Airplane manufacturer Airbus has previewed an iPhone-enabled smart luggage prototype called 'Bag2Go' that uses a number of new technologies to help airlines and flyers keep track of baggage, reports Australian Business Traveler.

The bags include RFID chips for next-generation airline baggage handling and a barcode that syncs with an iPhone app that includes a 'Find My Bag' feature that hooks into airline databases to give you up-to-the-minute data on the bags location. They also have a digital scale built into the handle of the bag that talks to the iPhone's app.

Flyers simply lift up on the handle and the digital scale makes sure the bag is beneath an airline's weight limit. The airline believes the bags would cost some 20% more than comparable 'dumb' bags.

Bag2go

Christened 'Bag2Go', the concept has been developed in partnership with mobile carrier T-Mobile and German luggage maker Rimowa.

An RFID chip inside the bag lets it work with the increasing number of automated airport and airline baggage-handling systems which can 'pair' smartchipped bagtags with your itinerary and frequent flyer number.

A barcode on the bag’s trip-specific label syncs it against your iPhone and can be passed on to your airline booking.

Airbus says it would not sell the bags directly but could license the technology to partner airlines.

Top Rated Comments

parish Avatar
131 months ago
Shame you have to put your iPhone in Airplane mode in flight or you could track you bags flying from JFK to LAX - as you fly JFK to LHR :p
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thepowerofnone Avatar
131 months ago
Why knock this? If you don't like it then don't buy it obviously, however having flown quite a bit and had bags lost on multiple occasions this certainly appeals to me. Its a natural progression of technology as part of a much bigger picture: previously dumb objects are getting smarter and easier to track. I like progress. Even if it comes at a (fairly small) premium. You're on an Apple rumour website - you are clearly pretty used to paying a premium for a few extras. And the digital scale is pretty handy too.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Popeye206 Avatar
131 months ago
I travel a lot and something like this would be awesome. Just a couple weeks ago... standing in JFK waiting for my bag to come down the carousel... waiting and waiting only to have the bad luck that my bad was last to be offloaded. So, all that time of waiting getting more and more nervous my bag didn't make it. With the tracker I would have known it was there and I would have been able to relax until I tracked it closer to the belt. I would have loved that!

However... I'd rather just have something I could put in any bag I got that would allow me to track it. Not just a specific bag.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nostaws Avatar
131 months ago
I fly a few times a year, so you're right I don't need to make an investment in great luggage.

However, my father-in-law and a few siblings literally fly multiple times a week as part of their jobs. They would love something like this. And a $100 suitcase can't put up with their weekly itinerary.


One has to be silly to pay even more for something that gets thrown about by baggage handlers. A piece of luggage should be cheap and one should be happy if it lasts a couple of years. Whoever pays more than $100 for a piece of luggage is insane regardless of what the luggage may offer.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
afro-ninja Avatar
131 months ago
"Oh, no! Honey, we didn't charge the luggage!"
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Canyonero Avatar
131 months ago
If it only costs 20% more I'd get one.

20 % more than the current price tag of Rimowa luggages which range from $300-1000.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)