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Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

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Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#461

Post by ungamedplayer »

capableweb wrote: post #257
madrox wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I once forgot to put my cell phone in airplane mode during a flight from London to SFO (and didn't use my phone during the flight). I was rather alarmed to see a flood of text messages from my carrier welcoming me to Iceland, Canada, and the US upon my landing.

That sounds... Improbable. When you were passing over Iceland you must have been far too far above the antennas to receive any sort of signal, unless it landed there on the way across the ocean?

This also happens passing over Sydney to Auckland from Singapore.

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#462

Post by WirelessGigabit »

superhuzza wrote: post #189
chrisseaton wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> at least not while airlines are still constantly losing luggage Does that actually happen to people still? I thought it was just a 90s meme. I get a push notification every time they move my bag anywhere. 'Accepted into the system', 'loaded onto the plane', 'unloaded off the plane', 'popped out at the carousel'. Seems pretty bullet proof these days.

It's been a big issue in the UK for the last few months, as airports struggled to find enough baggage handlers. So luggage was getting left all over, massive buildups, effectively "lost" until they have enough manpower to process it all.

Nah. They didn’t have issues finding baggage handlers. They couldn’t find enough baggage handlers for the low wage they were offering.

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#463

Post by perryizgr8 »

crystaln wrote: post #301
nostrademons wrote: post #76

Note that the reason for airport mode is a courtesy to cell-phone carriers. It's not any air safety issue. Rather, 300-500 cell phones all trying to contact the next cell tower, multiple times per minute, would wreak havoc on cell service. https://www.inverse.com/article/51015-cell-phone-use-on-airp... At one point, when both cell phones and laptops were new, there was perhaps a risk to the airplane's electronics. Mo…

The term airplane mode will persist as an anachronism forever. Some day we will have to explain to our grandchildren why disabling networks has anything to do with airplanes.

I remember using a Nokia phone long ago that didn't have an aeroplane mode. It was simply called "offline".

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#464

Post by WirelessGigabit »

This feels like one of those policies those idiots at work came up with.

Like: let’s disable Chrome’s password manager because of a Cisco leak.

Ok, back to password + time of the year.

You’re not solving an issue. You’re just making people find workarounds.

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#465

Post by josephcsible »

leifg wrote: post #276

Knowing German I read through the sources. This article is pretty misleading. The [primary source]( https://www.watson.de/leben/urlaub%20&%20freizeit/879935671-... ) is a slightly clickbait article asking the questions: "Are AirTags allowed in checked luggage?". They reached out to Lufthanse asking them. They responded: "Luggage trackers are electronic devices so they have to be turned off when the luggage is checked…

Don't the premises "AirTags are only allowed in checked bags if they're turned off" and "AirTags can't be turned off" lead to the conclusion "AirTags aren't allowed in checked bags"?

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#466

Post by hacym »

chimeracoder wrote: post #206
hacym wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think that’s true, or at least how you worded it is bad. Events of thousands of people don’t make you turn off your cell phone, so it’s not because of traffic to a tower. Instead, it’s interference caused by altitude and the pinging of towers. It’s actually an FCC regulation that requires it, so it’s not a courtesy as you say.

> I don’t think that’s true, or at least how you worded it is bad. Events of thousands of people don’t make you turn off your cell phone, so it’s not because of traffic to a tower. First of all, if you've ever been to an event with hundreds or thousands of people (such as a parade or a rally), you'll notice that even though you have "full bars", your service is degraded beyond usability, and you'll receive text messa…

Are you trying to tell me I’m wrong by repeating what I said?

> Instead, it’s interference caused by altitude and the pinging of towers.

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#467

Post by hacym »

NavinF wrote: post #261
hacym wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think that’s true, or at least how you worded it is bad. Events of thousands of people don’t make you turn off your cell phone, so it’s not because of traffic to a tower. Instead, it’s interference caused by altitude and the pinging of towers. It’s actually an FCC regulation that requires it, so it’s not a courtesy as you say.

> It’s actually an FCC regulation that requires it I don't believe you. Regardless, I have never used airplane mode on an airplane and I never will.

You don’t follow it so there isn’t an FCC regulation? Cool guy.

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#468

Post by shepherdjerred »

dghlsakjg wrote: post #20

The cat is out of the bag. There is no way that people are going to stop putting AirTags in their luggage, at least not while airlines are still constantly losing luggage and fighting people on reimbursement.

> at least not while airlines are still constantly losing luggage and fighting people on reimbursement.

Hah, if you're in the United States you should be fine. Federal law forces the airlines to reimburse you, even for just delayed baggage [0].

Last year my bag was delayed a few days on a trip to the mountains. My airline paid the cost to replace all of the clothing and other material in my bag. I think it ended up being ~$2100 worth. I bought items comparable to what I had brought, e.g. a lot of high-quality thermal clothing, some board games, chargers, etc, and I got to keep all of it.

[0]: https://www.transportation.gov/lost-delayed-or-damaged-bagga...

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#469

Post by stainforth »

Kaibeezy wrote: post #128
_hhkc wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with this. Mostly because I had a poor experience with one of their gate agents recently. They forced me to check my hand luggage because it was 2kg overweight. They don't uniformly enforce the hand luggage weight limit, their employees get to pick and choose passengers at the gate. The gate agent scoffed at me putting an AirTag in the bag that they were making me check.

> They don’t uniformly enforce… Because it’s a scam. They pick “enforcement” targets by guessing who seems likely to pay. I’ve never been charged when traveling solo. But with family or co-workers they have a shot at the “oh, just pay it, we have a plane to catch” gambit. I know their tricks and always refuse. Then I lay the bag down and start rifling through it like Yoda in Luke’s lunchbox. The long line of passenge…

If we could produce some kind of internal memo or training guide that proved this, would that be enough to result in some consequences in a court of law?

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#470

Post by stainforth »

ceejayoz wrote: post #80
runjake wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AirTags are scannable as an NFC and they identify themselves as AirTag.

NFC range is so low you’d have to scan the exact right spot in the bag. Good luck.

Hmmm, so could they require that all handlers turn off the functionality on their phones that enables this concept to work? Thereby reducing the pings or hits all together?
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