United Airlines has announced a new feature for its travelers that lets them access the Apple AirTag's Share Item Location feature directly through the airline's mobile app. This innovation will make the process of locating lost or delayed luggage much easier, as customers will be able to securely share AirTag location data with United Airlines' customer service team. The feature is a part of the Apple iOS 18.2 update, which recently started rolling out for iPhone.
According to United Airlines, the feature is geared towards the small percentage of travelers, whose bags don't arrive with the same flight. While the airline claims that almost 99% of its customers experience timely luggage delivery, fewer than 1% of its travelers face rare cases of luggage mishandling. For those affected, the new AirTag's Share Item Location feature in the United Airlines app promises to make travel less stressful and baggage recovery more efficient.
David Kinzelman, United's Chief Customer Officer said in a post,
Apple's new Share Item Location feature will help customers travel with even more confidence, knowing they have another way to access to their bag's precise location with AirTag or their Find My accessory of choice. They can easily and securely share that with us in the United app, and our team can use the location information to find the bag and get it reunited with its owner much more quickly.
Notably, customers will now be able to generate a Share Item Location link in Apple's Find My app and include it in the baggage report filed through the United Airlines app. Using the link, the authorized service team will be able to get the real-time update about the bag's location on an interactive map. The map will get updated when a new location is available, and access to the location will automatically expire, after seven days or once the bag is retrieved. The whole process is end-to-end encrypted.
To enjoy this new feature, customers should have an iPhone running iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, or macOS 15.2 or later and ensure that the United Airlines app is up to date. Travelers without the United Airlines app will also receive text updates with tracking instructions to track the misplaced baggage and the ability to add Share Item Location links.
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