A Canadian man has shared his tale of how a well-placed AirTag in his luggage helped him catch United Airlines in a lie after it had lost the bag and basically lied to him about its location.
The Daily Hive reports Canadian Winston Sih says that on August 14, 2023, his United Airlines flight from Chicago to Toronto was canceled and he was diverted via Washington, DC. His luggage was supposed to accompany him, but the airline said it had lost track of the bag.
“I was told United would transfer my suitcase to the correct flight,” Sih told the publication.
The luggage did not make the trip with him. When he asked the airline why his luggage hadn’t arrived at Toronto Pearson International Airport, United Airlines said it would deliver it to his home. But thanks to an AirTag he had placed in his luggage, Sih could see that it was still sitting at Washington Dulles.
However, United Airlines insisted that the luggage was actually in Toronto. While UA did eventually put the bag on a flight to Toronto, “that’s where it started to wrong,” says Sih. Because now there was a second airline (Air Canada) involved.
His luggage did finally make it to the Toronto airport — where it took a trip around the baggage carousel at the airport until it was taken off the carousel, but left in the baggage hall unattended for 24 hours.
However, United Airlines insisted that the luggage was still in Washington.
“But what I… told them was that my iPhone was telling me that my AirTag was showing [the luggage] live in Toronto,” said Sih. “It would update every few minutes when it would ping off someone’s phone.”
While representatives from both United Airlines and Air Canada promised to grab the luggage and get it to him as soon as possible. “Unfortunately,” says Sih, “no one did.”
Finally, after a day of watching the AirTag indicate the luggage was at the Toronto airport, Sih grew tired of waiting and went to get it himself.
“I bounced back and forth between United Airlines and Air Canada staff,” he says. “They don’t have clear baggage offices after security/customs, which would be a good idea.”
Eventually, an Air Canada representative escorted him into the secure luggage area. He then used his iPhone 14 to track down the AirTag and recovered his luggage.
“It was like finding a needle in a haystack, but way easier with technology,” he said. “I would say, AirTags are a must if you’re traveling. I have them on my backpack, keys, and multiple suitcases.”
This isn’t the first time that an AirTag has caught an airline in a fib when it comes to the location of a passenger’s luggage. In early January, when a woman who placed AirTags in her luggage before traveling caught United Airlines lying about the security and location of her bags.
Szybala used her AirTags to track her luggage to a dumpster behind a residential apartment complex, where other United Airlines luggage was strewn by the dumpster and apparently emptied.
A bit later, Szybala’s AirTag showed that the baggage was on the move and was seemingly now at a McDonald’s restaurant. Shortly afterward, she says it left McDonald’s, returning to the apartment with the dumpster.
After making at least one other foray into the outside world, Szybala’s luggage finally found its way to her.