Apple's AirTag helps a magician find his lost bag at Newark airport
Apple's AirTag item tracker has come in handy for a lot of people since the accessory launched, and now it's even helped a magician find his missing bag at an airport.
Apple AirTag
Some AirTag owners who have had their belongings stolen have used the item tracker to actually get those things back. And the good news here is the magician was able to get their bag back, too.
As first reported by Insider, David Orleans was on his way to Newark on Tuesday to take part in a local trade show. The luggage he was bringing with him included upwards of $1,500 worth of sound equipment, all of which Orleans uses for his performances.
Interestingly, after Orleans got off his flight at the intended destination, he checked the Find My app to see where his luggage was. And, sure enough, the bag had made the journey with him.
Orleans made his way to baggage claim to wait for his bag to find its way to him. And yet, it never did. When the bag didn't show up, Orleans checked the Find My app again and noticed the bag hadn't moved.
It was still on the tarmac.
The magician made his way over to United Airlines customer support, where he spoke to someone who told him that his bag was not, in fact, in Newark because it had never been checked in. Orleans showed the agent that the bag was at the airport, just not in the airport, but the clerk wouldn't do anything to fix the situation.
They did say they could mail the bag, once it was located, to his hotel within five business days. Unfortunately for the magician, he was only in town for three days, and the items in the bag are essential for his show.
Upon closer inspection, Orleans found that his bag was located near Gate 90, despite the fact he arrived at a different gate. So, without any other options, he devised a plan: buy another ticket.
Orleans picked up a refundable ticket to Boston, made his way through security, and then went over to Gate 90. There, looking through the window, he could see his bag sitting on the tarmac.
Orleans' bag sitting on the tarmac. Image source: Insider
"It was just sitting on the tarmac," Orleans said. "The most frustrating thing is somebody walked past the luggage while I was watching it, and he just walked right past it, like it was not his job to get it."
Eventually, Orleans did find a United Airlines employee who was willing to help, even after they admitted they had "never seen that kind of thing before."
While Orleans watched from the window, the employee went out onto the tarmac and picked up the bag. The magician had to wait for a few more party tricks to finish, as the employee couldn't give the bag back to Orleans directly, it had to go through the proper channels first.
Orleans returned his Boston ticket, retrieved his bag, and made it to his show on time. And, despite having his bag and his items, United Airlines emailed him on Wednesday to let him know they were still looking for his bag and they'd send it to him as soon as they located it.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
Everything is powered by software systems these days, so the failures clearly lay with poorly-designed software, and a failure of management to hold the developers accountable for that. Make better software and these problems will go away.
Agent: "No, your bag is not in Newark."
You: "There's an AirTag on it, and here it is, at gate 90."
You: "Thanks for nothing."
That's a good one!!!!! Everyone laughed!!!
Lets not go so hard on them. They just fly airplanes. The incompetence of Airlines banks Facebook coin. Who doesn't have at least three stories. Every comment in this thread is actually amusing. And true.
2) Based on your first paragraph's logic I have doubts that your luggage has actually been lost and stolen that many times. Additionally, an economy seat on a plane is not the same price as a first class sleeper on a train for the same distance of travel. As someone who has travel extensively around the world, US train travel isn't a great bargain.
Additionally, I've also never encountered as many bathroom issues smelling up a sleeper car as I have with Amtrak... which you can google to find a lot of complaints about this unfortunate issue. For me, it's only about 1:20, but 5% of the time is still far too frequently.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Amtrak/comments/70yyh9/why_does_the_stench_from_the_bathrooms_seem_to/
To do some research for you, here's a cross country trip from SF to NYC. $170 for an economy flight with one stop, or $180 nonstop which will take 6 hours, while the cheapest Amtrak option is $335 and will require being on a bus and getting off at multiple stops to change buses and/or trains. That's nearly half the price for economy and at only 6 hours it can be done with ease in a day. Have you ever sat on a train for 24 hours straight, no sleeper car? I have, and it's quite uncomfortable even if you are in the nicer Business Class seats. Over 3 days in an economy seat while also spending a little more money than a 6 hour flight sounds horrible.
But you said get a sleeper car—which makes sense for being on a train for nearly half a week—but those prices are a lot. What is shown in the screensot are not a private room with your own facilities, but simply the Roomette option with a very small bunk bed and no seats unless you move you and your guest's luggage to the top bunk, fold up the bottom bunk, and then fold down the chairs when you're not in bed.
That's a lot of money and starting at considerably higher prices than even flying First Class (as shown below). Even JetBlue's Mint option which lie-flat seats is only $768 for the same trip. Mint is a real treat, BTW.
In conclusion, the only reason why I can imagine someone trying to talk up a fallacy is that 1) they're afraid to fly, 2) they're on a no-fly list for some reason.
2) I don't care if you prefer it, you egregiously claimed that "a first class sleeper has 10 times the room of an economy seat on a plane, costs about the same," which I've clearly showed is not the case, which also details which of us has actually traveled extensively via air and rail.
3) If you prefer it—which is a new angle on your comment—that's perfectly fine, as I've known many people who have not only taken the rail because they preferred it due to their fear of flying. I even have some family members that have taken the Auto Train from Lorain, VA to Sanford, FL so they could have their own car with them. It's surprisingly cost effective for that option, even though it's not to the that it would save you on fuel over driving for 12 hours -or- flying down and renting car for your Disney World vacation.
https://www.amtrak.com/auto-train-saver-fares
PS: I've traveled by rail enough that I've even looked into buying my own private rail car. Unfortunately the serviceable options for Amtrak aren't extensive enough for my desires... but it's fun option regardless.
https://www.amtrak.com/privately-owned-rail-cars