Keeping Track of Your Bags with AirTag
A friend of mine had his backpack stolen at a café in Madrid, and he got it back because an AirTag was inside.
The backpack
A minute of inattention, and he realised the backpack was no longer where he had put it. He opened Find My, saw the AirTag's location, and shared it with the local police.
They were very helpful, and genuinely amazed that they could recover stolen goods with such simple technology. The thief had put the backpack, together with other stolen goods, into a left-luggage locker facility. With the help of a staff member there, they got everything back, including the other people's belongings that had been stored with his bag.
What I took from it changed how I pack. A bag I would be miserable to lose gets its own AirTag, with a name I will recognise at a glance, and if it goes missing I take the location to the police.
What an AirTag can actually tell you
An AirTag has no GPS receiver. Apple's description is the one to keep: it sends a secure Bluetooth signal, a nearby device in the Find My network reports that approximate location to iCloud, and you see it in the Find My app. The report is anonymous and end-to-end encrypted. Apple says it cannot see the location, or which device helped.
That is why a pin can sit still. In the air, on a ship, or anywhere few Apple devices pass by, nothing new arrives. The last dot is the last time a participating iPhone, iPad, or Mac came close enough. It is a clue with a delay, not a live tracker.
When the AirTag is nearby, Precision Finding can show distance and direction on a supported iPhone, using Ultra Wideband. On the current AirTag, Apple's longer Precision Finding range works with iPhone Air and iPhone 15 or later, excluding iPhone 16e and iPhone 17e, and availability varies by region. The same generation can also be found from Apple Watch Series 9 or later, or Apple Watch Ultra 2 or later, on watchOS 26.2.1. If you are on an older iPhone, nearby finding still plays a sound through the speaker. The current AirTag needs iOS 26 or iPadOS 26 to set up.
Lost Mode is worth turning on once the bag is actually missing. Apple says you are notified when the network detects it, and you can let someone who finds the item read a contact number by tapping the AirTag with an NFC phone. Use a number you can answer. The missing bag cannot take the call.
Where I put one
I put the AirTag inside the bag, not clipped where a hand can lift it off. A luggage-tag holder on the handle is easy to spot and easy to remove. It is fine as a second, obvious label. It is a poor place for the only tag on a bag I care about.
Checked luggage. I use an inside pocket, a packed shoe, or the lining, somewhere a quick rummage will not find it and I can still reach when the battery warning appears. Name it after the bag in Find My — "Checked suitcase", not "AirTag". Before I leave the house I play a sound, so I know that tag is in that bag and the speaker still works. If the airline gate-checks a cabin bag, the tag should already be inside the bag that is about to leave me.
Carry-on. Same idea: inside, not dangling from a zip. Documents, medication, and anything I need during the flight stay in the personal item that does not go in the hold. The AirTag stays with the carry-on, because that is the bag that can disappear at the gate.
Backpack. A keyring holder is right for keys. On the backpack itself I want something quieter: an internal sleeve, or a low-profile adhesive mount inside a pocket, not a loop that advertises itself when I set the bag down. I still leave enough room to twist the battery cover off. Hiding it so well that I cannot change the cell just means it dies in there.
One tag per bag I would actually chase through an airline desk. Name them before the trip, and share an AirTag with the people who might need to see it. Apple lets you share one with up to five other people, which covers a travel companion better than handing over your Apple Account.
Sharing the location with an airline
This part is real, and it is narrower than the ads make it sound. Apple's Share Item Location builds a temporary page for a lost AirTag so you can send it to someone else, including an airline working a mishandled bag. Apple's current AirTag page says that includes more than 50 airlines, and names Delta, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, and United as examples. Whether your airline will act on the link is still their process. Send it with the baggage receipt, flight number, and bag description. The pin does not replace the claim.
On an iPhone:
- Open Find My and tap Items.
- Tap the AirTag, then the more button.
- Tap Share Item Location and follow the steps to create the page.
A few limits come straight from Apple's guide. You cannot start the share while the AirTag is next to the iPhone you are sharing from, so this is for after the bag has actually gone. Later updates need at least one of your Apple devices, signed in to the same Apple Account, to be online. Sharing stops when you are reunited with the item, after seven days, or when you stop it yourself.
The person who opens the link has to sign in. Apple's Find Lost Item page says that is either an Apple Account or, for a partner such as a registered airline, a work email that receives a code. The page shows the latest location the network has, your contact details, and the AirTag's serial number. It expires on the same seven-day rule. The feature is not available in every country.
Find My, before you need it
I treat this as part of packing, not as something to learn at the baggage desk.
- Name each AirTag after the bag, and play a sound once it is packed.
- In Find My, check the battery before a long trip. A low-battery line appears under the item's name.
- Turn on notifications for Find My.
- If a companion might have to speak to the airline, share that AirTag with them in advance.
- When it is missing, turn on Lost Mode and set a number you can answer that day.
- Screenshot the map if you need to show anyone. Note the time. A later update can move.
If the thing that vanished is your iPhone rather than the bag, the steps are different. The guide to a lost or stolen iPhone abroad covers Lost Mode, the carrier, and why you should not follow the dot yourself.
The alerts other people get
AirTag is built to be a poor tool for following a person. Apple's unwanted-tracking guide is blunt about it: these products are for your belongings, tracking someone without consent is a crime in many places, and law enforcement can ask Apple for information that helps an investigation.
If an AirTag is separated from its owner and moves with someone over time, their iPhone can warn them, and an Android phone can too. Apple's own page says the alerts are triggered when a tag is separated from its owner, which is why a train full of other people's AirTags should not set your phone off. After a while apart, the AirTag also plays a sound when it is moved, so people nearby can hear it.
That behaviour matters in the hold. Your checked bag is, by definition, away from you. Another passenger's phone may warn them that an unknown AirTag is travelling with them, and the tag may chirp when the bag is handled. That is the safety feature, not a fault. Your own tag, in a bag you are carrying, should not raise that "moving with you" alert, because it is still with its owner.
If you are the person who receives the alert, use it. Apple's guide walks through playing a sound, Precision Finding on a supported iPhone, and disabling an unknown tracker. Look through your own bags first. It may be a companion's keys, or a tag in luggage stacked next to yours. If it is hidden and you did not put it there, treat it as something to show the police, not as a puzzle to solve in a car park.
The battery, and the airline rule
The cell is a CR2032. Apple says an AirTag runs for more than a year in everyday use, and your iPhone tells you when it is time. Battery life moves around with how often you play a sound, the cold, and which replacement cell you buy. To change it, press the stainless cover, turn it anticlockwise, and fit a new CR2032 with the positive side up. Apple suggests a bitterant-coated cell, such as a Duracell 2032 marked compatible with AirTag, because a coin cell is dangerous if a child swallows it. Some bitterant coatings do not fit. Keep spare cells away from children, and get medical help immediately if one is swallowed. Apple's battery steps are worth having open the first time you do it.
The water resistance is IP67: one metre for up to 30 minutes in a lab test. It is not a promise that a leaky toiletry bag will be kind to it, and the rating wears.
On the aircraft, the installed cell and a spare cell are different objects.
The US FAA PackSafe chart lists AirTags with other Bluetooth baggage trackers. They may go in checked baggage when the lithium content does not exceed 0.3 grams, or 2.7 watt hours for a lithium-ion cell. The UK CAA's passenger table allows a lithium-battery device in checked baggage below that same 0.3 gram line. The instruction to switch a device completely off applies when the cell is over that threshold. An AirTag cannot be switched off.
Spare lithium batteries are cabin-only under both the FAA and the CAA, including a loose CR2032, and the terminals need to be protected from a short. I keep the spare in the personal item, in its packet, not loose in a pocket of the checked bag. Airlines can refuse something the regulator allows, so I read the airline's own page before I fly.
When the pin is not enough
A location is something you hand to the people whose job it is to recover the bag. It is not a reason to go and find the person holding it.
If the map shows a place you do not know, save the screenshots and contact the police. If the airline still has the bag in their system, send Share Item Location with the claim. Stay where you are safe. A dot on a block of flats does not tell you which door, and a moving dot can be a vehicle you should not follow. The same rule is in the iPhone guide, and it applies here for the same reason.
A small kit
I buy the AirTag itself from Apple's current pack, and I treat holders as a search rather than a single model. Cases change, and a holder that looks clever in a photo can block the speaker or the battery cover. The two AirTag links below are the current one-pack and four-pack. The rest are Amazon searches, so you can see what is actually in stock.
One line on the packing list
When I build a trip in journeybot, I add a plain line to the list: AirTag in each bag. I tick it only after I have played a sound and seen the right name in Find My. It sits next to the things I already forget — the small items that never make the first draft, and the split between what stays in the carry-on and what can go in the hold. The tag does not pack the bag. It means that if the bag leaves without me, I can tell someone where the network last saw it, and then let them do the rest.
FAQ
Can I put an AirTag in checked luggage?
Yes, in the usual case. The US FAA lists AirTags among Bluetooth baggage trackers that may travel in checked bags when the lithium content does not exceed 0.3 grams. The UK CAA allows a lithium-battery device in checked baggage, and the instruction to switch it fully off applies when a lithium-metal cell exceeds 0.3 grams. An AirTag has no off switch. Put a spare CR2032 in your cabin bag, and check your airline, which can set a stricter rule.
How do I share an AirTag's location with an airline?
In the Find My app, open Items, choose the AirTag, and tap Share Item Location. Apple's page creates a temporary link an airline can open after signing in with an Apple Account or a partner email. Sharing stops when you are reunited with the item, after seven days, or when you stop it. You cannot start the share while the AirTag is next to the iPhone you are using, and a device signed in to your Apple Account needs to be online for later updates.
Is an AirTag a GPS tracker?
No. An AirTag sends a Bluetooth signal. Nearby Apple devices in the Find My network report an approximate location back to you, anonymously and encrypted. If no participating device comes near the bag, the pin stays where it last was. Precision Finding, which gives distance and direction, works only when the AirTag is nearby and your iPhone supports it.
What should I do if Find My shows my stolen bag?
Save screenshots, contact the police, and give them the location together with the time it was updated. If an airline still has the bag, send them a Share Item Location link along with the baggage receipt. Leave the recovery to them. A pin is a clue, and it can be late or imprecise.
