An Alaska Airlines passenger put an AirTag on their luggage last summer before checking it in San Francisco. The bag was delivered to San Diego just fine. It was at baggage claim shortly after landing – without the AirTag on it. The tag had fallen off.
The plane was an Embraer E-175 regional jet operated for Alaska Airlines by SkyWest. And that SkyWest plane has been “bopping around the western US and Canada ever since” with the passenger’s AirTag in the cargo hold. Its owner mapped out the 37 cities where the tag has gone on board the aircraft, registration N171SY, ever since:
Last July, an AirTag tracker fell out of my luggage tag on a flight from SFO to SAN, and it’s been bopping around the western US and Canada ever since, averaging 5+ flights a day. I made this map using FR’s history for aircraft N171SY.
…Map doesn’t clearly show all 37 places, so here they are: Austin, Bellingham, Boise, Bozeman, Burbank, Eugene, Fresno, Great Falls, Jackson, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Missoula, Monterey, Oakland, Ontario, Palm Springs, Pasco, Phoenix, Portland, Redding, Redmond, Reno, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Santa Ana, Santa Barbara, Santa Rosa, Seattle, Spokane, Tucson, Vancouver, Victoria, Walla Walla
It seems that other Apple customers traveling on these flights would be just far enough away, or not quite near the device long enough, to avoid being notified that someone had planting a tracking device on them.
Sadly, flying nonrevenue on these additional flights, the AirTag doesn’t earn status or redeemable miles for these trips. As such they do not qualify for an upgrade from cargo to coach.
AirTags helped a man watch his wallet travel to 35 cities on American Airlines inside the cabin, rather than the cargo hold, underscoring that the airline doesn’t clean its planes well enough (they didn’t credit the passenger with the miles that his wallet flew, either).
Meanwhile another American Airlines passenger had his luggage stolen at the Miami airport and actually traveled to the thief’s home for a confrontation. Don’t try this at home, children. Meanwhile an Air Canada passenger used AirTags to discover that the airline donated his luggage to charity.
(HT: S.R.)
Reminds me of a friend of my parents who around 1960 had his luggage get totally scrambled on his Trans-Atlantic portion of a much longer Pan Am flight. It took a week to get his suitcases back from baggage claims scattered from Paris to Delhi. He lined them all up and said, “I hope you had a good trip!”
What??? no upgrade from the hold to MC?? Shame!
Whereas smarter bears Gorilla tape their AirTags, Chipolos etc *Inside* the bag.
Agree w Woofie. In the bag andnidewllynin a pocket or lining.
Who puts the AirTag outside the bag? And why? Makes nos sense.
I’m with the others.
Who puts the air tag on the outside? Ours are hidden inside and never gotten lost
I’m fairly sure that I have flown on N171SY either JAC-SEA or vv.
what say you “Ben” !!
While there are tag holders meant for external attachment you should always go internal if possible to avoid them coming off. One of the reasons for a tracker is your tag got ripped off!
I recently had a checked suitcase arrive without incident, while the tracker that had been inside it did not. It had much less of an adventure, though. It wound up on the tarmac at MIA and was still there last I checked.