Originally Posted by
kcaluwae
I've traveled a lot and our luggage always arrived, although sometimes 2 or 3 days later.
The latest news items, along with our upcoming flight with a transfer in LHR, are making me a little nervous though.
I'm an Android user so AirTags are of no use to me. In this post the only alternative discussed is Tile. Is nobody using other devices, there seem to be plenty of them when I search on Google. Some of them also specifically aimed at luggage.
I just wonder if a device lacking a GPS can properly indicate your bag's location if it's lost in a hall filled to the brim with suitcases. I'm not sure if a Tile user will get close enough to my lost bag if it never makes it to a luggage belt but instead gets lost in the basement at LHR.
Luggage trackers with GPS are bigger, more expansive, requires monthly sub to a mobile service, with low battery life and is NOT going to work in a basement at LHR. GPS tracker requires reading signals from at least 3 to 4 satellites in the sky. Basement is actually where airtag would work and GPS tracker won't. You just need 1 worker with an iPhone to go into the basement. Even if his iPhone doesn't get any mobile signal, wifi, or GPS inside the basement, his phone would pick up the airtag bluetooth. When he got out to somewhere with signal, it will transmit out and you will get the general location.
But yeah, Tile is probably not going to work well in a basement either as you need that one person with Tile app installed to go near it. But that's the ultimate trump card with Airtag. That it has millions and millions of beacons all over the world. The previous few posts were talking about manufacturers setting up beacons at airports, but Apple has done it with the entire world for free using their customers' mobile data, battery and devices.