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Lufthansa abandons AirTag ban

arstechnica.com

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Re: Lufthansa abandons AirTag ban

#71

Post by danpalmer »

croes wrote: post #68
danpalmer wrote: post #3

From what I've read Lufthansa never banned AirTags, regardless of what a misinformed customer service person on Twitter may have thought. They clarified their guidelines to say that active transmitters were not allowed in the hold because they couldn't be put on to flight mode (pretty much correct according to ICAO guidelines), and then after all this blew up later clarified their position by confirming that AirTags…

But why do AirTags not count?

The guidelines are targeted at phones and other long range transmission equipment. AirTags use Bluetooth and have a relatively limited range, a very low transmission power, and don't really do much at all until they get pinged by another device.

It's also been fairly well understood for a while now that Bluetooth is not a concern on flights, and it uses an ISM radio frequency which is specifically set aside so as to not interfere with things like planes and other critical communications infrastructure.

Re: Lufthansa abandons AirTag ban

#73

Post by Sohcahtoa82 »

poochy wrote: post #10
lutoma wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

… because they banned AirTags? That seems a bit of an overreaction.

Especially because it sounds like they didn't actually ban AirTags

> Hi David, Lufthansa is banning activated AirTags from luggage as they are classified as dangerous and need to be turned off./Mony

- https://twitter.com/lufthansa/status/1578879849577385984

Certainly you can understand why people thought they did though, right?

Re: Lufthansa abandons AirTag ban

#74

Post by tremon »

junon wrote: post #37
shapefrog wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You Won't Believe These 10 Tricks Headline Writers Use to Get Clicks.

But this is Ars. Typically considered above these sorts of things.

Your expectations are a few years out of date. Follow the link at the top of the page to update.

Re: Lufthansa abandons AirTag ban

#75

Post by uluyol »

pc86 wrote: post #52
Mikeb85 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lufthansa deserves it. Worst airline I've ever flown (and that's saying something being from Canada).

Is AirCanada bad? I have a big flight on there in a few months (honeymoon) and it's gotten rescheduled numerous times but otherwise service has seemed fine.

I have had a nightmare dealing with their customer service. Hour and half holds, dropped calls, inconsistent messaging, losing my information (personal address e.g. despite it being on an incident tracking website), lack of communication, difficulty with partner airlines getting ahold of them.

I took a Lufthansa+Air Canada trip because it was $300ish cheaper than the alternatives and I regret it. I also know many people personally who have had terrible experiences this past summer.

My suggestion would be to rebook if possible, but it might not be too bad since the summer is over. Either way I hope things go smoothly.

Re: Lufthansa abandons AirTag ban

#77

Post by duxup »

danpalmer wrote: post #55
duxup wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>From what I've read Lufthansa never banned AirTags "Hi David, Lufthansa is banning activated AirTags from luggage as they are classified as dangerous and need to be turned off./Mony" https://twitter.com/lufthansa/status/1578879849577385984 I think that's pretty explicit. Official policy somewhere else in the company might be different but it's hard to imagine how folks are supposed to know what is up when they say i…

> regardless of what a misinformed customer service person on Twitter may have thought I'd suggest that their published guidelines are probably more reliable than the interpretation of those being communicated for convenience by customer service reps. That's not to say this didn't have an impact, it clearly did, and customers should be able to trust this, but most of the reporting on this has treated it like an activ…

I think the "misinterpretation" is completely understandable considering their official outright said they banned them...

This wasn't even an interpretation, they say outright they're banning them.

Re: Lufthansa abandons AirTag ban

#78

Post by duxup »

tannhaeuser wrote: post #67

Idk this doesn't bode well - for Ars Technica. Don't they have news to report that they pull these nothingburger stories out of thin air? What has become of the Ars of John Siracusa with his legendary Mac OS reviews?

What's the nothing burger?

The story was all over HN and other sites.

Following up on what the actual policy is and how wonky it is to announce on your official twitter "Hi David, Lufthansa is banning activated AirTags from luggage as they are classified as dangerous and need to be turned off./Mony" and later having to clarify that it wasn't accurate ...

All that seems like legitimate news.

Re: Lufthansa abandons AirTag ban

#80

Post by kazinator »

This is like the French Canadian story of the Black Dog of Jean Labadie.

The character Jean Labadie is a good storyteller, who spins a vivid tale about a black dog, which doesn't actually exist. The people in his village believe it and start spreading rumors about it. People claim to have seen it, and even to have been bitten by it. Calls grow louder for something to be done about the ferocious animal as the false rumor spreads out of control. In the end, Jean has to shoot the nonexistent animal to calm the uproar.

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