United customers can now securely share the location of an AirTag or Find My network accessory with customer agents via the United app, thanks to the integration of Apple’s new Share Item Location feature for AirTag.
On Thursday (December 12, 2024), United Airlines announced the integration of Apple’s new Share Item Location for AirTag. Customers will now be able to securely share the location of an AirTag or Find My network accessory with United customer service agents through the United app. This will allow for faster bag recovery and an even better overall travel experience. The new feature is available with iOS 18.2, and will drive a much-improved customer experience for the less than one percent of customers whose bags arrive on a later flight. This new digital innovation is just the latest example of United’s investments in infrastructure, training and technology to make travel and bag handling more seamless.
In Thursday’s announcement, United’s Chief Customer Officer, David Kinzelman, said,
“For years, every customer has been able to track the journey of their bag through the United app as it is scanned on and off the plane, and previously, they didn't have a way to directly share their AirTag information with our baggage team. Now, Apple's new Share Item Location feature will help customers travel with even more confidence, knowing they have another way to access to their bag's precise location with AirTag or their Find My accessory of choice. They can easily and securely share that with us in the United app, and our team can use the location information to find the bag and get it reunited with its owner much more quickly.”
In the rare event a customer’s bag doesn’t arrive at its final destination, customers can file a baggage report in the united app, and those who travel with an AirTag or Find My network accessory can now create a Share Item Location link in the Find My app on their Apple device, and add that to the delayed baggage report. Authorized United customer service agents can then open the link and view the item location on an interactive map, allowing them to quickly find delayed bags and reunite them with customers. For the privacy and security of customers, the shared location will be disabled as soon as the customer is reunited with their bag, can be stopped at any time, and will automatically expire after seven days.
Source: United Airlines