halls120

Single best reason for this long overdue functionality. ^^

It's nice to see some changes that we actually do like, unlike what was shoved down our throats the first three years after the merger.

lincolnjkc

Yeah, if you stand near the beginning of the claim belt in many stations you can frequently hear the "Ba-Boop!" as each bag is scanned as it's dropped on the belt -- and I swear this has been going on for more than a year.

I think it's being done both for the app but also to ensure accuracy of delivery/reduce mishandling. If the bag is scanned at every time it's touched and an "alarm" (different beep, red screen or whatever, etc) is generated if it's being touched improperly (e.g. if a connecting bag is accidentally sent to the belt vs the next flight or vice versa) it allows that to be caught and possibly redirected to where it should be more quickly, or at least provide more breadcrumbs to identify where it went if its not caught and a missing bag report is filed ("Ok, it was offloaded at 9:59 am...and at 10:10 it was scanned on the belt at baggage claim..." vs "Well, it was offloaded at 9:59 am and that's the last it was ever heard from").

Actually about a year ago in EWR this came in handy when after 40+ minutes no bags had shown up at the belt... the baggage service office confirmed that my bag was in EWR (had been offloaded from the flight) but that it had been redirected to "long term storage" for "connecting flights that don't leave for a long time" and told me I could either wait around and hope it would show up on a belt or they'd take the missing bag report and have it delivered to my hotel "whenever they decide to get it out of storage". Being tired, I took the latter option.

The amount of effort to scan a bag the ramper is already handling probably isn't that much more.

SeattleDavid

AA has the same info as you describe DL as having - basically every time the bag is scanned the app gets the update. It makes it much easier to wait at the carousel when you just have to watch for 'offloaded onto carousel', and then you walk over to the chute and watch you bag arrive.

As much as I really appreciate this advance, it is odd in that, as others have commented, there is nothing I can do if no update arrives. For example, if I am sitting on the plane before departure and my bag isn't loaded, the fact that I know it hasn't loaded doesn't do me much good.

FriscoHeavy

AA has great bag tracking functionality. It's a real comfort to follow it on my app. It's on par with Delta. Scanned at check-in, loaded on plane, offloaded from plane.

That's all you need and it tells you everything you possibly need to know.

AndyPatterson

I would add this: (4) at baggage carousel.

Have seen situations where the bags get "offloaded from plane" before the passengers finish deplaning, but then the cart sits and sits and sits before getting to the baggage carousel.

CCIE_Flyer

That's debatable, of course, but I'd prefer not to see a timestamped entry for my specific bag suggesting an arrival scan that didn't actually yet take place (but was rather just a "plane landed" type of inference). Again, though, I get that this is beta, and it's a start in the right direction, at least...

RobOnLI

So we finally have this feature but it's a bit wonky. I have used it several times in the past 6 weeks.

First, why do we have to go into each reservation to see a "Track my bags" link when all that link does is bring you back to a list of your active reservations? "Track my bags" should be an option from the home menu. In addition, clicking on "track my bags" should automatically bring you to the baggage tags printed for your current itinerary that you are viewing.

Second, while it did work most of the times it didn't work all the time. It said no bags were checked for my reservation when they clearly were.

Third, there are date issues with the app and the data. I arrived back in Asia and tried to check my bag tags to ensure they got on my LAX-SIN flight but the reservation was already removed from the list of eligible flights when I clicked on "Track my bags" because the flight departed two days ago in the US and it's now two days later in Asia upon arrival. I had to manually enter my bag tag numbers which did produce the data I wanted.

-RM

swiftaw

I have the option from the home menu.

DCA writer

I got to try out the bag-tracking feature Sunday when I (who should totally know this kind of Dulles detail by now) was reminded that IAD's people movers don't run from the A to D concourses between 6:15 and 7:15 in the evening. Then one hadn't shown up by 7:20, so I had to run downstairs, jump on the Aerotrain, and jog about a half mile from there to D11 to make my SFO flight. I'm pretty sure I was the last passenger to board, but the bag-track feature in the app showed my bag had been gate-checked a minute after they scanned my boarding pass. Seeing that my luggage hadn't been left behind took a lot of the stress out of my departure.

That said, agree with RobOnLI that you shouldn't have to type in extra data points to have the app report this stuff.

joe_miami

Noticed just now that Track My Bags has lost the “beta” designation. However, I’m sitting on a plane that’s about 10 minutes to departure and all I’m getting is “En route / checked at XXX / received at ___ am.” Does this feature no longer give a “bag is on the plane”? I checked my bag over 2 hours in advance, so that isn’t the problem. Thanks.

sabbasolo

Don't forget those people with connections. It is extremely useful to know that your bags made the connection, and as previously mentioned, to avoid the 45 min wait before realizing they aren't coming. As previously suggested, it would be logical to only offer it at certain times, but that would undoubtedly fail under some circumstances, such as cancelled flights, diversions, ...

joe_miami

lincolnjkc

Yep, had three different flights in January that were IROPS helled and by the time I got to my destination I looked at the app and either there was a "your bag is being redirected...if you still see this message, see the baggage service office" message or just no downline scan after the connecting city, both times I stopped by the BSO and was like "I've had a long and miserable day, [the app told me to see you /-or-/ can you tell me if I should bother waiting for my bag because...]..." in each case the bag didn't make the last flight and they took the missing bag report, etc. and I had the bag back within 24 hours in two cases, and within 96 hours in the other.

Takes some of the sting/irritation out of waiting "forever" for the bag to show up on the belt, then waiting in line at the BSO to just get it done nice and early.

FlyngSvyr

Noticed yesterday that "track my bags" now shows up on the boarding pass in the app. Makes it easier to find the status now.

lincolnjkc

I know I'm reviving a dormant thread but thought the latency (or lack thereof) was interesting -- sitting in 2F and watching the bag upload I say my bag hit the belt -- not yet scanned on the flight -- bag was scanned - refreshed the status in the abb and it immediately showed as scanned on the flight.

Conversely last week I had bag hell (brought about by UA IROPS-> AA IROPS -> UA the next morning, and the app had no idea "watchya talking bout Willis (Tower)"... But I can hardly blame it -- UA's baggage resolution center and the airport BSO at first told me the tag had been 'voided' before looking deeper and realizing it had been Expedited via yet another AA flight ..