF energy coming from a BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) beacon is absolutely minimal though, it's for this reason that they can run for months on a button cell. A cell phone can transmit 1-2 Watts of energy.
- m463 4y agoI wonder if everyone will get "unknown accessory detected" warnings about a device following them?
- dom96 4y agoUgh, that's really annoying. But can they realistically detect an AirTag in checked luggage?
- outside1234 4y agoYeah - whatever Germany - still going to do it
- xchip 4y agoTL;DR: Lufthansa argues that baggage trackers fall in the category of portable electronic devices, and are therefore subject to dangerous goods regulations issued by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
- evrflx 4y agoFunny they even sell them in their own shop: https://www.worldshop.eu/de/apple-airtag-ortungsgeraet-1er-pack-1764022/ https://www.worldshop.eu/de/apple-airtag-ortungsgeraet-1er-p...
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- sfvegandude 4y agoHeadline is misleading. The policy says nothing about AirTags. It’s just that their new policy would cover them, technically.
- odysseus 4y agoThere are two kinds of bags: carry-on and lost. I first read the above quote on a site dedicated to techniques on packing only one bag per person on a trip of any length - and it’s been a mantra ever since. So much easier to skip baggage claim and walk out of the airport. I still put an AirTag in the carry-on - helps in case it gets stolen at the hotel/etc.
- NegativeLatency 4y agoI’d be interested in that guide if you could find it.
- odysseus 4y agohttps://www.onebag.com/checklist.html https://www.onebag.com/checklist.html There used to be a horizontally formatted PDF one page printable version of the guide but I can’t find it at the moment. There's also a how-to-pack portion of the guide as well re: bundle wrapping.
- numair 4y agoI’m pretty sure that this ban is impossible to enforce, because it’s not just AirTags that use the Find My Network — AirPod cases and other Apple devices have the same functionality. Someone who knows more about the technicals of the Find My system might disagree, but it seems the airlines would have to literally ban carrying Apple devices in your luggage. This also seems to indicate that a “workaround” would be to drop a spare Apple accessory with Find My capability in your luggage. Again, I could be wrong, so hopefully someone with more domain expertise can correct me!
- schappim 4y agoJust wait until AirTags have accelerometers in them too (capturing all the abuse to bags)! Seriously though, I'll be surprised if Apple puts any serious resources into future versions of the AirTag, given the amount of bad PR[0] they've generated for Apple, and how allergic Apple is to bad PR. From the perspective of Apple, the cost to benefit ratio doesn't seem to be there, especially for a product that is a rounding error on their balance sheet. [0] https://hn.algolia.com/?q=airtag+track https://hn.algolia.com/?q=airtag+track
- justin66 4y ago> Just wait until AirTags have accelerometers in them too (capturing all the abuse to bags)! You can usually film the baggage handlers abusing the luggage going on or off of your plane. It's not a revelation. If you can get a video to go viral, something extremely superficial might be done by the airline, but it's not going to change anything. This has happened many times in the past.
- SparkyMcUnicorn 4y ago> given the amount of bad PR[0] they've generated for Apple. I feel like this is a case of "There is no such thing as bad publicity". When I read any of that PR, I just see that these are good at what they do at a reasonably low price.
- catiopatio 4y agoAre you kidding? There’s a massive compounding ecosystem value in AirTags. Anecdotally, I don’t know anyone — friend or family — that doesn’t make use of them. As for the bad press? Faith in the press is at an all-time low, activist woke-scolds don’t remotely represent the average consumer, and I don’t think anyone is taking the muckrakers seriously.
- schappim 4y ago>> There’s a massive compounding ecosystem value in AirTags. I agree with you, but I'd agree with you even more if you swapped out "AirTags" for "Find My Network"[0]. >> Anecdotally, I don’t know anyone — friend or family — that doesn’t make use of them. It might be a silicon valley bias, bur in Sydney Australia, my only friends or family that have them are those who I've consensually tagged. Examples: - expensive equipment - work vehicles - courier deliveries for orders > $xK in value - kids school bags (kids too young for phone, school doesn't allow watches) [0] https://developer.apple.com/find-my/ https://developer.apple.com/find-my/
- schappim 4y agoPutting an AirTag in my passport wallet, has saved me a ton of unnecessary stress, both before, after (and during travel).
- Mikeb85 4y agoLol Lufthansa is the absolute worst when it comes to lost luggage... Last time we flew with them they not only lost our luggage, but the luggage of every single person on the same connection (about 50 people). It seems as though they are actually simply incapable of figuring out how to keep track of luggage. And of course allowing airtags would make that even more obvious.
- capableweb 4y agoSeems like a silly argument. But just for fun, Apple could add a "timer to on" functionality to the AirTag, so you can turn it off temporarily and it'll turn on by itself after X hours. So turned off first, and around when you land, have it automatically turn on. Call it "Travel Mode" just like what 1Password calls it, as it's a defense against the same entity: adversaries.
- aaron695 4y ago
- bryan0 4y agoOur last trip we put airtags in all of our checked luggage. When we arrived at our destination before collecting our bags, 1 of the airtags showed it was still at the departing airport! Lucky for us it was not correct, and for some reason the airtag didnt update. So in this instance they caused more harm than good, but if your bag is missing it seems very helpful to have it tagged.
- marricks 4y agoMakes me wonder what system US security agency has for these. Can they ask Apple to disable them for certain areas or by device if you happen to be a target of interest?
- leifg 4y agoKnowing German I read through the sources. This article is pretty misleading. The [primary source](https://www.watson.de/leben/urlaub%20&%20freizeit/879935671-airtags-im-flugzeug-koffer-erlaubt-oder-verboten-lufthansa-aeussert-sich https://www.watson.de/leben/urlaub%20&%20freizeit/879935671-...) is a slightly clickbait article asking the questions: "Are AirTags allowed in checked luggage?". They reached out to Lufthanse asking them. They responded: "Luggage trackers are electronic devices so they have to be turned off when the luggage is checked". It is unclear wether they really understood how AirTags work and that they are not active trackers. There are a bunch of other magazine echoing this response but I have yet to find an official statement by Lufthansa explicitly banning AirTags.
- swat535 4y agoThey are banned: https://twitter.com/lufthansa/status/1578879849577385984 https://twitter.com/lufthansa/status/1578879849577385984
- Zigurd 4y agoBest comment in this thread. This should really be about the article being a well executed recipe for clickbait.
- layer8 4y agoTranslation of the cited statement by the Lufthansa spokesperson: “Baggage trackers belong to the category of Portable Electronic Devices and are therefore subject to the Dangerous Goods regulations issued by the International Civil Aviation Organization for carriage in aircraft. Accordingly, the trackers must be deactivated during the flight due to their transmission function, similar to cell phones, laptops, tablets, etc., if they are in the checked baggage.” This likely refers to the following regulations: https://www.icao.int/safety/DangerousGoods/ https://www.icao.int/safety/DangerousGoods/ From the 2017 addendum no. 2: “Portable electronic devices containing lithium metal or lithium ion cells or batteries […] d) if devices are carried in checked baggage: — measures must be taken to prevent unintentional activation and to protect the devices from damage; and — the devices must be completely switched off (not in sleep or hibernation mode);” Note that the AirTag batteries contain lithium. So Lufthansa is merely citing the applicable ICAO regulations, which presumably apply to all civil airlines.
- brandonr49 4y agoIf airlines adopt this more generally maybe Apple will create a feature to turn off air tags for a length of time. Ie: don't transmit for the next 6 hours but then start again. That would make this ban look quite ridiculous.
- gsibble 4y agoHaving always had airtags in every checked bag for my wife and I for years now, we'll never go back. Has helped us in numerous situations not to mention peace of mind. Good luck preventing me from putting one in there. We're not going back.
- Animats 4y agoIATA guidance is "Any tracking device with a transmitting function must automatically shut down when inside the aircraft." The cargo tracker industry has already dealt with this. Cargo trackers are usually GSM devices with GPS receivers. Those have to turn themselves off when in flight, and that seems to be working OK.[1] For low-power devices that don't turn off, there's DO-160() Section 21 Cat. H evaluation [2]. This is the EU standard for equipment intended for use aboard aircraft. Emissions must be very low for that. Apple AirTags emit a ultrawideband signal for location, and use low-energy Bluetooth for local communication. Whether that can pass Category H evaluation (the toughest spec, OK next to an antenna) or even Category M evaluation (inside the cabin) is a good question. Not sure about UWB. [1] https://www.easa.europa.eu/en/the-agency/faqs/cargo-tracking-devices https://www.easa.europa.eu/en/the-agency/faqs/cargo-tracking... [2] https://do160.org/emission-of-radio-frequency-energy/ https://do160.org/emission-of-radio-frequency-energy/
- rajko_rad 4y agoI left my AirPods case in my seat, realized walking toward baggage area, wouldn’t let me go back to get them.. assured me someone would go get them for me… I filed a claim, they said they couldn’t find them there… now I see my AirPods case in an apartment complex in the Bronx… nothing I can do….
- KirillPanov 4y agoYou could show up at the apartment.
- sn_master 4y agoYou don't wanna show up unannounced at random people's houses in the US, certainly not in the Bronx.
- YeBanKo 4y agoAt the very least, you should file a police report and a complaint with DoT.
- daguava 4y agoThis is the dumbest thing they could have done - Streisand effect is in full swing after this. "What doesn't Lufthansa want us to see? What are they hiding?" THANK YOU LUFTHANSA for making people actually hold you accountable for the ungodly shitty practices most airlines hold themselves to without recourse. Enjoy the bed you've made for yourself.
- dicriseg 4y agoThis is a credit card affiliate marketing blog. Really not a good source for any actual news. I do like their reviews of airline products though.
- cbhl 4y agoOperationally, I can see one reason why airlines would want to ban AirTags in luggage. AirTags default to beeping when they're away from the owner's iPhone. Found this out the hard way when leaving car keys with a valet parking once; came back to the keys in a drawer and beeping loudly; valet reported they had been like that all day. Presumably it's also a pain for baggage handlers and security folks who handle the bags.
- autoexec 4y agoOn the plus side it's probably a lot less likely that they'll forget about your bag if it's incessantly beeping at them
- renewiltord 4y agoThe beeping isn't for distance from you, it's for proximity to someone else. It's there so that you can't slip this into someone's bag and then find them later.
- xvector 4y ago
- bernardv 4y agoHow are they going to enforce that? Being an airline I would have expected them to just tack on yet another fee.. ‘AirTag fee’.
- fortran77 4y agoThey simply do not want people to know where their bags really are. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGrQZ2QVxoE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGrQZ2QVxoE
- ShakataGaNai 4y agoDo they realize how many these these days have small batteries in them? Shavers, tooth brush, etc - that almost always are checked. Not to mention the coin cell batteries. Are they really planning on banning every battery in luggage AND Enforcing it? That seems like a recipe for a bad time. Don't get me wrong, there is a reason for some of the rules. The galaxy note 7 will be forever known as the fire phone. Cheap shitty hoverboards similarly caught fire with regularity. But is there a single story about an AirTag catching fire? This entire thing doesn't make sense.
- johnwalkr 4y agoYou can have batteries in your luggage, in a device for which they are intended, provided it is turned off. AirTags being a device which transmit and and contain lithium, and wouldn’t normally be be turned off might be forbidden under a strict interpretation of the rules. The statement from Lufthansa is clearly an interpretation of existing rules and not a specific ban on AirTags.
- FederalAgent47 4y agoFlew to Bulgaria late spring these jokers managed to lose my bags both ways... I could see why they wouldn't want this. Learned to pack some clothes in my backpack just in case now
- nayuki 4y ago> If you must pack your tablet, mobile or laptop in your checked luggage, be sure they are completely turned off (not in "hibernate" or "sleep" modes). Mentioning hibernation is inaccurate. The whole point on hibernation is to save the OS RAM to disk/SSD so that the machine can be completely powered off and unplugged without losing work.
- WirelessGigabit 4y agoThis feels like one of those policies those idiots at work came up with. Like: let’s disable Chrome’s password manager because of a Cisco leak. Ok, back to password + time of the year. You’re not solving an issue. You’re just making people find workarounds.
- logifail 4y agoIn One Mile At A Time (OMAAT) has a fairly battered reputation in the wider frequent traveller community - see [0] Credit card shilling, affiliate links, undisclosed financial interests. No thanks. [0] https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/34608772-post4698.html https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/34608772-post4698.html
- moontear 4y agoHow does this help me when luggage is lost? I imagine standing at the lost luggage counter pointing at my phone screen: „But it’s there! Look!!!“, and the poor soul at the counter can only say „yes, we will get it to you asap“. I totally get the peace of mind aspect, knowing where it is. But I don’t believe it helps me getting my luggage back if it is „lost“. Imagine the worst case: the luggage fell down some escalator somewhere during transit. Or somewhere on the runway. And you then see it lying THERE! I SEE IT! How would the lost luggage counter contact a person picking up the luggage from there? I don’t think there are processes in place for this.
- vital_beach 4y agoHow will this apply when a 3rd party slips an airtag in to track the traveler (ex. SO, PI, stalker)? This seems like a great way to potentially mess with someone they don't want flying around.
- hobabaObama 4y agoI remember sometime back Lufthansa had an Ad for indian audience where an old gentleman is saying to his grandson how Germans are very serious people, and he wants to avoid lufthansa. Then he tries it anyway and is pleasantly surprised by their hospitality. > Lufthansa isn’t exactly a customer-friendly airline, Finally that ad makes sense to me. It was a coverup for their extremely bad customer service.
- sccxy 4y agoMost Lufthansa customer service is in India or at least indian origin. Zero help from customer support so far. But ad is correct. Avoid lufthansa if possible.
- Maxburn 4y agoIf you want better baggage treatment on airlines, just stick a gun in checked baggage. I have found that putting a gun in my checked baggage and declaring it gets my bag VERY special treatment. It gets special tagging and individual handling. Drop off in a special area. It doesn't go on the carousel, I have to go claim it with ID etc. Best part is this costs nothing. I know some photographers that learned this trick and check some camera gear this way, thousands of dollars of camera airlines don't care about (baggage thieves do) BUT you stick one cheap gun in there and declare it suddenly that bag gets VERY special treatment. This assumes that you are legally allowed to posses the gun at both ends. You must declare the gun at check in and it must be in a approved lock box. Do your research before attempting this.
- berkes 4y agoTry that in Europe. Or almost anywhere not US though, and you'll very likely won't be able to access your luggage due to being detained in some cell.
- troad 4y agoDon't stereotype. The world is far more nuanced than that. You're allowed to own and transport firearms, with various levels of restriction, in every European country. Farmers and security personnel are the obvious examples here. Some European countries are far more permissive than that, of course. The Czech Republic, for instance, recognises a constitutional right to self-defence and defence of others with a firearm, and has a very liberal licensing regime for gun ownership and concealed carry of guns for the purpose of self defence. Some Czech courthouses have safe deposit boxes where you can store your guns upon entering.
- Maxburn 4y agoExactly, that's the whole point I'm pushing here. We are just looking for legal loopholes to get this special baggage treatment. I think legally you would have more success across the world with a long gun (rifle or shotgun). BUT that's a bigger item that's a PITA to pack. So the loophole here is you only need to transport the piece that has the serial number on it because that is legally the "gun" part. So for example the lower receiver of an AR with nothing attached to it is smaller than most pistols but that's the part that is considered a "rifle" to exercise this loophole.
- jawadch93 4y ago[dead]
- Sporktacular 4y ago"However, practically speaking, I can’t imagine it poses much of a risk of fire, or anything else." Writer seems to not understand turning off transmitters is not about fire risk but electromagnetic compatibility with flight instruments. Hundreds of RF sources of different quality each with their own spurious emissions add up, but whether they seriously affect those instruments is still debated.
- switch007 4y agoThis decade is really the year of shitty customer service isn’t it. They’ve just given up. Airports and planes are going to be miserable places for the foreseeable
- gandalfian 4y agoWhy we don't have some international passive RFID luggage tag that all airports could automatically scan is beyond me. I mean the amount of luggage that still gets lost and every few years a screwup creates such a backlog that they give up and dump them figuring compensation is easier than sorting it all out. It's ridiculous.
- kugutsumen 4y agoContract terms that are unfair under EU law have no legal or binding force on consumers. As long as the unfair term is not an essential element of the contract, the rest of your contract (but not the unfair term) remains valid. This means, for example, that you won't have to give up your gym membership just because one clause in the contract is unfair. EU countries must make sure that consumers know how to exercise these rights under national law, and must have procedures under which business may be prevented from using unfair terms. Throughout the EU, national authorities are in responsible for enforcing EU consumer protection rules. If you feel that a particular trader is repeatedly breaching these rules, including at a cross-border level, you should report your case to them. If you feel that particular contract terms are unfair, you can seek advice from: - National consumer associations - for advice on problems in the country where you live - European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net) - for help with cross-border disputes
- miralize 4y agoMy airtag in my luggage saved my ass last week. Was able to efficiently explain the issue to Delta & got my bag within 4 hours delivered straight to my hotel. I will not be travelling without one
- nedt 4y agoThat was already brought up in August. Original source is an article in Wirtschaftswoche. As it's paywalled you might also get to the article at ifun: https://www.ifun.de/lufthansa-apple-airtag-an-fluggepaeck-nicht-erlaubt-193593/ https://www.ifun.de/lufthansa-apple-airtag-an-fluggepaeck-ni... More or less what they are saying is that Airtags are not allowed, but they don't enfoce a ban. You won't get anything more official. And that's not german at all - try arguing with TSA agents about rules.