How to use AirTag sharing when travelling with family and friends

I didn’t waste any time when AirTags first came out, immediately buying eight of them: for five bags, keys, a videography rig, and a bicycle. But I’ve also repurposed some of them during trips for some AirTag sharingwith friends, and iOS 18.2 makes this option even better.

I’ve confessed before to being something of a bagaholic, so the first thing I did was to slip an AirTag into each of my main bags, where they live almost permanently …

This means that no matter which of my main bags I take out with me, it will be protected.

For less-frequently used bags, I just borrow one to temporarily protect whichever bag I’m using that day.

But I’ve also lent one or two of these AirTags to my partner or friends when travelling together, so that I can track their bags as well as my own. In addition to the obvious value if a bag does go missing, I also really like the reassurance I get from boarding the plane, checking the Find My app and confirming that all our hold baggage made it safely on board.

Previously, the tags could only be tracked by me within my app, but the AirTag sharing feature introduced in iOS 18.2 makes this type of social use even better. I can simply share the link for the tags used in my companion’s bags with them, so that they too can track them.

I’ll also share with them the AirTags in my own bags as that way we get some additional redundancy. In the worst case of someone snatching both my phone and my cabin bag – containing my other Apple devices – my travel buddy will be able to instantly track my possessions on their own phone.

Share Item Location is a significant enhancement to AirTags when traveling with family or friends, ensuring that everyone in the party has oversight over all the bags.

Check out our simple how-to guide for instructions, and enjoy even greater peace of mind on your next trip.

Photo by 4zyxxn on Unsplash