Lost luggage? Apple AirTag users can now share location with these airlines

Trying to find lost luggage at an airport can be a frustrating experience. One method that can help is placing an Apple AirTag inside your bag. And now you can even share the location with airline officials so they can participate in the search.

New with the recently released iOS/iPadOS 18.2 and MacOS Sequoia 15.2 is an option in the Find My app to create a shareable link to the location of a lost AirTag. Anyone who receives the link will be able to track down its whereabouts and hopefully uncover your missing luggage or other item.

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You can share the link with a trusted family member, friend, or traveling companion. However, sharing it with airline personnel can be more productive as they can hunt for your bags in places inaccessible to you and the general public.

Starting this week, United, Delta, and Air Canada will support this new feature to track down lost or delayed bags, Apple senior marketing VP Greg Joswiak said in a Monday post on X. Joswiak also promised that support from more airlines is coming soon.

Initially revealing the new feature last month, Apple said it will partner with more than 15 airlines to offer the new Find My option. These include Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Turkish Airlines, United, Virgin Atlantic, and Vueling. More will be added over time.

With privacy always a concern when tracking items, Apple has built certain safeguards into the technology.

The location sharing automatically stops when you find your item, though you can manually turn off the sharing whenever you wish. Otherwise, the sharing automatically expires after seven days. Only a few people will be able to see the location link. To view the link, those people will have to authenticate themselves via an Apple Account or partner email address.

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To try this at an airport or other location, first make sure you’ve updated your iPhone, iPad, or Mac to the latest OS versions. Open the Find My app, tap the icon for Items, and then select the AirTag for the missing luggage. At the next screen, tap the link for Share Item Location in the Lost AirTag section. Tap Continue and then tap the button for Share Link. You can then copy and paste the generated link or use the iOS Share feature to share it with a specific person or app such as Mail or Messages.