This New iPhone Feature Can Help You Find Your Lost Bags at Airports

While traveling, it is always a good idea to attach an AirTag to your checked bags, so that you can track their location if they become lost at an airport. And soon, a new iPhone feature will make it even easier to track AirTag-equipped baggage.

Starting with iOS 18.2, the Find My app on the iPhone allows you to temporarily share an AirTag's location with a trusted person. In addition, Apple recently announced that select airlines will soon integrate the feature into their customer service process for locating mishandled or delayed baggage, further streamlining the process.

You can simply open the Find My app, generate a web link, and share that link with a trusted person or airline. The recipient can tap on the link to view a map with a live-updating location of your bags or other items that have AirTags attached to them. The feature will also work with third-party item trackers that support Apple's Find My network, such as the Chipolo ONE Spot and the Pebblebee Clip Universal.

Apple said the following 18 airlines will offer the feature in the coming months:

• 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
• Vueling

More airlines will follow over time, according to Apple.

Apple said that links are shared privately and securely. Recipients must "authenticate" to view the link through either their Apple Account or airline email address. The item's location will stop being shared "as soon as a user is reunited with their item," or whenever the owner decides. An item's shared location will automatically expire after seven days.

iOS 18.2 will be released in December, alongside iPadOS 18.2 and macOS Sequoia 15.2 updates that extend this feature to the Find My app on iPad and Mac.