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Passenger Uses AirTags, Discovers Airline Donated Their Bags to Charity
- frumper 4y agoHow very gracious of Air Canada to help out those in need. /s
- jollyllama 4y ago"A donation has been made in your honor."
- kjkjadksj 4y agoHonestly its so ridiculous that an airline would drop bags off at goodwill over trying to track them down to the owner.
- AceyMan 4y agoI didn't read tfa but for long unclaimed bags this has been SOP forever. Once the bags are recorded with baggage service and they've been in the federated database for so long, if the owners do not claim, the contents are donated where appropriate. The bags themselves sometimes are set aside as ad hoc replacements for anyone who has a bag badly damaged in handling or other mishap.
- ezfe 4y agoMaking it SOP to donate unclaimed bags is fine, but clearly that's not the case here
- burnte 4y agoYeah, when your passengers know where the bags are, let them take them, don't pretend they're "lost" because the airline doesn't want to pay for delivery.
- RegnisGnaw 4y agoThey don't know where they are 100%. I think that's the issue. They have a warehouse of 1000s of luggage where the tags are likely torn off or missing. Are you going to allow them to search the entire warehouse? What's to prevent them from taking someone else's luggage? How are you going to ensure they only take their bag? If not, are you liable if they take someone else's bag which contain PII and do identity fraud? When its donated the charity, there is an agreement that the charity will remove any PII or personalized stuff before selling the rest.
- kjkjadksj 4y agoI can’t imagine tearing a tag is very common. Even if it affected a few passengers on a plane, process of elimination can lead to these people getting their bags if the airline tried at all.
- altairprime 4y agoThey could have scanned the beeping AirTag with a compatible device, which would have at least identified the owner - and likely matched a phone number to a reservation ticket. They certainly do not want to do so, but the capability existed and they declined to exercise it.
- RegnisGnaw 4y agoSo you need to get Apple agree to this?
- ezfe 4y agoApple doesn't need to do anything, AirTags broadcast an NFC link that provides contact info if the owner puts it in lost mode.
- altairprime 4y agoNo, that would be horrendously inefficient. Once the owner’s put it in Lost Mode, which all of those beeping bags were in, then you just visit the link it gives you when you scan it (it can do NFC, it doesn’t even require an Apple device) and the owner’s contact information is shown. The airline’s behavior instead resembles: “We couldn’t see any contact information in the outside and maybe we checked a zipper pocket for a piece of paper but ultimately we would rather give up and pay you a lost bag fee, than have to employ a human being to put more than thirty seconds of effort into each bag.”
- ninth_ant 4y agoHow is that clear? Nowhere in the blog post does it say that the bags had tag or PII information to identify the owners. From the perspective of the airline they were unclaimed — likely the tags had torn off and the airline had no idea who to connect the bag to. Maybe it would be a nice service to incorporate AirTag tracing for unclaimed luggage, especially if the tracing was based on a standard and not specific to a single luxury brand. But regardless that would be a new SOP and isn’t part of the current one.
- bfgoodrich 4y ago[dead]
- CogitoCogito 4y ago> From the perspective of the airline they were unclaimed — likely the tags had torn off and the airline had no idea who to connect the bag to. How did you reach the conclusion that it's "likely" the tags had torn off?
- rhino369 4y agoIf the bag had a readable tag and the database wasn't wrong, then it wouldn't be unclaimed, presumably. Not for certain of course, but you gotta imagine the most common error is that the bag lost its tag and now its impossible to find the owner.
- CogitoCogito 4y ago> If the bag had a readable tag and the database wasn't wrong, then it wouldn't be unclaimed, presumably. Not for certain of course, but you gotta imagine the most common error is that the bag lost its tag and now its impossible to find the owner. I don't think any of your assumptions are founded. If the airline decides the cost to pay out is cheaper than the cost to return, then paying out would be a totally reasonable business decision. Frankly without any more detailed (internal) information, I don't think you should presume such things.
- kjkjadksj 4y agoThey really replace your bag sometimes? Is that like a service they offer or do they do it without telling you and hope you recognize a strange looking bag as yours? I feel like it would almost be simpler to hand you store credit for the in airport luggage store.
- hinata08 4y agoThe more I read and hear about luggage handling (this article, lost luggage last summer, cbikes are often damaged in planes...), and after unsatisfying experiences (waiting for hours to check in or to claim bags), I'm more willing to take the train than the plane ! In Europe, you show up into a train station, handle your bikes or precious bag yourself, get in your train, and step out to leave the station immediately. To anyone in the airline industry : the bad user experience with bags doesn't encourage me to carry bags in the cabin. It makes me get buses or trains whenever I have stuff with me. This should be a reminder that _users_ know best, not management. They have _needs_ not because they're picky, and won't adapt to your service. They will get an service to match their needs. I feel like airlines don't want you to check in bags because they say it's premium, and _good_ passengers don't need them. Well, if your feature is 'premium', you don't develop it it to offer a satisfying user experience. Bags should be on the MVP. You want bags and to get them bag, not just money. Or users move on to others company products.
- kjkjadksj 4y agoIf only we had a choice in the U.S. Flying across the country costs about the same as taking a train with amtrak. It takes 5 hours to make that flight or so, call it 8 hours dealing with the airport. The train ride on the other hand is 3 days, like its still the 1800s. The train could also face big delays.
- jeoqn 4y agoIn Spain taking a train costs much more than taking a plane. Take all the “here in the eu” comments as what they are: anecdotes of a certain country or plain propaganda.
- lm28469 4y agoThe main reason is that airlines and their operations are heavily subsidised, it's not an immutable law of physics
- 4y ago
- RegnisGnaw 4y agoBased on the article, it looks like this is what happened: 1) Couple arrived with no bags. 2) Couple put in "lost bag" notice with Air Canada. 3) Air Canada didn't find the bag within 30 days and paid compensation (per law). 4) Couple deposited compensation. 5) The bag (along with others) in a big pile was donated to charity. The status of the bag is iffy once compensation is paid. IANAL, but I think its like the cases where a car is stole, insurance pays out, and then the car is recovered. You don't own that car in that case.
- dawnerd 4y agoIMO they should still return the bag. They payment is for their trouble of having to rebuy anything during that time the bag was missing
- RegnisGnaw 4y agoThat is incorrect. The "delayed baggage" compensation is separate from the "lost baggage" compensation. The couple got the "lost baggage compensation".
- peeters 4y agoIs there any evidence of this? The article states the couple was compensated for 25% of the value of the luggage, whereas the passenger's bill of rights seems to say that the airline is liable for the full value of the lost luggage, up to a limit. Further, the article states that the terms of the compensation made no mention of this being a transfer of ownership to the airline. What's the basis for asserting it was lost baggage compensation?
- RegnisGnaw 4y agoThe “delay bag” is only paid if it’s delayed. If it’s lost then it’s not paid and then “lost” is paid.
- 4y ago
- dkokelley 4y agoThe airline lost the bag. The customers entrusted it to them, and it's pretty clear the fault lies somewhere on the airline's side. Devil's advocate: The airline doesn't have access to the tracking data that the customer did. It's one of hundreds of bags they can't find owners for. Donating them doesn't seem like too bad of an option, provided they still make the customer whole.
- patcon 4y agoWould be nice if airtags were built with a standard for delegating tag locations to companies as an enterprise offering. Bag lost? Just share the tag location with a ticket-specific email generated by the booking system, and some division of luggage services at the airline has the job description of delegating the finding of the luggage based on that data.
- ghaff 4y agoWell, many/most airlines already have bar code tracking. I can look in my United app and see where my bag was last scanned. That said, I do throw an AirTag in as backup on the rare occasions I check a bag.
- cassianoleal 4y ago> the fault lies somewhere on the airline's side Hard agree. > The airline doesn't have access to the tracking data that the customer did. If that's the case, the customers could have done better. Last year I had a delayed baggage with TAP Portugal. My suitcase stayed in Lisbon and never arrived with me in Brazil. I had an AirTag in it. I sent daily emails to TAP with screenshots of FindMy showing that my bag was within a specific area of the Lisbon airport. > It's one of hundreds of bags they can't find owners for. They can certainly do better if that's the case. The bag has a tag with a number and a barcode. Those should point to a specific customer. The customer has already complained about the lost bag. The system should be able to match those 2 ends easily. > Donating them doesn't seem like too bad of an option, provided they still make the customer whole. Often getting money doesn't make the customer whole. There are personal items in a bag. There are special gift pieces of clothing. There might be mementos from the trip. There could be other items and artefacts that are irreplaceable to the customer. Money only makes it less bad but it will never completely compensate for the loss of those things.
- cathdrlbizzare 4y agoAirTags and police are worthless. I had an AT on AirPods that dropped in my apt garage. I could see them move into a secured area that Google leased. Called the cops’ non-emergency number. “Sorry, we have a 2 day backlog” Then, I watched them leave the area, go on a highway, and arrive at a house in a residential area. The police there refused to do anything until the other police did something. It doesn’t matter if you know where your property is, people are allowed to steal it and get away with it.
- Far_Pig 4y agoWhat country was this in?
- kranke155 4y agoDepends on where you are. In the UK I called the police in Bristol over a “stolen” iPhone. I said I had the Find my IPhone active. They asked me for the login and they were going to use Find to get to the phone. I got there first and it turns out it was just lost. But I was surprised that they would use it.
- devmunchies 4y agoYou can share your location with other icloud accounts. There is no reason to share login credentials, especially with the govt.
- kranke155 4y agoHad no idea. will keep that in mind.
- 7ewis 4y agoSounds a little invasive asking for the login? If that's genuinely what they do, would be nice if Apple implemented a police version of 'Find my Friends' to let you give them permission to track the device rather than the password.
- 4y ago
- bobthepanda 4y agoThis is not even the worst thing I’ve heard about Air Canada.
- mjrpes 4y agoThe article didn't mention it, but did none of the bags have contact info tags?
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- Thiebaut 4y agoUnfortunately bagages losses are regulated - in europe - so compensation amounts are already limited (few 100, at best it compensate your suitcase). You need to take insurance and make a video before you pack as proof if you want a solution. Other than this you should assume all the time you luggage is lost.
- scarby2 4y agocompensation requirement in europe (and other international flights)is 1300 euros per passenger. Most of us don't have more than 1300 euros worth of stuff in a checked bag. Insurance is a good idea however as dealing with them is usually much quicker than dealing with the airline. in the USA the number is $3800 for domestic flights
- zeristor 4y agoThe bags have ID tags that should be in the Air Canada data system, they find the bags, read the tags and find out who they belong to. Is the fact that the data was corrupted, or there was a software issue that this couldn't match up. Or are the bags just listed as being on a flight, and routed to the collection carousel. Or is a case of the manager at the bag handling facility was under staffed, and overwhelmed by this all and just tried to be rid of the problem?
- scarby2 4y agoIt's also entirely possible that the tag became detached or damaged which lead to them being unable to identify the owner of the bag.
- kseifried 4y agoWe covered this a while ago on the #osspodcast https://opensourcesecurity.io/2022/10/30/episode-347-airtags-in-luggage-and-weasel-security-two-peas-in-a-suitcase/ https://opensourcesecurity.io/2022/10/30/episode-347-airtags... TL;DR: Airlines hate being held accountable.
- Lio 4y agoI'm surprised that Apple doesn't provide a commercial service for organisations such as airlines to scan baggage for AirTags. This strikes me as something cheap to implement that would help everyone involved.
- devmunchies 4y agoGreat idea. And I get a Notification prompt that says "XYZ Corp would like to view MyName's AirTag location until Jan 27 @ 9pm" and I can choose to deny, or decrease/increase the time. Can remove them any moment, like when I receive the luggage. Could there be a financial incentive for Apple?
- Lio 4y agoI guess you could make it opt-in at the point that you load the e-tickets into the wallet. Even if Apple didn't charge directly for it (and they could charge the Airlines to cut down on lost baggage) they'd get a boost in sales of the AirTags.
- 93po 4y agoThis was my first thought too. Delta (or whoever) can provide you a $50 "Delta Tag" and partner with Apple to have access to the tracking data on that tag for the times around your flight. Combine it with a slip of paper actually placed inside the luggage (to prevent issues with external labels getting destroyed).
- chemmail 4y agoI hear some airlines are trying to ban airtags lol
- reustle 4y agoIf you surround an iPhone with 50 or 100 airtags (or any find-my enabled device), will that drastically reduce the battery of the phone as it is periodically pinging each of them?
- pr0zac 4y agoAfter a long conversation I had at a music festival with a guy who works luggage at the local international airport I'm frankly blown away any bags ever make it to their destination. I know we all concentrate on the failures in the system like this but the logistics involved in getting bags off a plane then delivered to dozens of different connecting flights while the same thing happens on dozens of other planes as well as adhoc "checked at the gate" bags getting added in with everything being correctly sorted, grouped, and transported 99% of the time, often with less than an hour to do it, is kind of amazing.
- jessriedel 4y agoThe logistics of FedEx overnight service are similar, and even more complicated in some respects: A package enters the system from any of bajillions of locations around the country/world (many more than there are airports), including FedEx stores, residential homes, major businesses, and random convenience store parters. The package makes at least half a dozen stops with incredibly tight connection times, traveling by land and air. Sometime deliveries are canceled or re-directed while en route. Yet FedEx seems to have a way lower rate of missing packages.
- JakeAl 4y agoClass action lawsuit time.
- gumby 4y agoMetacomplaint: that site inexplicably suppresses scrolling by pressing the space bar. After reading a couple of screenfulls I gave up. Why do they publish something and then put up a barrier to reading it?
- olliej 4y ago“wrongfully donated.” is an interesting way of saying "stolen".
- babypuncher 4y agoAirTags have to be every airline's worth nightmare. When they were first announced, my first thought was "I'm going to put one in my luggage!". It has suddenly become impossible for them to pretend they don't know where your bags are. They've lost all plausible deniability, making them look that much worse when something crappy like this happens. While I personally have never had a bad luggage experience, I've heard countless horror stories. Being able to watch my bag move around the airport and eventually board my plane provides a lot of peace of mind.
- bluSCALE4 4y agoSo airlines are probably a substantial contributor to Apple e-waste.
- renewiltord 4y agoI wonder what the cost basis was for the donation.
- sillyapple 4y agoFor US domestic travelers, check a firearm and see how much more attention is paid to your luggage. Some airports will have someone come out at baggage claim with your bag/firearm case and check your ID before handing it over.
- rationalist 4y ago[dead]
- 93po 4y agoIt seems super messed up that they would donate your bag and all its sometimes extremely personal contents instead of disposing of it properly. What if I had a hard drive full of sensitive documents? Or my bitcoin wallet? Or a diary of my deepest thoughts? I've worked closely with Goodwill and I know it's very common for people who handle bulk donations like this to skim a bit when they find good stuff. I don't blame them, but it's irresponsible to have lost bags go to donation by default.
- ilrwbwrkhv 4y agoIt is super messed up but also at par with the quality of businesses and services in Canada. It is extremely mediocre and getting worse every year. Zero innovation, application, ambition or energy in the country.
- justnotworthit 4y agoPersonal, painful anecdote without catharsis: Young and naive with airline travel, my wife lost her childhood bear when the airline lost our luggage, and we arrived in another country with nothing. Decades on and long divorced, I still get multiple punches in the gut and attacks of tears when I'm reminded of her broken-hearted lament.