How an airline passenger tracked the ‘wild ride’ of her lost luggage
The chance of your luggage going missing is among the most anxiety-inducing facets of any flight, especially one taken amid the holiday rush.
Unfortunately for Valerie Szybala, that’s precisely the scenario that she began 2023 contending with after a domestic US journey from Chicago back to her home in Washington.
In a viral Twitter thread beginning with a post that’s amassed more than 20 million views since New Year’s Day, she documented the “wild ride” her bag took on its eventual return to her – all thanks to an Apple AirTag.
While the small, disc-shaped devices have come under fire over fears that people can use them for criminal or malicious purposes, they are designed to be attached to keys, wallets, and other belongings to help find lost items.
Informed by airline United that her bag had not made it on to the flight to Washington, and safe in the knowledge an AirTag was attached, Ms Szybala took up the offer of having it delivered by courier.
Its apparent journey from that point on was one she could scarcely believe.
The apartment complex
Concerned about the whereabouts of her luggage, Ms Szybala investigated an apartment complex the AirTag suggested was housing her belongings.
On 1 January, three days after the bag was said to have departed the airport, she tweeted it had been “sitting in a residential complex for over a day”.
“Out back by the dumpsters, I have found other emptied United Airlines bags,” she added.
Ms Szybala shared screenshots of a conversation she had with a support representative from the airline, who had assured her the bag was still on course for delivery.
“I am sorry, I don’t know why it is showing there,” they said of the AirTag’s assertion that it was elsewhere, even suggesting that Ms Szybala “calm down”.
HOW DO AIRTAGS WORK?
AirTags are loaded with what Apple calls its U1 chip, which is essentially able to “ping” any other Apple device out in the wild to triangulate the precise location of the AirTag itself.
Because there are so many iPhones out there, this chip means the AirTag doesn’t rely on more familiar location tech like GPS.
To see where an AirTag is, users open the Find My app on an iPhone – and newer handsets can get precise on-screen, SatNav-style directions.
Misplaced AirTags can be put into a “lost mode”, which allows users to enter a custom message that displays on someone’s phone when they hold it near the lost AirTag – like contact details, for example.
It all sounds pretty convenient, and when used as intended as in the case of missing luggage, it can prove excellent value.
But some have expressed concern about the gadget’s potential to track people rather than items, with criminals or stalkers theoretically capable of slipping one into someone’s bag or even on their car.
Apple insists it has made AirTags “stalkerproof”, because the Find My app will alert people if one of the gadgets that does not belong to them, and is assigned to someone else, is detected for an extended period of time.
But the company is the focus of a class-action lawsuit in San Francisco, brought by two women alleging the devices made it easier for ex-partners to track them down.
A trip to McDonald’s
Later that day came a “major update” regarding Ms Szybala’s luggage.
Sharing a picture of her bag’s position on a map, she said: “For the first time since Friday my AirTag (and hopefully luggage) appears to be on the move… it’s at a McDonalds?
“The plot thickens.”
The McDonald’s in question appeared to be on Rhode Island Avenue, near a shopping centre bearing its name.
It eventually left the fast food restaurant, returning to the apartment complex.
On the road again
The second day of the new year brought hope that the luggage would find its way to Ms Szybala’s home.
“My AirTag is on the move! It’s about 16 miles outside of the city in the suburbs,” she tweeted.
“Hopefully this means it is on a delivery run?”
Unfortunately, her hopeful fingers crossed emoji was misplaced, as the bag ended up going back to the flats.
The reunion
Following the bag’s latest return to the flats, Ms Szybala enlisted a “little posse” – including local news crews – to go with her to the building.
A text message purporting to be the courier followed, telling her that the bag would be delivered on the day and encouraging her to “call me or text me if any questions”.
“It’s sketchy, and it doesn’t really match with what my AirTag tracking said, but I immediately called the number,” revealed Ms Szybala.
“The dude who picked up was around the corner, so he drove back to meet me near the building.
“He looked a little surprised to have two news crews filming. He asked if he was in trouble or something, but at that moment I was too happy to have my bag back to ask more questions.”
Ms Szybala encouraged her followers, who were left on tenterhooks by her day-to-day sleuthing, to use tracking devices on their luggage in case a similar situation befalls them.
A United spokesperson told Sky News: “We’ve been in touch with this customer to discuss this situation and confirm she has received her luggage.
“The service our baggage delivery vendor provided does not meet our standards, and we are investigating what happened to lead to this service failure.”
Donald Trump has agreed to send “top of the line weapons” to NATO to support Ukraine – and threatened Russia with “severe” tariffs if it doesn’t agree to end the war.
Speaking with NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte during a meeting at the White House, the US president said: “We’ve made a deal today where we are going to be sending them weapons, and they’re going to be paying for them.
“This is billions of dollars worth of military equipment which is going to be purchased from the United States, going to NATO, and that’s going to be quickly distributed to the battlefield.”
Pic: Reuters
Weapons being sent include surface-to-air Patriot missile systems and batteries, which Ukraine has asked for to defend itself from Russian air strikes.
Mr Trump also said he was “very unhappy” with Russia, and threatened “severe tariffs” of “about 100%” if there isn’t a deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days.
The White House added that the US would put “secondary sanctions” on countries that buy oil from Russia if an agreement was not reached.
Later on Monday, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Mr Trump and said he was “grateful” for the US president’s “readiness to help protect our people’s lives”.
After criticising Vladimir Putin’s “desire to drag it out”, he said he appreciated “preparing a new decision on Patriots for Ukraine” – and added Kyiv is “working on major defence agreements with America”.
It comes after weeks of frustration from Mr Trump over Mr Putin’s refusal to agree to an end to the conflict, with the Russian leader telling the US president he would “not back down” from Moscow’s goals in Ukraine at the start of the month.
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Trump threatens Russia with ‘severe’ tariffs’
During the briefing on Monday, Mr Trump said he had held calls with Mr Putin where he would think “that was a nice phone call”, but then “missiles are launched into Kyiv or some other city, and that happens three or four times”.
“I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy,” he added.
Earlier this year, Mr Trump told Mr Zelenskyy “you’re gambling with World War Three” in a fiery White House meeting, and suggested Ukraine started the war against Russia as he sought to negotiate an end to the conflict.
After Mr Trump’s briefing, Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev said on Telegram: “If this is all that Trump had in mind to say about Ukraine today, then all the steam has gone out.”
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Meanwhile, Mr Zelenskyy met with US special envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv, where they “discussed the path to peace” by “strengthening Ukraine’s air defence, joint production, and procurement of defence weapons in collaboration with Europe”.
He thanked both the envoy for the visit and Mr Trump “for the important signals of support and the positive decisions for both our countries”.
US
Trump is clearly fed up with Putin – but will his shift in tone force Russia to the negotiating table?
As ever, there is confusion and key questions are left unanswered, but Donald Trump’s announcement on Ukraine and Russia today remains hugely significant.
His shift in tone and policy on Ukraine is stark. And his shift in tone (and perhaps policy) on Russia is huge.
Ever since Mr Trump returned to the White House he has flatly refused to side with Ukraine over the Russian invasion.
He has variously blamed Ukraine for the invasion and blamed Joe Biden for the invasion, but has never been willing to accept that Russia is the aggressor and that Ukraine has a legitimate right to defend itself.
Today, all that changed. In a clear signal that he is fed up with Vladimir Putin and now fully recognises the need to help Ukraine defend itself, he announced the US will dramatically increase weapons supplies to Kyiv.
Pic: Reuters
But, in keeping with his transactional nature and in a reflection of the need to keep his isolationist “America-First” base on side, he has framed this policy shift as a multi-billion dollar “deal” in which America gains financially.
American weapons are to be “sold” to NATO partners in Europe who will then either transfer them to Ukraine or use them to bolster their own stockpiles as they transfer their own existing stocks to Kyiv.
“We’ve made a deal today,” the president said in the Oval Office. “We are going to be sending them weapons, and they are paying for them. We are manufacturing, they are going to be paying for it. Our meeting last month was very successful… these are wealthy nations.”
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What will Trump’s weapons deal mean for Ukraine?
This appears to be a clever framing of the “deal”. Firstly, America has always benefited financially by supplying weapons to Ukraine because much of the investment has been in American factories, American jobs and American supply chains.
While the details are not entirely clear, the difference now appears to be that the weapons would be bought by the Europeans or by NATO as an alliance.
The Americans are the biggest contributor to NATO, and so if the alliance is buying the weapons, America too will be paying, in part, for the weapons it is selling.
However, if the weapons are being bought by individual NATO members to replenish their own stocks, then it may be the case that the US is not paying.
NATO officials referred all questions on this issue to the White House, which has not yet provided clarity to Sky News.
It is also not yet clear what type of weapons will be made available and whether it will include offensive, as well defensive, munitions.
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Will Trump’s deal make a difference?
A key element of the package will likely be Patriot missile batteries, 10 to 15 of which are believed to be currently in Europe.
Under this deal, it is understood that some of them will be added to the six or so batteries believed to be presently in Ukraine. New ones would then be purchased from US manufacturers to backfill European stocks. A similar arrangement may be used for other weapons.
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The president also issued the Russian leader with an ultimatum, saying that Putin had 50 days to make a peace deal or else face 100% “secondary tariffs”. It’s thought this refers to a plan to tariff, or sanction, third countries that supply Russia with weapons and buy Russian oil.
This, the Americans hope, will force those countries to apply pressure on Russia.
But the 50-day kicking of the can down the road also gives Russia space to prevaricate. So, a few words of caution: first, the Russians are masters of prevarication. Second, Trump tends to let deadlines slip. And third, we all know Trump can flip-flop on his position repeatedly.
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‘Trump sides with the Ukrainian cause’
Maybe the most revealing aspect of all this came when a reporter asked Mr Trump: “How far are you willing to go if Putin sends more bombs in the coming days?”
“Don’t ask me questions like that…”
Mr Trump doesn’t really know what to do if Mr Putin continues to take him for a ride.
Mr Biden, before him, supplied Ukraine with the weapons to continue fighting.
If Mr Trump wants to end this, he may need to provide Ukraine with enough weapons to win.
But that would prolong, or even escalate, a war he wants to end now.
There’s the predicament.
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