Two United Airlines passengers were left furious after being told their bags were missing, but their AirTag told a different story.
Dan Adams and his partner Kurt had meticulously planned a two-month European vacation and even treated themselves to a business class flight to Barcelona on United.
With such careful planning for the long trip, they had taken extra precautions and packed AirTags in their bags.
Adams, who described it as “the vacation of a lifetime,” said NBC that when the couple arrived in Barcelona, they checked where their four checked bags were located.
‘We’re going to Barcelona. Get off the plane and go to the airport. And I pick up my phone. And all four bags are there, so I’m like, “Yeah, they made it,” he told the outlet.
After collecting three bags, the couple waited patiently for the fourth. Adams said he wasn’t concerned because they could see the bag was only a few feet away from them.
“I looked on the phone to see where it was, and it was only a few feet away from where I was standing. I thought they probably forgot to hang it on the belt that takes it from the bottom to the carousel. It’s probably just stuck there and someone forgets about it,” he added.
They had approached a baggage representative to try to rectify the situation, but the baggage representative came back to them empty-handed.
‘She came back and said, ‘No, there’s no trace of your bag. Someone probably took him.’ I said, ‘No one took it. The AirTag shows it there,'” he recalled.
Dan Adams and his partner Kurt had meticulously planned a two-month European holiday, but things went awry when their luggage was lost, but the AirTag they had packed as a precaution showed it was only a few meters away from them
However, the baggage representative made it clear that they do not recognize AirTags and “follow their own system,” Adams said.
The couple was promised that their luggage would be delivered to them later that evening, so after long hours of travel, leaving them exhausted, the couple left.
‘We were tired, jet-lagged and I said OK. And that was my mistake. “I trust United when I shouldn’t have,” he said.
Their last bag never arrived and Adams had to watch the AirTag in the bag move in the wrong direction later that evening.
“He entered Barcelona and left Barcelona again and again,” he recalled, adding that he watched the bag travel 34 minutes out of the city.
“I knew at that moment that I would never see that bag and all the stuff in it again.”
Adams remained convinced that an airport employee made off with his belongings, adding that the airline did very little to help him.
He complained to United over his stolen belongings but was not reimbursed, adding: ‘I have been a very good United customer for years. And they know that, but they still treated me like that.”
After collecting three bags, the couple waited patiently for the fourth. Adams said he wasn’t concerned because they could see through the app on his phone that the bag was just a few feet away from them
United told the outlet that it is “working with local law enforcement authorities to understand the details of the situation,” before Adams was subsequently reimbursed for the remainder of his claim
Travel expert Katy Nastro told the newspaper that Adams’ story was “alarming” but assured that the chances of this happening were slim.
She added that if you use AirTags, as Adams did, you should wait at the airport and contact airport police if the airline won’t help you.
“It might pay to just reach out and see if you can get that bag from the airport rather than having it delivered to your hotel or accommodation, especially if you’re traveling abroad,” she added.
United told DailyMail.com in a statement: ‘Police in Barcelona are investigating this missing bag.’
They added that Adams was compensated for his “frustrating experience” and was also offered a $200 travel credit.
Adams said, “I just want people to know what happened to me so it doesn’t happen to them.”
“Even if you take precautions by putting an AirTag in your luggage to see where it is, there are elements that will ensure that you don’t get your luggage no matter what,” he added.
The airline added that “United will begin accepting Find My item locations in the coming months as part of our customer service process for locating mishandled or delayed bags.”
Adams remained convinced that an airport employee made off with his belongings, adding that the airline did very little to help him.
This comes as 15 major airlines have implemented a new ‘Share Item Location’ feature that allows travelers with Apple AirTags to find their lost luggage
This comes as 15 major airlines have implemented a new ‘Share Item Location’ feature that allows travelers with Apple AirTags to find their lost luggage.
While you can use AirTags privately to track luggage, until now airline baggage services have had to set up internal ways to connect to the tag’s tracking information.
Some of the airlines that have already started using this process include Delta Airlines, United Airlines, British Airways, Lufthansa, Qantas and Virgin Atlantic.
“We know many of our customers already travel with AirTag in their checked baggage, and this feature will soon make it easier for them to securely share location information with us,” said David Kinzelman, United’s Chief Customer Officer. CBS News this month.
He added that the feature is only available at United at select airports, but there are plans to “introduce the service system-wide in early 2025.”
The secure links that AirTag owners create are intended to ensure user privacy. The shared item will be immediately disabled once the luggage owner is reunited with their belongings.
“Access to each link will be limited to a small number of people, and recipients will be required to authenticate to view the link using their Apple account or partner email address,” Apple said in a press release.
Links that are not disabled will automatically expire after seven days.
The Share Item Location feature is now available in most regions worldwide as part of the iOS 18.2 public beta, which will soon be available to all users for iPhone Xs and later via a software update.