OliverB

Is there any REAL-TIME traceable solution?

I've read so many reports of Trackdot, LugLoc and others not performing as claimed. I'm looking for ACCURATE GPS pinpointing in a secure and discreet product. Does anything like this exist?

boltjames

You are more correct than you realize.

These tags aren't for consumers, they are for the airline industry for whom lost luggage forces them to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance, customer service, transportation, security, and replacement costs. They are working on an RFID solution that will replace barcode stickers. They will be trackable. They will grately reduce operations costs and losses. They will cost consumers nothing, they'll be giving them away.

BJ

Loren Pechtel

No, because it can't. A GPS receiver inside a suitcase will never get a fix. If it's built into the suitcase there would be a small chance of a fix if the bag got left out on the ramp for a bit, but that's it.

1) GPS is carried on a very high frequency, the penetration is terrible. The only common building material that you have any chance of getting a fix through is glass.

2) Civilian GPS has a minimum 30 second acquisition time. There is a 30 second loop broadcast on the signal, until that message has been downloaded there can be no fix. Thus things like the trip down the conveyor belt from the airplane to the cart won't give you a fix. That's assuming you even have a plane that does it that way. (And note that in practice, smaller, lower power units will take longer to find the signal, especially if you do not already know where you are.)

Loren Pechtel

I had an interesting experience with Trakdot.

We were approaching the airport and flew over another airport. We had 4 trackers in our luggage, I got 6 e-mails. 4 for the airport we landed at, 2 more that presumably referred to the airport we flew over.

fartoomanyusers

that's not supposed to happen - the Trakdot isn't supposed to switch on until the aircraft decelerates on landing !

are the airports so close that it could just have picked up the "wrong" cell tower after landing ?

gpeso8

I have no idea how the technology is suppose to work but occasionally when in Los Angeles and on the way to LAX it will send me an alert as i'm on the 105 passing Hawthorne that my luggage is at Hawthorne Airport!

alexoster

Instead of being given an entirely new bag-tag by the airline each & every time you check in luggage, the barcode on their permeant bag-tag (which also comes with some great tracking features built-in), will be scanned by the airline, and bring the bag number into the PNR.

Created by: OneBagTag.com, what are my fellow FT'ers thoughts on this?
I feel like their approach, although it's kinda basic, it can be a game-changer.

Here is their bio:
The ‘Permanent’ Luggage Tag, For All Your Air Travels!
Created and patented by two New York City based luxury travel CEO's, One Bag Tag is set to revolutionize the airport luggage check-in process across the globe. Goodbye long-lines, ripped-tags, & peeling-off sticky receipt.
In addition, our tag is built in with, GPS, Bluetooth & RFID giving your bag the most advanced tracking abilities globally.

joshwex90

Any more info on availability? Is this something coming to fruition, something available, or just a concept?

flyupfrnt

Alaska Airlines has run a test on a similar type of RFID luggage tags. I'm not sure how the reviews and test went. I find it an intriguing enhancement

alexoster

AS is simply using a Vanguard e-ink bluetooth tag to deliver the same old system of a new barcode for each trip for each bag (https://blog.alaskaair.com/alaska-ai...ronic-bag-tags). This is just another LH/Rimowa situation.

After some digging, this is basically the OneBagTag approach:
"OneBagTag is about two types of features.
Firstly there is it's very core feature which we patented. This involves no electronics and is ultimately a B2B solution, whereby when checking in bags at the airport we will eliminate the need for a tag to be created & printed.
The idea here with our tag is that each one has a 'permanent' 10 digit number & corresponding barcode that now belongs to it's owner, and can be reused over & over again each time they check-in bags at the airport.
This will work and integrate directly within the current universal baggage system, since it uses the same 10 digit number & barcode.
The one and only big change here will be, that instead of the airline giving the tag to the passenger, now the passenger will give it to the airline, either via scanning their OBT at the airport, or eventually via a field within the online check-in process.

Then comes the tech gadget side of OneBagTag.
Here the Bluetooth, RFID and GPS combined will offer the ultimate in bag tracking. Finally, there is the built-in bag weighing scale built in too."

chx1975

This would mean every airline you use needs to participate first, right?

joshwex90

To use it, yes. You could still leave it on as a plain luggage tag if an airline didn't participate

Error 601

We use something like this on our equipment skids that are stored and delivered by third-party logistics companies. They're like $10 a piece and supposed to last five years on the factory battery. The next generation tag can either be programmed by Bluetooth LE or M2M cellular connection but the cellular version will be way too expensive to be practical for our purposes.

alexoster

I don't understand why this was moved to a consolidated baggage tracking thread. This is not about tracking a bag, this is a major game-changer to how a suitcase is checked-in at the airport.

SanDiego1K

Who is using Trakdot and what are your current views? Amazon reviews are a bit meh. We've got an upcoming trip where we fly xxx-yyy (30 minute connection)-zzz (22 hour connection) - LAX. I'd like peace of mind that my suitcase is in the same airport as me. How far can I be from my suitcase and know where it is? For example, if I get to zzz and my suitcase didn't make the connection, will I be able to tell?