United Airlines integrating Apple’s Share Item Location into its mobile app

Apple last month announced a new Share Item Location feature for helping to track AirTags and Apple devices, and said at the time that it would be partnering with more than 15 airlines. Those airlines would accept links from passengers tracking mislaid baggage.

United Airlines has now shown how it will integrate the feature into its mobile app, enabling customers to easily add the links …

Apple users have long placed AirTags into the hold luggage. It’s reassuring to be able to see that your hold bags have made it onto the plane with you, and in the event that they do go astray, it can make it very much easier to retrieve them.

AirTags have also exposed sketchy practices by airlines:

• Magician relies on AirTag and a second plane ticket after United makes his bag disappear
• AirTag continues to make up for United’s incompetence when checked bag goes ‘missing’
• Passenger sees his lost wallet fly to 35 cities thanks to AirTag after airline says it couldn’t find it
• AirTag reveals airline donated couple’s lost luggage to charity without explanation

iOS 18.2 includes a new feature, Share Item Location. As the name suggests, this enables anyone with a Find My tracked item – be it an iPhone or an AirTag-equipped bag – to share a link with the airline so that they too can track it.

Apple said that more than 15 airlines would accept these links.

In the coming months, more than 15 airlines serving millions of people globally — including Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Turkish Airlines, United, Virgin Atlantic, and Vueling — will begin accepting Find My item locations as part of their customer service process for locating mishandled or delayed bags. More airlines will be added over time.

United Airlines integrating into mobile app

To make it easier to share links, United says that customers will be able to paste them directly into the airline’s mobile app.

United today announces the integration of Apple’s new Share Item Location feature for AirTag into its mobile app, a move that’s expected to drive a much-improved customer service experience for the fewer than 1% of customers whose bags arrive on a later flight.

Now available with iOS 18.2, Apple’s Share Item Location feature enables United customers everywhere who travel with an AirTag or Find My network accessory to privately, securely, and seamlessly share the accessory location with the airline’s customer service team to help locate their luggage in the event that it is mishandled.

If a bag goes missing, you file a delayed baggage report in the app, and include the link. Customer service agents will then be able to view its location in order to speed up retrieval. As soon as a bag is back in the customer’s hands, they can disable the tracking link.

Photo: United