American Airlines adds free bag tracking

[700UW]

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/airline-industry/20150930-american-airlines-adds-free-bag-tracking.ece
 

 
American Airlines in recent weeks has quietly added free real-time online luggage tracking for checked bags, allowing customers to determine where their bag is — from check-in counter to baggage carousel pickup.
 
The service is useful not only for curious travelers, but in case a checked bag hasn’t arrived at your destination. You’ll know right away that your luggage is on the wrong plane, and you won’t have to stand at baggage claim for an hour wondering if your bag will be coming. You’ll know it went to Tokyo instead of Las Vegas and can seek help from the lost-bag department.
 
“It’s something our customers have been asking for a really long time, and we’re excited to make this available to them,” said American Airlines spokeswoman Laura Nedbal.
 

 

 

[Kev3188]

I think people would be surprised at how often this'll get used. We have it at my carrier, and I certainly was...

 

[WorldTraveler]

When you can determine if your bag is on the plane you are on, it is absolutely a valuable resource.

 

[wings396]

Can't help you to wonder how a passenger will react when they're on and their bag isn't. I can see several wanting to delay the flight until their bags are boarded.

 

[Birdman]

Can't help you to wonder how a passenger will react when they're on and their bag isn't. I can see several wanting to delay the flight until their bags are boarded.

Surely they're not dumb enough to make it "real time" tracking, for this reason.

 

[WorldTraveler]

it is available real-time from their competitor.

When you hear the bin doors close, I have seen passengers check - and I have done the same.

 

[nycbusdriver]

And when you hear the bin doors close and check, then find out your bag is NOT on the airplane, what do you do about it that you could not do before this system began?
 
Pitch a hissy fit and possibly get yourself ejected, or worse?
 
Spend the entire flight annoyed as h*ll now that you are no longer pleasantly oblivious to the situation?
 
The flight attendant (even on the competition), I guarantee, could not possibly care less, and they can do even less than that!  The captain (I absolutely know this one) doesn't care if your bag makes it and won't stop the process to first find it, and then to wait for it.
 
The only possible upside I can see is that once you have arrived, you can skip the carousel and go right to the line in the Baggage Service Office to vent, find out where your bag is and when it will be delivered to you.  So, it might save you that 30-45 minutes watching for the carousel to start....and end without your bag.  

 

[WorldTraveler]

I can't tell you because that hasn't happened to me and I haven't seen anyone react when they saw the results on the screen. But apparently the competition is not afraid of providing that information to its customers.

I am sure that FAs and cockpit crew don't get involved in ground-related customer service issues regardless of the issue. that isn't their job.

and your less paragraph probably is right... but if you know your bag isn't on the plane and have had a chance to process it and think thru an alternative, it might make the whole process on arrival easier.

 

[wings396]

Surely they're not dumb enough to make it "real time" tracking, for this reason.

It's real time tracking without a doubt. It's based right off the scans, and there are several people within the stations tracking all of the bags as well.

 

[jimntx]

And when you hear the bin doors close and check, then find out your bag is NOT on the airplane, what do you do about it that you could not do before this system began?
 
Pitch a hissy fit and possibly get yourself ejected, or worse?
 
Spend the entire flight annoyed as h*ll now that you are no longer pleasantly oblivious to the situation?
 
The flight attendant (even on the competition), I guarantee, could not possibly care less, and they can do even less than that!  The captain (I absolutely know this one) doesn't care if your bag makes it and won't stop the process to first find it, and then to wait for it.
 
The only possible upside I can see is that once you have arrived, you can skip the carousel and go right to the line in the Baggage Service Office to vent, find out where your bag is and when it will be delivered to you.  So, it might save you that 30-45 minutes watching for the carousel to start....and end without your bag.  

As a flight attendant, I object.  I care deeply if your bag doesn't make it on our flight.  I'm not going to nor can I do anything about it, but I do care deeply.  

 

[dfw gen]

maybe stores can use that program to track parts?

 

[Kev3188]

It's real time tracking without a doubt. It's based right off the scans, and there are several people within the stations tracking all of the bags as well.

Real time over here as well. My station doesn't have people actively monitoring it (you can pull it up from any workstation if you want, though), but every last bit of data is tracked for trend analysis...

 

[xUT]

maybe stores can use that program to track parts?

Or dispatch tracking ETOPS airplanes...

 

[jcw]

US had this for a very long time - had excellent impact on baggage performance since you can see where an issue arises then take action to fix it - feeds the regular process improvement approaches

 

[WorldTraveler]

precisely, jcw... consumers LIKE information and it provides an incentive for the company to deliver good performance.