AirTags, Apple’s answer to Bluetooth-based trackers, have become a widely used solution for finding lost luggage and other items. However, they work best when they remain attached to the bag.
One airport employee shared via TikTok that he has found multiple AirTags unattached to bags, rendering them totally ineffective in locating missing luggage. Posted by user @asaptrav, the video has drawn over 51,000 views as of Saturday.
“It is the second AirTag I’ve found,” he says in the video. “It’s a nice little AirTag and everything, nice and clean. Nice AirTag, but I don’t know whose bag it goes to out of all these bags. I mean, I’m not about to just put it on anybody’s bag. I keep telling y’all, put it inside the bag, not on the bag. It’s cool and everything, but if it falls off, I can’t return it to you.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to @asaptrav via Instagram direct message regarding the video.
@asaptrav Another Airtag Fail 🤦🏾♂️😑😭 #fypシ #fyp #foryou #tampa #airport #apple #airtag #florida ♬ Love You So – The King Khan & BBQ Show
Once a bag loses its AirTag, it is up to the owner to work with their airline to get their luggage returned to them—if it can be found.
Even then, a bag can remain lost despite having an AirTag showing its location, as one traveler learned. She tracked her baggage all over Washington D.C. for five days before it was returned to her.
Several viewers wrote that they could not wrap their heads around putting something like an AirTag on the exterior of a bag they were tracking.
“How is it not common sense for people to put it inside their bag,” one user asked.
“I’ve never been considered putting it on the outside…what was the reason?” another commenter wrote.
“Cause that was just really dumb,” a viewer said. “Why clip it when you can just throw it in?”
Others shared their personal preference for places to stash an AirTag to ensure it stays with their luggage while traveling.
“Outside hanging is wild,” one commenter wrote. “Mine are inside the suitcase liner.”
“My AirTag is in the zipper compartment of my suitcase because I’d be sick,” another viewer shared.
“I saw a guy putting it inside the zipper cover of his bag handle & I told him inside the pocket is better,” another echoed.
