Top-Flight Tips for Using AirTags With Checked Bags

Make sure the battery isn't low, put them in a good spot, turn on Lost Mode for more alerts

- NICOLE NGUYEN

IT'S THE TEXT THAT FLIERS DREAD: "Welcome to San Francisco. We wanted to let you know that your bag will be arriving on a later flight."

Luckily, I was only trying out a new United Airlines feature I hope I'll never have to use. Travelers who track their luggage with Apple's AirTags can now share their missing bag's location with United and other participating airlines. Apple's $29 tracker can often locate lost luggage before the airline can.

Powered by the vast, invisible network of millions of Apple devices, AirTags not only home in on lost luggage, they've also helped pinpoint stolen campaign signs and loved ones with dementia. The trackers appear, along with other Apple gadgets, on the Find My app's map. Google has its own net-work, but Android users who want to be part of the community that helps locate trackers have to opt in.

During two international moves, my AirTags gave me more frequent updates than my relocation company did. I tracked my shipment from a storage facility in France to several ports along the English Channel. The AirTag stopped updating while it was at sea, either for lack of internet or lack of Apple devices. Several weeks later, I got a notification: "Shipment was seen near Miami."

My trans-Atlantic experiment taught me a lot about the trackers-including not to panic when they go quiet for a while. I initially bought the wrong replacement battery for a dying tag. And I discovered that where you place an Air Tag on your tracked item really matters.

Here are some do's and don'ts for keeping tabs on your bags with AirTags.

DO: Strategically stash your AirTag