This New Apple Feature Will Help You Find Lost Luggage—Learn How to Use It Before Traveling for the Holidays

Will lost luggage soon be a thing of the past? If Apple has its way, it could be! The tech giant just shared news that will help travelers and address the worst part of flying: arriving at your destination only to learn that your suitcase didn’t make it there with you.

Like many other frequent fliers, I’ve learned to clip an Apple AirTag tracker to my bag to ward off potential problems. But while doing this lets you see where lost luggage is, there’s little you can do to get it back to you. That’s about to change.

Read on to find out what this new feature is and how to get it up and running before you head out on your holiday flights—just in case.

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What is the new Apple feature that can help locate lost luggage?

It’s called the Share Item Location feature, and with Apple’s latest iOS 18 update, you’ll be able to find it in the Find My app on your iPhone. This new feature will let you securely share an AirTag’s location with airlines and other third parties by quickly generating a URL (web link) showing the AirTag’s location, a map and a time stamp. The recipient of the URL, such as one of the supported airlines, can tap to see the info in any web browser.

Here’s what this means for you: Airlines that accept AirTag location info as part of their customer-service process should be able to better locate mishandled or delayed bags, cutting down on the time it takes for your lost luggage to make it back to you. One important note: Only select airlines will be participating. (More on which ones below.)

How does this work, exactly?

While we currently don’t know how airlines will officially integrate AirTag tracking into their lost-baggage procedures, we do know how the location-tracking capabilities work. They rely on AirTag’s technology, of course.

To fully grasp what’s changing, it’s helpful to understand how these teeny trackers work their magic: Basically, each one broadcasts a Bluetooth signal to help locate lost items via Apple’s Find My network, which lets you see it on a map in the Find My app and, if you’d like, play a sound. Indoors, AirTags work up to 30 feet. But AirTags can also leverage the more than 2 billion Apple devices around the globe, using Apple’s crowdsourced Find My network; this lets them detect and anonymously report Bluetooth-emitted signals to Apple’s iCloud, then share the AirTag’s location with you.

Now here’s where the new Share Item Location feature comes into play: Beginning with iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2 and macOS Sequoia 15.2, the Find My app will let you generate and share a URL to the AirTag’s location. Share it with your airline, and the customer-service reps dealing with your lost luggage will be able to view a website that shows the location of the item on an interactive map. If the AirTag’s location has changed and is detected by the Find My network, the website will automatically update when a new location is available and provide a time stamp of the most recent update.

How to enable Apple’s Share Item Location

COURTESY APPLE

First, you need to activate your AirTag. Here’s how to do that on an iPhone, iPad or Mac:

1. Go to Settings, and ensure you’ve got Bluetooth and Location Services enabled, along with iCloud Keychain.
2. Activate the AirTag by removing the battery tab.
3. Hold the AirTag up to your iPhone, iPad or Mac. Tap or click “Connect.”
4. Name your AirTag, either by choosing a name from the list or creating a custom name.
5. Tap “Continue” to register the AirTag to your Apple account.
6. Tap “Finish.”
7. Add the AirTag to the Items tab in the Find My app.

Now that you’ve got that sorted, here’s how to enable Share Item Location and share the AirTag’s location with a participating airline (or anyone else):

1. Open the Find My app.
2. Tap “Items,” then select the name of the AirTag.
3. Under Lost AirTag, tap “Share Item Location.” This will generate a URL.
4. Tap “Share Link” (in blue) at the bottom of the screen.
5. Select how you’d like to share the URL with an airline or trusted person, such as by sending it via email or as a message (including texts). Some apps let you paste the link directly when reporting an item missing. You can also copy the URL and paste it into Notes or another app.
6. Optional: You can select “Show Contact Info” to allow anyone to see your information, such as your phone number or email address.

Apple says the shared location will be disabled as soon as you’re reunited with your AirTag (which is hopefully still attached to your luggage!), but you can stop location sharing at any time. The URL will automatically expire after seven days.

Is this feature available to everyone?

Not just yet—and you do have to have a certain type of Apple device for it to work. Right now, Share Item Location—along with the rest of the cool features in Apple’s latest update, iOS 18.2—is currently in beta testing and available only to developers and others in the public beta program.

That said, once iOS 18.2 is released in December 2024 (likely sometime in the first half of the month), the Share Item Location feature will be available in most regions worldwide. You’ll be able to access it if you have an iPhone X or newer, a fifth-generation iPad or newer, or a Mac with an M1 chip or later. If you have a compatible device, you’ll need to download the official release of iOS 18.2, which will have the updated Find My app and Share Item Location feature.

Which airlines are partnering with Apple on this?

Apple confirmed that it is currently working with 15 airlines to launch Share Item Location, but it may take a couple of months for all of the airlines to support this feature.

In alphabetical order, the participating airlines are:

• Aer Lingus
• Air Canada
• Air New Zealand
• Austrian Airlines
• British Airways
• Brussels Airlines
• Delta Airlines
• Eurowings
• Iberia
• KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
• Lufthansa
• Qantas
• Singapore Airlines
• Swiss International Air Lines
• Turkish Airlines
• United
• Virgin Atlantic
• Vueling

More airlines will be announced soon, according to Apple.

To start, this feature will work in “select airports,” but Apple hasn’t yet shared which ones. Plus, along with individual airlines that will support Share Item Location, SITA—which runs the global baggage-tracing system WorldTracer—is also working to integrate this AirTag feature. WorldTracer is currently used by more than 500 airlines and ground handlers at more than 2,800 airports globally.

Why trust us

Reader’s Digest has published hundreds of articles on personal technology, arming readers with the knowledge to protect themselves against cybersecurity threats and internet scams as well as revealing the best tips, tricks and shortcuts for computers, cellphones, apps, texting, social media and more. For this piece on the new Share Item Location feature, Marc Saltzman tapped his 30-year experience as a technology journalist and host of the syndicated Tech It Out radio show and podcast to ensure that all information is accurate and offers the best possible advice to readers. We rely on credentialed experts with personal experience and know-how as well as primary sources including tech companies, professional organizations and academic institutions. We verify all facts and data and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

Sources:

• Apple: “Apple’s Find My enables users to share the location of lost items with third parties”
• CNN: “Apple wants to help airlines find your lost luggage”
• The Washington Post: “Apple AirTags to start sharing bag location directly with airlines”
• MacRumors: “Apple Announces iOS 18.2’s New AirTag Location Sharing Feature Coming to These 15+ Airlines”

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