How to Use Apple AirTags to Track Your Luggage
Have you considered how to use Apple AirTags to track your luggage? Travelers have devised this nifty hack to keep track of their luggage and gear. Instead of leaving it up to airlines or a good Samaritan to return your belonging, use Apple AirTags. Here’s how…
You can try to rely on airlines to keep track of your luggage or try to keep an eagle eye on your belongings when you travel. However, there’s a surefire way to track your luggage, wallet, purse, backpack, or any of your travel gear.
Apple Airtags are a shockingly easy and affordable way to track your belongings wherever you go. They are a small device that can fit anywhere and link to your phone to use as a tracking device.
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Is It Worth Tracking Your Luggage as Your Travel?
According to Luggage Hero, over 690,000 bags were lost or mishandled in the first half of 2021. The FIRST HALF!
Now, in the grand scheme of things, 690,000 bags only equates to a 0.4% chance of your bag being mishandled. That’s actually a pretty impressive success rate on the airlines’ behalf.
So, tracking your luggage in air transit may not really be worth it. However, I’m not just talking about tracking your luggage when flying.
I’m talking about tracking your luggage throughout your trip. More so, I’m talking about tracking your belongings, which includes your wallet, purse, travel backpack, laptop case, etc.
If you’ve ever left a piece of luggage in a cab, your purse in an uber, or your laptop at a coffee shop, you’ll know what I mean. Or worse, if you’ve had an item stolen from you.
When it comes to protecting your things throughout your entire trip, it is worth tracking them IF your tracking method is affordable. And, as you’ll see, Apple Air Tags are very affordable.
What Is an Apple AirTag?
AirTag is a small tracking device created by the geniuses over at Apple. It seamlessly links to your Find My app on your Apple device, like your iPhone.
The Find My app is a default app that enables users to track the location of your Apple devices, including Apple AirTags. You simply open the app, and you can see where your device is on a map.
You can then see where you left your tracked item. Or, if it was stolen, you can direct police to its location.
Or, if it’s close by, it will lead you to it with a directional compass to within a couple of feet. This is the “Find Nearby” or “Precision Finding” feature.
An Apple AirTag is about the size of a quarter and easily attaches to or drops into any of your belongings. You can even slide it into a card pocket or coin pocket in your wallet.
Where Should You Hide Apple AirTags When You Travel?
The easy answer is to put an Apple AirTag on anything you deem valuable. In most cases, this is luggage, backpacks, purse, wallet, laptop or camera case, etc.
In fact, a lot of people put AirTags on their kids or pets when they travel. Kids can wear them on AirTag wristbands, and you can attach them to pets with AirTag Collar Holders.
SAFETY NOTE: Air Tags are relatively new products and there is talk that they emit radiation. So, you may not want to keep one on your kid or pet at all times. Perhaps only when you’re in a high-risk situation of losing them.
I also recommend that you don’t underestimate thieves. Experienced thieves will look for hidden AirTags, so you should cleverly conceal them, if possible.
You can put them in a clever place, like the lining of your laptop case, or even sew them into the tongue of your kids’ shoe.
Battery Life of AirTag
I bet you think this AirTag isn’t worth the trouble if you have to charge it as often as your other Apple devices. You’d be right if that is the case, but, thankfully, it’s not. Most AirTags have a battery life of 1 year.
So, you can place it and leave it. Best of all, you’ll get a notification on your phone or linked Apple device when the battery is getting low.
Apple AirTags use a single 2032 coin-cell battery that is easily replaceable. You simply press and twist the back panel to pop it off. Then, swap out the dead battery with the new one.
What Does an Apple AirTag Cost?
You can get an Apple AirTag 4-pack for only $99. Or, you can buy a single AirTag for $29. Getting the pack is a much better deal, as it’s basically a buy 3 get 1 free deal.
More so, you’ll easily put all 4 AirTags to use. When you travel, you can pop one in your wallet or purse, your travel backpack, luggage, camera case, laptop case, keys… see, I’m already past 4 tags.
Other Great AirTag Features – How to Use Apple AirTags
AirTags have several other useful and cool features. I’m going to quickly list some of them with brief descriptions.
Play Sound
If you’re within earshot of your AirTag, you can activate the “Play Sound” feature. This emits a chirping sound to help you locate your item.
This is a great feature when you’re trying to find your tagged keys or wallet that may be in your couch cushions or shoved behind a pillow. Or, for instance, if you dropped your item on a hike.
Notify When Left Behind
This is one of the best features for travelers as it notifies you if you left something behind. If your item is not within range of your phone or the preset “home” range, you’ll get a notification on your linked device.
Then, you can quickly return to where you left it before a thief has a chance to snag it.
Lost Mode
Lost Mode helps in two ways. First, it leverages other Apple devices to help locate your item. It basically pings off other people’s Apple devices to locate your AirTag and then relays that info to you.
Second, it enables you to employ the help of others. If someone finds your tagged item, they can scan it, and see a message and your phone number that you submit when you activate Lost Mode. (Android devices can read the messages, too!)
Water Resistant
The last cool feature worth mentioning is its water resistance. An AirTag has an IP67 water and dust resistance rating. This means it can be submerged in water up to one meter (3.3 feet) for 30 minutes.
So, it can withstand being dropped in shallow liquid and easily survive spills.
Now you know how to use Apple AirTags to track your luggage
Will you be putting this hack in play for your next trip? Want to read more about how this works for RVers? Continue your exploration of New Travel Tech with this post on survival tools you might want to keep handy…
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