American Airlines Launches New Service to Help Track Your Lost Baggage

Airlines soon won't have any excuse for losing your checked baggage, but if they do, American Airlines is making it easier for you to track when you'll get it back. Today, the carrier officially launched a new product, called Customer Baggage Notification, or CBN, which removes the question of where your bags are when you land.

When you check a bag, one of the biggest question marks is if it will actually make it to your final destination. CBN allows you to be more of the location of your bags and when you can expect to be reunited with them after a flight if for some reason the bag didn't make it on the same flight as you. With CBN, you'll be able to check the status for the whereabouts of your bag right from your phone — whether it's delayed or if it's early.

Shortly after you arrive at your final destination, you'll get an alert from CBN if your bag was early in arriving or was left behind. Here are the three types of alerts, according to AA:

• Early Baggage Arrival: Alerts customers that their bag arrived before them and directs them to pick up their bag at the Baggage Service Office.
• Late Baggage Arrival - Go to the Baggage Service Office: Alerts select customers, for example, those with an international segment in their reservation, to see an agent at the Baggage Service Office.
• Late Baggage Arrival - Mobile Baggage Order (MBO): Alerts customers to fill out an MBO on their mobile device. The MBO will prompt you for delivery details and a bag description to ensure you're reunited with your bag. With MBO, there's no need to stop at the Baggage Service Office.

In order to use the new CBN service, you have to either use the American Airlines app, have an AAdvantage account or provide contact information during booking or check-in. AA will then be able to send you the alert to easily track your baggage until you're reunited with it.

This is a nice addition from AA, which is taking some of the pain out of not getting your bag after arriving at your destination. Now, instead of having to wait in line and file a claim with an agent at the Baggage Service Office, passengers whose bags didn't make it can go through the same process directly from their phone.

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