Delta App Update Allows Travelers To Track Their Checked Bags On A Map

Over the past year, several airlines have experimented with different programs that allow passengers to track their checked luggage: from electronic baggage tags at Alaska Airlines to real-time tracking at American Airlines. Now, Delta Air Lines is jumping on the bandwagon, updating its app with a map that shows the real-time location of bags. 

Delta announced Tuesday that it updated its mobile app to integrate its use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags for checked luggage by showing customers at all airports a map of where their baggage is and where it has been.

Previously, the airline’s app allowed travelers to get updates on where their bags were last scanned.

The new feature displays a zoomed out map of the U.S. as the bag travels from one airport to the next. It then automatically zooms to airport view, where users can follow their bag along its journey by tracking a suitcase icon.

Passengers can tap on the icon to received additional information about the location of the bag, the company says.

The airline says that in the future customers will be able to opt-in for push notifications that would provide “down-to-the minute updates on their checked baggage.”

“We’re the first carrier to offer this level of visibility,” Bill Lentsch, Delta’s Senior Vice President of Airline Operations and Airport Customer Service, said in a statement. “From the moment our customers drop off their bag, we want them to know we’re looking out for it every step of the way and working to take the stress out of flying one innovation at a time.”

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist