Track My Bag - UA's bag tracking app
#31
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: LAX
Posts: 10,904
there is almost nothing you can do other than stressing out for hours... plus i bet there will be people freaking out and disrupting departure..
having a tracker probably doesnt improve actual bag handling percentages however if it includes directions on what to do in case of this ooops that should save some time on arrival...
i d make this info available only at or right before scheduled arrival time..
#32
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 841
Hmmm lets say you notice mid-flight that your bags are heading in the opposite direction, or as doors close you see that your bag is not loaded..
there is almost nothing you can do other than stressing out for hours... plus i bet there will be people freaking out and disrupting departure..
having a tracker probably doesnt improve actual bag handling percentages however if it includes directions on what to do in case of this ooops that should save some time on arrival...
i d make this info available only at or right before scheduled arrival time..
there is almost nothing you can do other than stressing out for hours... plus i bet there will be people freaking out and disrupting departure..
having a tracker probably doesnt improve actual bag handling percentages however if it includes directions on what to do in case of this ooops that should save some time on arrival...
i d make this info available only at or right before scheduled arrival time..
Meanwhile, I'll be heading straight out of the airport rather than wasting a half hour waiting for a bag that won't show up.
#33
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: London
Programs: UA GS
Posts: 2,438
Hmmm lets say you notice mid-flight that your bags are heading in the opposite direction, or as doors close you see that your bag is not loaded..
there is almost nothing you can do other than stressing out for hours... plus i bet there will be people freaking out and disrupting departure..
having a tracker probably doesnt improve actual bag handling percentages however if it includes directions on what to do in case of this ooops that should save some time on arrival...
i d make this info available only at or right before scheduled arrival time..
there is almost nothing you can do other than stressing out for hours... plus i bet there will be people freaking out and disrupting departure..
having a tracker probably doesnt improve actual bag handling percentages however if it includes directions on what to do in case of this ooops that should save some time on arrival...
i d make this info available only at or right before scheduled arrival time..
I ALWAYS want to have more information about my travel especially when it is disrupted. Same reason I always look at the inbound flight to anticipate whether there will be a delay. There's lots of examples I can come up with in which I could do something about it if I knew my bag didn't make the flight, especially in the modern world in which I generally have internet access on my flight.
- If the bag is on the next flight coming in an hour later, I might decide to stick around and wait. Perhaps I send a text message to my ride telling them to show up later
- I might look up where on the way from the airport to hotel I could stop off to do some shopping. Or if I'm visiting family ask them to do so for me. Heck in some places I could order same day delivery online and have it waiting for me at the hotel.
- I will mentally prepare to head straight to the baggage service office in case there is a problem filing a claim
I rarely check bags and even more rarely lose them when I do. But 100% of the time I do check bags I worry whether they've made the flight.
#34
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Floating around
Programs: UA 1K (1MM), DL Gold (1MM), Marriott LTT
Posts: 10,327
it's about time! I noticed this yesterday but my first UA flight out of Asia isn't for a few weeks so I won't be able to test this until then.
For those who are panicking about what to do if you see your bag hasn't made it on the flight, don't panic. There's not a damn thing you can do about it on the plane. And you aren't going to take yourself off the flight because your bag didn't make it, are you?
I had this happen once within the past year or two and I was flying on DL. Yes, DL has had this functionality in their app for a while now. Their app tells you when it's scanned on and off a plane which is useful. Long story short, I figured out my bag didn't get checked onto the flight I already boarded. About halfway to my stopover point (ATL) the app showed my bags already re-routed and on a flight through another connecting city to my destination. Sure, they still arrived late. But they were getting there and I could see that data on the phone. So, no big deal.
-RM
For those who are panicking about what to do if you see your bag hasn't made it on the flight, don't panic. There's not a damn thing you can do about it on the plane. And you aren't going to take yourself off the flight because your bag didn't make it, are you?
I had this happen once within the past year or two and I was flying on DL. Yes, DL has had this functionality in their app for a while now. Their app tells you when it's scanned on and off a plane which is useful. Long story short, I figured out my bag didn't get checked onto the flight I already boarded. About halfway to my stopover point (ATL) the app showed my bags already re-routed and on a flight through another connecting city to my destination. Sure, they still arrived late. But they were getting there and I could see that data on the phone. So, no big deal.
-RM
#35
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,300
I'd much rather be informed in advance that my bag didn't make it than only find out after waiting all the way to "last bag" at the carousel. Not only did I just save 40 minutes of pointless waiting, good chance I'll beat the crowd to the baggage services office.
#36
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: CLE, DCA, and 30k feet
Programs: Honors LT Diamond; United 1K; Hertz PC
Posts: 4,134
(I detest kiosks being the only avenue for customer service so this rubbed me the wrong way)
Yep. There have been some close connections/weather irrops were I'm finally getting "wherever" late at night, usually coming home, and my first stop has been the BSO to ask if I should bother waiting around (about 50/50) -- this way I can make that decision without bugging someone.
#37
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: GVA (Greater Vancouver Area)
Programs: DREAD Gold; UA 1.035MM; Bonvoy Au-197; PCC Elite+; CCC Elite+; MSC C-12; CWC Au-197; WoH Dis
Posts: 52,110
#38
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA, AA, DL, Hertz, Avis, National, Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 9,425
Does the app provide notifications? I probably check bags less than 10x a year, so I haven't had a chance to use the new functionality yet. I would appreciate limited notifications, such as:
- bag scanned on the airplane (including at connecting airport)
- bag mis/redirected
- bag scanned off the airplane at final destination.
This and boarding notifications are two 'wishes' I have for the UA app, which I believe is more functional than the DL app save for these two areas.
- bag scanned on the airplane (including at connecting airport)
- bag mis/redirected
- bag scanned off the airplane at final destination.
This and boarding notifications are two 'wishes' I have for the UA app, which I believe is more functional than the DL app save for these two areas.
#39
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Denver, CO, USA
Programs: Former 1KMM now free as UA Gold MM, former HH D, Marriott Lifetime Plat
Posts: 1,121
Overall I was unimpressed by this last week. It showed my bag being checked and loaded onto the plane. Then, upon arrival, the app deleted everything to do with the flight (boarding pass, the info in flight status, and knowledge of my checked bag).
You can retrieve the bag info after arrival by typing in or scanning the bag tag number, but the app never indicated my bag getting off the plane or put on the belt. I lost interest in testing after my bag came out the chute.
You can retrieve the bag info after arrival by typing in or scanning the bag tag number, but the app never indicated my bag getting off the plane or put on the belt. I lost interest in testing after my bag came out the chute.
#40
Join Date: Oct 2008
Programs: UA 1K, 1MM
Posts: 504
This is great I had been hoping they'd add this for a while, particularly given I've had some trips where my connections were quite tight and i wanted to know if my bags made the flight or not rather than sit in the airport for 45 minutes to find out they didn't.
#41
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Houston/DC
Programs: UA 1K, 1MM
Posts: 562
They should let the reservation you are flying stay around on the app for a bit longer, especially if the baggage tracking feature is going to be tied to it.
#42
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: CLE, DCA, and 30k feet
Programs: Honors LT Diamond; United 1K; Hertz PC
Posts: 4,134
Pleasantly surprised to see that this even works with interline bags coming coming from another carrier (in this case LH with a 02x bag tag):
While waiting to board the first UA flight of the itinerary (after napping in the LH Senator Lounge -- a godsend)
After Landing in ORD but before sollecting my bag
Currently sitting in the B6 United Club and the results look the same as they did before (even though both the bag and I cleared customs and the bag was rechecked nearly an hour ago) -- would be nice, either to allow visibility into all scan activity as mentioned up thread, or to add an additional step to confirm that the bag has been recorded as being rechecked post-customs
While waiting to board the first UA flight of the itinerary (after napping in the LH Senator Lounge -- a godsend)
After Landing in ORD but before sollecting my bag
Currently sitting in the B6 United Club and the results look the same as they did before (even though both the bag and I cleared customs and the bag was rechecked nearly an hour ago) -- would be nice, either to allow visibility into all scan activity as mentioned up thread, or to add an additional step to confirm that the bag has been recorded as being rechecked post-customs
#43
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: COS
Programs: UA Gold/1.5MM (several years running now!), Marriott LTTE, Hertz Prez
Posts: 1,899
Overall I was unimpressed by this last week. It showed my bag being checked and loaded onto the plane. Then, upon arrival, the app deleted everything to do with the flight (boarding pass, the info in flight status, and knowledge of my checked bag).
You can retrieve the bag info after arrival by typing in or scanning the bag tag number, but the app never indicated my bag getting off the plane or put on the belt. I lost interest in testing after my bag came out the chute.
You can retrieve the bag info after arrival by typing in or scanning the bag tag number, but the app never indicated my bag getting off the plane or put on the belt. I lost interest in testing after my bag came out the chute.
On the whole, it's a start catching up to the competition, which is of course what UA's known best for (for better or worse)...
#44
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Floating around
Programs: UA 1K (1MM), DL Gold (1MM), Marriott LTT
Posts: 10,327
This was my experience arriving into MIA recently (the deleted itinerary immediately upon arrival part). I was able to retrieve the beta baggage functionality via a manual entry of my record locator. What concerned me was that it showed my bag as having arrived before bags could possibly have begun to be offloaded, leaving me to suspect that the app is simply drawing a conclusion from the aircraft's arrival and the bag's departure scan (and it's not clear to me that that's necessarily a scan as the bag is physically being loaded onto the aircraft).
On the whole, it's a start catching up to the competition, which is of course what UA's known best for (for better or worse)...
On the whole, it's a start catching up to the competition, which is of course what UA's known best for (for better or worse)...
If United were to provide us the info we all want, like what time a bag was taken off the plane before it got delivered on the belt, then they would have to scan every bag as it came off the plane. That would slow down the baggage delivery process so I don't see them starting this.
I think the scan showing it was loaded on the flight at the originating airport is sufficient.
-RM
#45
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Denver
Posts: 451
I don't recall ever seeing someone scan bags on a United flight as they come OFF the plane. Therefore, UA wouldn't actually know if the bag was taken off the plane because it wasn't scanned. So if it sees a departure scan on the flight you just arrived on from the originating airport then it's safe to assume it's made it to your destination airport and is ready to be delivered on the baggage belt.
If United were to provide us the info we all want, like what time a bag was taken off the plane before it got delivered on the belt, then they would have to scan every bag as it came off the plane. That would slow down the baggage delivery process so I don't see them starting this.
I think the scan showing it was loaded on the flight at the originating airport is sufficient.
-RM
If United were to provide us the info we all want, like what time a bag was taken off the plane before it got delivered on the belt, then they would have to scan every bag as it came off the plane. That would slow down the baggage delivery process so I don't see them starting this.
I think the scan showing it was loaded on the flight at the originating airport is sufficient.
-RM
Then again, if United were to show the passenger every single time their bag is scanned, it'd be information overload and probably counterproductive. Seeing a dozen different scans for each point in the bag's journey, half of which would confuse 99% of passengers, isn't really a beneficial addition in my eyes.