Categories

NEWS & OFFERS: Apple AirTag Airline Partners Announced inc BA, Virgin 5000 Point Bonus & Finnair Sale

Apple AirTag to work with 15 airlines including British Airways

Apple recently introduced Share Item Location, a new iOS feature that helps users locate and recover misplaced items by easily and securely sharing the location of an AirTag or Find My network accessory with third parties such as airlines. Share Item Location is available now in most regions worldwide as part of the public beta of iOS 18.2, which will soon be available to all users as a free software update for iPhone Xs and later. The shared location will be disabled as soon as a user is reunited with their item, can be stopped by the owner at any time, and will automatically expire after seven days.
 

You can generate a Share Item Location link in the Find My app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Recipients of a link will be able to view a website that shows a location of the item on an interactive map. The website will automatically update when a new location is available and will show a timestamp of the most recent update.

After a user generates a Share Item Location link in the Find My app on their iPhone, iPad, or Mac, the recipients will be able to view a website that shows a location of the item on an interactive map.
 
In the coming months, more than 15 airline including Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Turkish Airlines, United, Virgin Atlantic, and Vueling will begin accepting Find My item locations as part of their customer service process for locating mishandled or delayed bags. More airlines will be added over time.
 
Apple has worked directly with partner airlines to implement systems to privately and securely accept Share Item Location, leveraging the hundreds of thousands of Apple devices many airlines already use. Access to each link will be limited to a small number of people, and recipients will be required to authenticate to view the link through either their Apple Account or partner email address.
“We’ve worked closely with Apple to incorporate Share Item Location into our baggage recovery process and are excited to make this feature available to our customers soon,” said David Kinzelman, United’s chief customer officer. “We know many of our customers are already traveling with AirTag in their checked bags, and this feature will soon make it easier for them to share location information with us safely and securely, helping our customer service agents work more efficiently and giving our customers added peace of mind. We plan to accept Find My item locations in select airports initially, with the goal of introducing the service systemwide in early 2025.”
IAG has confirmed that they are keen to work with Apple,
“By accepting Find My item locations, we’ll be able to offer additional peace of mind to customers who travel with AirTag in their luggage,” said Annalisa Gigante, head of innovation at IAG, the parent company of British Airways, Iberia, Vueling, Aer Lingus, and LEVEL. “We’re always testing innovative solutions and enhancing our systems to ensure that checked bags reach their intended destination as quickly as possible, and we look forward to incorporating this solution into our lost baggage processes beginning later this year.”
Additionally, SITA, a leader in air transport technology, will integrate Share Item Location support into WorldTracer, the baggage-tracing system used by over 500 airlines and ground handlers at more than 2,800 airports worldwide.
“As the leading industry provider for end-to-end baggage management solutions, and with global passenger traffic set to double by 2040, airports and airlines worldwide will face important challenges. This collaboration with Apple will make it easy for airlines that use our industry-leading WorldTracer solution to implement Share Item Location for more efficient baggage management, and will be a huge benefit for passengers,” said Nicole Hogg, SITA’s director of Baggage.
Share Item Location is built on the Find My network, a crowdsourced network of over one billion Apple devices that use Bluetooth wireless technology to detect missing devices or items nearby, and report their approximate location back to the owner. The entire process is end-to-end encrypted and anonymous, so no one else, not even Apple or Find My Network accessory manufacturers, can view a device’s location or information.
 
I use Apple Air Tags for everything from my keys to my checked luggage as they are cheap, at around £29 per tag. This new development will not only allow you to know where your bag is at any time but will potentially speed up reuniting you with your lost luggage and eliminate luggage from being lost completely.
 
 

Virgin Red 5000 Point bonus

Virgin Red is rewarding members with another Clubcard auto-convert bonus. You can get 5,000 bonus Virgin Points when you sign up to auto-exchange Tesco Clubcard points into Virgin Points for the first time until 23 January 2025. This means Tesco Clubcard points are automatically converted into Virgin Points with each quarterly Clubcard statement. You will need either a Virgin Flying Club or Virgin Red account. 

I am a fan of Virgin points because of their versatility. Not only can you redeem on Skyteam flights as well as Virgin, but they also have a range of interesting partner airlines. Plus, you can also spend them on a cruise as I did recently or on concert tickets. There are also a lot of smaller cost options too. 

Virgin Red members who turn Tesco Clubcard points into Virgin Points will get 2x the points. All Clubcard members need to do is log in to Virgin Red and follow the instructions to sign up to auto-exchange. Members must have 250 Clubcard points in their account on 23 January 2025 to qualify for the bonus points.  

You can find out more here or download the Virgin Red app on your phone.  

 

Finnair sale

Finnair Air Lounge business class seat, which is on some flights from London

Finnair has announced a new sale, which includes a number of the airline’s most popular destinations for travel from the UK. Although it is mainly economy, there are some decent deals in business class too. Finnair use their long haul aircraft on two flights a day from London and with the distance to Helsinki being classed as short haul+ by BA you get double the usual short haul tier points i.e. 160 return on London to Helsinki in business class. You can even get 280 tier points between Helsinki and Lisbon or Malaga in business. 

Don’t forget to check the fare type in business class as the cheapest fares are usually Lite fares which do not include all the usual perks unless you have status. 

Economy

London to

  • Helsinki £178
  • Rovaniemi, the Official Hometown of Santa Claus £238
  • Hong Kong £499
  • Singapore £507
  • Seoul £568.
  • Delhi £438 

Business class

London to

  • Hong Kong £2117
  • Singapore £2476
  • Bangkok £1940
  • Seoul £1768
  • Delhi £1566

Finnair will offer customers six daily flights from Heathrow to Helsinki this winter, twice daily flights from Manchester and seven weekly flights from Edinburgh. 

 

Tweet
Share
Pin1
Share
Reddit
WhatsApp
Pocket
Email
Flip
1 Shares
Related Topics