Everyone is tired of the airline luggage system. Airport officials are tired of it, lost and found is tired of it, and you’re definitely tired of it. But new airline bag tags that can be programmed by your mobile phone might just be the thing to help eliminate mishandled luggage.
Last year, about 1% of luggage was mishandled—which seems like a fair margin of error, until one does the math and realizes that this lost luggage cost the airline industry around $2.6 billion. That being said, airline officials are just as fed up with lost luggage as travelers, and maybe even more keen to solve the issue.
Everyone's favorite place: the luggage line
Fortunately for everybody,Vanguard ID Systems, a Philadelphia company, has developed a radio-frequency identification bag tag that can be scanned and tracked with your phone. The tag is embedded with RFID technology and near-field communication, combined with an E Ink electronic paper display. With the corresponding phone app, a traveler can code their bag tag with a destination—CDG for Paris, for example—which will then display on the tag will the RFID chip transmits the bag’s location.
Should the bag be misplaced, travelers will get a text message instantly, and can use the mobile app to direct the bag to their home or a hotel. The tag is completely compatible with the baggage scanners airlines are currently using to scan paper tags, and should definitely help airlines cut costs and the percentage of lost luggage.
Vanguard’s tag is already being tested by a few airlines, with British Airways beginning a 30-day trial on October 15 and Qantas Airways also conducting tests.
The tags will work with both Android and Apple mobile devices, with an estimated cost of about $30. While expensive, the extra cost should be more than worth it for the security it provides.
Source: Mashable.com.
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