American becomes final Big 3 airline to add AirTag tracking
If American Airlines mishandles your checked bag, you might be reunited with it just a little bit quicker than before.
That's because the Fort Worth-based carrier has officially integrated Apple's AirTag tracking service, allowing travelers to temporarily share their AirTag's location with the airline when bags are misplaced.
American told TPG that it activated Apple's Share Item Location feature over the past few days.
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If your bag is misplaced, you can share your AirTag location with American via a QR code that's located in baggage service offices.
American notes that this feature is only available for passengers who have at least one leg of their trip to or from a U.S. airport.
The airline says that less than 1% of bags are mishandled and also claims that when things do go awry, most bags are reunited with their owner in just over a day.
That said, adding support for Share Item Location functionality should help shorten the time frame you're without your bag.
The Share Item Location feature was originally released just before the winter holidays as part of iOS 18.2. It allows users to share the location of an AirTag or another Find My-enabled accessory with airlines or other interested parties.
You can generate the shared link directly in the Find My app on any iPhone, iPad or Mac.
Note that location sharing will automatically end as soon as you're reunited with your bag. Of course, you can also stop location sharing at any time, and the link will automatically expire after seven days.
The entire process is end-to-end encrypted and anonymous, so no other party, including Apple or accessory manufacturers, can view an item's location or information.
When the feature was first announced last year, Apple said that it was working with more than 15 airlines on integrating this service. In the U.S., the list includes Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, while several major international carriers, including Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and Turkish Airlines, have also integrated this feature.
American is the last of the Big 3 U.S. airlines to add support, but better late than never. Hopefully, even more airlines will join the bandwagon, because so many travelers already pack AirTags in their bags.
And if you're not one of them yet, here's everything you need to know about Apple's AirTags, one of the best bag trackers — and overall travel items — on the market.
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