Travel Technology - Is there a tracking device one may install in luggage?

Is there a tracking device that one may put in luggage so that when the bag goes missing you know exactly where it is?

I'm sick of airlines telling me they don't know where my bag is where it goes missing...

Yes, there are some tracking devices that would work in luggage. But they are not very practical;

There is no GPS reception in the basement of an airport, so 90% of the time you won't be able to get a fix on the bag

They have a cellular modem built in, and no way of knowing whether they are on a plane. So they may be transmitting while in the air

Battery power is fairly limited (about 48 hours)

The purchase price is around $400 with a monthly charge of around $20.

Dup. -- Delete.

I'm sick of airlines telling me they don't know where my bag is where it goes missing...

The Peter Greenberg solution of FedExing luggage ahead of time would be a way around this.

It might be interpreted as a bomb type device, it may want to start chattering while in the air breaking airline rules. switched on GPS's aren't allowed on certain carriers etc.

You could buy a SPOT TRACKER and put it in your luggage. It will send out a signal every 15 minutes - 60 minutes about where it is. It MIGHT work sitting in a luggage area, but since it probably needs eye to the sky to really get GPS it could be a crap shoot.

I think the battery life is ONE WEEK. 49$ and then 15$ a month or 100$ a year for service.

could also be nice to have. I think the tracker will send a signal every 15 minutes for 24-48 hours though. The 60 minute one will send for five days.

Spot Tracker doesn't use cellular, it uses Iridium (if you think about it for about five seconds you might understand why). But it does need a GPS fix and a path to the Iridium galaxy, both of which would be problematical in a typical baggage warehouse. Even if it gave you its last good lat/lon, it would still have to phone home.

Most of the times, airlines are great in tracing bags. Except when my bag went AWOL in JNB and no one knew where it is for 2 days!

Is this it: http://www.mypilotstore.com/mypilotstore/sep/5036

Can you realy put this in luggage? But seeing the map... if I had it in Jan, there is no coverage in certain parts of the world anyway, like Africa!

Spot Tracker doesn't use cellular, it uses Iridium (if you think about it for about five seconds you might understand why). But it does need a GPS fix and a path to the Iridium galaxy, both of which would be problematical in a typical baggage warehouse. Even if it gave you its last good lat/lon, it would still have to phone home.

Actually, it uses Globalstar, not Iridium. Which explains the lack of coverage in the south of Africa and Alaska.

Most of the times, airlines are great in tracing bags. Except when my bag went AWOL in JNB and no one knew where it is for 2 days!

Is this it: http://www.mypilotstore.com/mypilotstore/sep/5036

Can you realy put this in luggage? But seeing the map... if I had it in Jan, there is no coverage in certain parts of the world anyway, like Africa!

You can put it in your bag, but it has REALLY lousy GPS reception. It barely works right outside, let alone in your bag inside a building.

This one:

http://www.globaltrackinggroup.com/products_ubi4000.cfm

works on (GPRS) cellular networks. But really, the cost of the device and subscription will high, so you have to ask yourself whether it's worth it?

Spot Tracker doesn't use cellular, it uses Iridium (if you think about it for about five seconds you might understand why). But it does need a GPS fix and a path to the Iridium galaxy, both of which would be problematical in a typical baggage warehouse. Even if it gave you its last good lat/lon, it would still have to phone home.

Actually, the spot tracker uses the Globalstar network and transmits back UP to the satellite. So indeed, the requirement for "eye to the sky" would be necessary for transmission as well.

Having used and owned both phones before, Iridium and Globalstar, I would say not having an open view to the heavens would be problematic.

-whoops, didn't see previous post of similar comment.