Tracking your suitcase with an AirTag or an Android tag
A tracker in your suitcase does not have its own connection: it shows up on the map when phones around it pass its position to Apple's Find My or Google's Find Hub network, and you need data on your own phone to see it. Both systems can now send a temporary link to an airline if the bag goes missing. IATA allows these Bluetooth tags to stay switched on in checked baggage, within small battery limits.
See the Europe packHow a tag in the hold ends up on your map
An AirTag has no GPS and no SIM. Apple describes the Find My network as a crowdsourced network of more than a billion Apple devices that use Bluetooth to detect an accessory, and then send its location to iCloud, anonymously and encrypted. In the Find My app, an item that can be located appears on the map with a timestamp, and Apple says its location is updated when it connects to the network. If it cannot be located, you see where and when it was last seen, and you can turn on Notify When Found.
Android tags work the same way through Find Hub: other Android devices scan with Bluetooth and report where they saw your item. In practice, a bag in a busy baggage hall usually has phones around it, while a bag left in a quiet storeroom may only update when someone walks past. One more detail matters if your phone is lost too: Apple says AirTags can only be located in the Find My app on an iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple Watch, not at icloud.com/find.
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Will it work on my phone?
On iPhone: Settings → General → About, and scroll to EID. If there is an EID, your phone takes eSIMs. Every iPhone from the XS (2018) onwards does.
On Android: Settings → About phone → Status, and look for EID. If there is an EID, your phone takes eSIMs. Most Galaxy S20, Pixel 3 and later do.
It also has to be carrier-unlocked. If you bought it outright or your contract is over, it almost certainly is.
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- 3Connect when you landTurn on data roaming for the eSIM and you are online.
Before you pack: settings on each phone
iPhone: register the AirTag in Find My before the trip, under Items, and allow notifications for Find My, since Apple warns that Notify When Found depends on them. If you are travelling with someone, you can share the AirTag with up to five people from the item's page, under Share AirTag and Add Person. Apple says the people you share it with do not get tracking alerts while it travels with them, which avoids a partner's phone warning about an unknown AirTag in a shared suitcase.
Android: Bluetooth tags pair through Fast Pair and are added to Find Hub automatically. Google's settings are under Settings, Google, All services, Find Hub, Find your offline devices. The options With network in busy places only and With network everywhere both require a screen lock; Google says the second one helps in busy and remote areas. Keep Location and Bluetooth on, and give the Find Hub app the Nearby devices permission. Google also says tags should not be used to locate stolen items.
When the bag does not come out: sharing its location with the airline
Report the bag at the airline's desk first, then send them the tracker's position. On iPhone, open Find My, tap Items, choose the item, tap the More button and then Share Item Location, and follow the steps to create a temporary webpage. Apple gives sharing a bag with an airline as the example. The page updates while at least one of your Apple devices is online, and sharing stops when you are reunited with the item, after 7 days or when you stop it. You cannot share an item that is close to the device doing the sharing.
In Find Hub, select the item and tap Share item location, copy the link and paste it into the airline's app or form. Google says the option only appears when the tag is not nearby, the link expires after 7 days, and anyone with it can see the item's location and, if it is marked as lost, your contact details. The airline has to accept these links, so check its baggage page; both Apple and Google work with a list of airlines that grows over time.
Batteries and checked baggage
Apple's AirTag runs on a CR2032 lithium 3V coin battery, which you can replace yourself. Most Bluetooth tags use a similar button cell. IATA's lithium battery fact sheet explains why that matters at check-in: as a rule, electronic devices in checked baggage must be completely switched off, but there is a specific exception that lets AirTags and other baggage tracking devices stay on, provided the cell contains no more than 0.3 g of lithium metal, or 2.7 Wh for lithium-ion, and the tag only uses Bluetooth Low Energy.
Two practical consequences follow. A tracker that reports its position over a mobile network with its own SIM does not fit that description, so check the airline's dangerous goods rules before putting one in the hold. And spare batteries, coin cells included, belong in hand luggage, as IATA's fact sheet says for all spare lithium batteries. Airlines can apply stricter rules, so their own page has the last word. Power banks follow different limits, explained in our guide to power bank rules on flights.
Your phone needs data to see the bag
The tracker does its part without you, but the map does not load on a phone with no connection. Find My and Find Hub both download the latest position over the internet, and sharing a link with the airline needs a connection as well. That is often the moment you have just landed, with your home line's data roaming off. A data eSIM installed before the flight solves that: Snoozim's Europe pack works in 33 countries, starts counting when it first connects at your destination, and your usual number stays in the phone for calls and SMS from the airline.
If you want relatives to follow you rather than the suitcase, that is a different feature, covered in sharing your location with family. And if it is the phone that goes missing, the steps are in what to do with a lost or stolen phone abroad.
Can I put an AirTag in my checked suitcase?
IATA's fact sheet says AirTags and similar baggage trackers may stay switched on in checked baggage if the battery is within 0.3 g of lithium metal or 2.7 Wh and the tag only uses Bluetooth Low Energy. Airlines can be stricter, so check yours.
Does an AirTag need a SIM or mobile data?
No. It is found by Apple devices nearby through the Find My network. Your own phone needs a connection to show its position on the map.
How long does the link I send to the airline last?
Both Apple and Google end it after 7 days, or earlier when you are reunited with the item or stop sharing.
Can I see my AirTag on icloud.com if I lose my phone?
No. Apple says AirTags can only be located in the Find My app on an iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple Watch, so a travel companion's device signed in to your account, or a shared AirTag, is the backup.
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