Except for missing your flight, losing your luggage is one of the worst things that can happen when you try to catch a plane.
Who wants to be stuck in New York City with nothing but the tracksuits you wore to get comfortable on the plane? If there were ever such a thing.
How does luggage somehow manage to end up in China anyway?
Delta Airlines seems to be on the ball though as they’ve just launched a new feature that tracks your bags in real time.
The new technology, which will be available on the Delta app, allows customers to keep track of their checked bags on its flights between London Heathrow and the United States.
It works through something called Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) which is added to all bag tags, enabling customers to receive real-time updates on the whereabouts of their luggage from check-in to the arrival carousel.
The tags are read by RFID antennas at various points along the journey and customers receive push notifications via their phones on the Fly Delta app. Handy.
For those skeptical about the reliability of the tracking app, the airline has said initial testing showed they are tracked at a 99.9% success rate, ensuring proper routing and loading.
In addition to live updates, customers can also access a map view of their bag’s journey when travelling.
So at least now if your bag has ended up in Beijing, you’re aware of it before you wait at the bag carousel for ages, paranoid that you’ll never find your luggage. Mostly because you’ve forgotten what it looks like.
More: Travel
It’s good news for the airline’s additional European hubs too as Amsterdam and Paris are also set to be live online in the coming months with all other Delta airports scheduled to receive the technology soon.
Customers who book Delta-operated flights through its partner Virgin Atlantic, can also use the bag-tracking service on flights departing Heathrow.
That’s one less thing to worry about then.
MORE: If you scribble a love poem on an airline sickie bag, EasyJet might give you free flights
MORE: Airlines probed over claims families are split up on flights to make more money
MORE: Ryanair will add ‘Brexit clause’ to tickets meaning flights could be cancelled
[contf] [contfnew] 
METRO
[contfnewc] [contfnewc]
