lincolnjkc

The app doesn't show every scan (As far as I, and all of the BSO trained agents I've talked to, can tell this might be to prevent confusion and alarm) it will also seem to suppress data if there's data that doesn't make sense [e.g. quickly scanned on and off of the same flight, scanned ON to another flight before being scanned OFF of a previous flight) -- a BSO agent (or any agent who knows where to look) can pull the complete scan history. For example, just pre-COVID I had an itinerary get torn up due to IROPS, and the app was showing ending at one point where a BSO-trained agent in the club showed me probably 15 scans after that point (including ON 1234, OFF 1234, ON 1234, OFF 1234, ON 4567 OFF 1234 ON 4567)

For the most part its reliable but also probably best described as "for entertainment only" -- The BSO can see way more than the app ever will

tromer

Great info, thanks. I theorized that the exception was suppressed since there's no reason to risk an agitated passenger for six hours. Interesting to learn that might actually be part of it, but that it goes deeper than that.

narvik

I've had several occasions when looking out of the window pre-departure and watching bags being loaded 'last minute' where two people are loading and scanning bags onto the conveyor belt.
One person loads, and another scans. Sometimes it gets scanned before being dropped on the conveyor belt, sometimes immediately afterwards. Sometimes the bag gets pulled off the conveyor belt after already having gone up a few feet, then re-scanned, then dropped back onto the conveyor belt, then pulled off again whilst watching the screen of the scanner. Sometimes they pull the bag completely, drop it on the floor, and get back to it later. Sometimes it goes back on the luggage cart after a brief discussion amongst each other.

Every single time I've watched this, I think to myself: "I bet at least one of those bags won't make it to the same airport as the owner at the same time."

My takeaway has been that baggage scanning is more art than science.

eightblack

Most of my travel is long haul and while I havent had a bag go missing in a long while, (and I find the bag tracking feature on the app to be very reliable) I also have air tags in my bags. Just gives me peace of mind.

exerda

I, too, have been impressed by the strides the app has made in bag tracking over the past few years. It still has glitches--some itineraries confuse it, and it claims it can't find any bags associated (despite having texted me the link after checking the bag)--but by and large, it's been close to spot on for me the past few years. IIRC, it's day trips on the same PNR that cause the most issues for me.

Honestly, despite a lot of UA irrops the past year and change, I've had very few bag issues. Several times I have sprinted to a flight and been among the last to board, the door closed right afterwards, and yet, my bag made it. Even once when the app said it was being redirected due to the delay--it ended up making the original flight. This is a huge change from a few years back for me, during which I felt I was on a first name basis with the delivery service.

As for air tags, yes, if you have an iPhone, go for it. I use Tile since I have Android, not quite as useful given it's not as ubiquitous as air tags are, and it worked well for me in HND earlier this year when UA claimed my bag had been left in ORD... A few minutes after talking to the baggage agent, I got Tile reports that my bag had been "found," and in another 5-10 minutes, it showed up on the carousel after everyone else's bags had already come out. A friend had a similar experience on Alaska, where the bag tracker said it was still in SJC, but he saw it showing up in SEA (despite him being on a non-stop to the east coast), and sure enough, a day later, the airline "found" it and got it sent onward and delivered.

SS255

On my last flight I had a tight connection at ORD. The flight was delayed due to “late-arriving bags.” My bag showed arriving in ORD, but never showed as loaded onto my connecting flight. Yet, my AirTag showed the movement of the bag, and showed it “with” me just before we pushed back. It went “dark” until a few minutes after we pulled up at the gate at AVP, after which the AirTag showed the bag at AVP. My guess is that it slipped through the conveyor without getting scanned onto the flight.

So, UA’s app is great for piece of mind when all goes well, or when the muck-up is obvious. But, it is not fool-proof. AirTags are excellent companion pieces to the UA baggage tracker.