Tuck an Airtag in One of These Spots on Your Next Vacation

CNET

02-07-2025

Summer is one of the most popular times of the year for travel, and with good reason. It's the perfect time to escape to the mountains for a camping trip, or hop a flight for a week at the beach. While being on vacation might let your stress melt away, preparing can be a different matter entirely. Being able to keep track of your luggage with connecting flights, or remembering where you set up camp in an unfamiliar place can leave you feeling exhausted, when you're supposed to be relaxing. Thankfully, Apple AirTags can be used to give you peace of mind wherever you roam.
These tiny gadgets are small enough to be discreet, but they're powerful enough to help you keep track of items like a bag, purse, suitcase or a set of keys. They're fairly easy to set up, and once they're connected to your phone, you don't have to do much else. Here are some ways to get the most out of AirTags.
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How do AirTags work?
Generally, you need to be within Bluetooth range to find your AirTag, but you can use Apple's Find My service to locate Apple's tiny tracker if it's farther away, as long as it's still in range of another Apple device. (Here's how the Find My network works.) To do so, just put your AirTag into Lost Mode and you'll get a notification once it's within range of the Find My network.
For more details, here's how to tell if an AirTag is tracking your location on Android and a deep dive into AirTags.
5 uncommon places to put your AirTags
🏕️ Put an AirTag in your tent for camping
If you're setting up camp in a location you've never visited, it could be useful to place an AirTag inside your tent so you can easily find your campsite. For instance, if you decide to hike several miles one day, you can use Find My to look up the AirTag's last location (your tent) and get directions back to the campsite. Remember, it'll need to be within range of someone else's device, so don't rely on this out in the wilderness. (This is also why Apple advises you not to use AirTags on pets.)
Read more: AirTags Are Not the Best Way to Find Lost Pets
🧥 Put a tracker in your jacket pocket
How often have you left your coat behind in a restaurant, bar or friend's house? Forgetting to grab your jacket when you head out is easy to do, especially if the weather is warmer than you expected or your hands are full of leftovers and to-go cups. If you know you'll be hanging your jacket on a coat rack or the back of a chair when you arrive, place an AirTag inside the pocket so you know where you left it. This can help prevent yet another favorite jacket from getting lost, and less money out of your wallet to replace it.
🧳 Stash an AirTag inside your luggage
Airports can be tricky to navigate, and can be especially difficult when you're trying to find the correct luggage pickup. Sometimes you wait 30 minutes until your bags finally roll out on the conveyor belt, and sometimes they get lost. To relieve the stress of trying to locate your suitcase, you can put an AirTag tracker inside so you can track its whereabouts.
This can help you find out if your bags were left on the airplane, if they're on the conveyor belt but you haven't spotted them yet or if someone mistakenly grabbed your luggage. Once you find out where your bags are, you can remedy the situation and continue on to where you're going. Don't worry, AirTags are TSA-approved so there's shouldn't be any issues with placing them in your luggage.
Read more: 7 Google Maps Travel Tips for a Stress-Free Holiday Experience
Place an AirTag inside your laptop bag so you stop misplacing it.
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🎒 Stick a tracker inside your laptop bag
Laptop bags can be easily left behind at a cafe when you're picking up coffee for everyone at the office. When your hands are full and you're distracted wondering how you're going to open your car door, it's hard to remember to grab your bag from the booth you were sitting in. That's why it's a good idea to place an AirTag inside one of the pockets. You will be able to locate your expensive laptop and save any confidential company or personal information in your bag.
🚲 Hide an AirTag on your bicycle
If it hasn't happened to you, you probably know someone who has had this experience. You get home from a bike ride, go inside to grab water and something to eat and completely forget about the bike you left outside. Or maybe you went to the store, didn't lock your bike up and when you came back it was gone. If you place an AirTag in a hidden place on the bike, you can easily locate it.
We don't recommend tracking the bicycle down on your own. It's best to notify the police and let them retrieve your bike so you can avoid any dangerous situations. This method also works on your car if it's been stolen or towed, or if you can't remember where you parked it. If you have an iPhone and it's connected to your car via Bluetooth, your phone can locate where you last left it.
Your iPhone can find your AirTag.
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More common areas to put an AirTag
AirTag is commonly used to locate these items.
Your keychain.
Your purse or wallet.
Your phone or tablet.
The remote to your TV.
Anything valuable that you leave outside your home.
For more Apple information, read how to make Siri glow and turn off Apple Intelligence.