Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution/Etsy
It's becoming increasingly obvious that putting an AirTag in our luggage is a smart choice, as Apple's pill-shaped device could help recover our lost belongings even when airlines do nothing about it.
A 16-year-old cyclist with the EF Pro Cycling team's junior development program figured this out the hard way. After racing in Europe earlier this summer, the boy traveled back to the United States with Brussels and United.
The bike, which is worth $12,000 given it's a professional model used for competitions, was lost in the Brussels Airport when the boy embarked on his connected flight.
An AirTag installed in the bike helped him see the live location, but he rapidly found out that such information didn't make any difference. He contacted United and Brussels Airlines, asking the staff to recover his bike. He even provided the location information from the AirTag, all to no avail.
After days of trying to recover the bike and filing a complaint with the US Department of Transportation, his family eventually got in touch with a woman working at the Brussels Airport. A customer care agent named Ella Dollinschi personally used the AirTag location to find the bike and put it on another flight directly to Greenville, South Carolina, where the family lives.
Now that the incident has been resolved, United issued a statement, explaining that it's sorry for what happened and that its staff worked with the customer to recover the bike. The airline also provided travel credits because that's exactly how you deal with this kind of thing.
AirTags are pill-shaped trackers that connect to the Find My network and broadcast their location to a master iPhone. They use a CR2032 battery, so they don't support recharging, though they offer approximately six months of autonomy per battery. They don't feature built-in Internet support but connect to nearby iPhones (any iPhone, not just the one belonging to the AirTag owner) to send its location to the owner. It updates its location regularly, so owners can see where it is with a refresh in the Find My app.
Apple launched the AirTag to let users keep track of their belongings, such as keys and wallets. However, the device rapidly became a must-have tool for various other purposes, including monitoring vehicles if they get stolen.
An AirTag planted in a car could help the owner see its location in real time and alert the police with critical information to recover it. Law enforcement also recommends car owners get AirTags and hide them in their vehicles, as a thief running away with a police officer on their tail wouldn't have the time to look for a tracker and therefore have their location revealed in real-time.
The bike, which is worth $12,000 given it's a professional model used for competitions, was lost in the Brussels Airport when the boy embarked on his connected flight.
An AirTag installed in the bike helped him see the live location, but he rapidly found out that such information didn't make any difference. He contacted United and Brussels Airlines, asking the staff to recover his bike. He even provided the location information from the AirTag, all to no avail.
After days of trying to recover the bike and filing a complaint with the US Department of Transportation, his family eventually got in touch with a woman working at the Brussels Airport. A customer care agent named Ella Dollinschi personally used the AirTag location to find the bike and put it on another flight directly to Greenville, South Carolina, where the family lives.
Now that the incident has been resolved, United issued a statement, explaining that it's sorry for what happened and that its staff worked with the customer to recover the bike. The airline also provided travel credits because that's exactly how you deal with this kind of thing.
AirTags are pill-shaped trackers that connect to the Find My network and broadcast their location to a master iPhone. They use a CR2032 battery, so they don't support recharging, though they offer approximately six months of autonomy per battery. They don't feature built-in Internet support but connect to nearby iPhones (any iPhone, not just the one belonging to the AirTag owner) to send its location to the owner. It updates its location regularly, so owners can see where it is with a refresh in the Find My app.
Apple launched the AirTag to let users keep track of their belongings, such as keys and wallets. However, the device rapidly became a must-have tool for various other purposes, including monitoring vehicles if they get stolen.
An AirTag planted in a car could help the owner see its location in real time and alert the police with critical information to recover it. Law enforcement also recommends car owners get AirTags and hide them in their vehicles, as a thief running away with a police officer on their tail wouldn't have the time to look for a tracker and therefore have their location revealed in real-time.
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