It’s not hard to imagine, and it’s every weary traveler’s worst case scenario. Perhaps this has happened to you. You arrive home from your trip only to find your luggage didn’t make the trip with you. You rummage around and find those little baggage claim stickers from the depths of your carry-on to show an airline customer service representative, but other than that you have no way of knowing where your bags are. It’s an awful beginning or end to any trip.
Delta Baggage Tracking on mobile app
Currently, there are many bag tracking devices and accompanying apps on the market, but those put the onus on the traveler to make the airline aware that, for example, they’re on a flight to Omaha while their luggage is on its way to London.
Delta is turning this model around, as they have recently announced a $50 million update to their baggage tracking technology system. New RFID scanners, RFID bag tag printer, and RFID pier and claim readers have been installed in 344 stations worldwide. Delta’s investment is the largest outlay by a single airline to date, and has resulted in baggage tracking that is 99.9 percent accurate.
The integrated system hinges on an RFID chip that is embedded in the baggage tag. Passengers have the option to sign up to receive push notifications through Delta’s Fly Delta app that will let them know when their luggage has been loaded and unloaded from their aircraft. This way, you know immediately whether your bag is on your plane or not.
Tim Mapes, Delta’s Chief Marketing Officer, said, “In the same way customers want information at their fingertips about flight changes, we know our customers want clear visibility to their checked bags. Delta’s industry-first baggage tracking app was a good first step. RFID will allow us to set a new standard for more transparent, interactive tracking.”
Will you use this new technology, or do you have other bag tracking technology that you use already? Share with us in the comments below, on our Facebook page, or in our Twitter stream.
Photo credit: Erik Deckers (used with permission)