(ANN/dpa/THE STAR) – Bluetooth trackers like Apple’s AirTags have all but eliminated the headache of missing luggage, but there’s one thing they can’t do: get your bags off the plane first.
For those wondering why their bags often seem to be the last to appear on the conveyor belt, airport operators say they can only explain how luggage gets handled.
The bottom line is that the passenger has minimal control over the order of how luggages are loaded or unloaded.
In Germany, Frankfurt airport operator Fraport says there is a system to how luggage is stored and then taken off planes, and there are procedures that the airlines themselves set up.
It’s quite possible, for example, that your luggage will be sorted according to its status, and may appear sooner if it’s tagged as First Class, Business Class or priority-handling.
However, your journey path and layover flights at the arrival airport can also affect how an airline handles luggage loading and unloading. Even the kind of aeroplane can influence the destination of your suitcase.
Unfortunately there’s no blanket assurance regarding which luggage will be the first to appear on the conveyor belt.
Even if an airline ordains that First Class luggage should be first off the plane, Frankfurt’s operator says in the end, the order in which luggage emerges from the hold of a plane depends on a number of factors.
If your suitcase doesn’t show up at all, that’s where Bluetooth trackers come in handy. Popular trackers include Apple Airtags and Samsung SmartTags, and there are also devices from manufacturers such as Tile, Chipolo, eufy Security and Pebblebee. The basic principle of how luggage trackers work is the same for all.
The trackers use Bluetooth to contact any nearby smartphone that is compatible with their respective system. Then the rough location of the tracker is displayed on your smartphone.
Your phone can also locate the tracker if it’s within Bluetooth range, provided there’s nothing to weaken the signal such as walls.
That range can be from 5m to 50m. Problems arise if the tracker is farther away than that, for example at a different airport from you.
Then you have to hope that it’s within range of someone with a smartphone that has Bluetooth enabled and who uses the same kind of tracker as you.
