United Passenger Flew Across the US to Find Lost Bag With AirTag: CNN

A United Airlines passenger flew two hours across the US after the airline failed to reunite her with her bag.

The passenger, Denver-based Sandra Shuster, told CNN that she was traveling from Baltimore to Denver via Chicago on July 17 when the checked bag that contained her daughter's lacrosse kit went missing.

When Shuster checked the location of an Apple AirTag she had left in the bag, the tracker showed that her luggage was in Chicago O'Hare airport at the Terminal 1 baggage reclaim.

Shuster told CNN that she relaid the information to United staff but failed to make much progress. This was partly because a United check-in agent had attached the incorrect tag to the bag, swapping it with a passenger who was only traveling from Baltimore to Chicago, per CNN.

The lack of progress made by United in tracking down the bag, which contained around $2,000 worth of lacrosse kit her daughter needed for team try-outs, pushed Shuster to take matters into her own hands. She booked a day off work, bought a ticket with her air miles, and flew two hours from her home in Denver to Chicago, per CNN.

She told the news outlet it took staff in the Chicago airport 30 seconds to find her the bag after she arrived.

A spokesperson for United Airlines told Insider: "Unfortunately, this bag was incorrectly tagged at the start of the trip, which contributed to the longer delay – we've apologized to Ms. Shuster, reimbursed the miles used and gave her an additional travel credit to use toward a future flight.

"Our teams work to reconnect our customers with their baggage as quickly as possible and we regret that we could not get this bag to Denver sooner."

This is not the first time passengers have resorted to using trackers to locate their bags.

Amid last summer's travel chaos, one passenger told Insider they were able to track down $10,000 worth of lost luggage, including a wedding dress, by tracking the bag with an Apple AirTag.