The best luggage trackers

A Bluetooth tracker broadcasts a signal a few meters. It has no GPS receiver and no cellular radio. When a compatible phone passes within range, that phone anonymously reports the tracker's location to the network, and you see that report in your app.

• In an airport, they work very well. Phone density is extremely high, so updates are frequent and accurate to a terminal or a baggage area.
• In a cargo hold at altitude, they do not work at all. No phones, no updates. The tracker will show its last known position, which is usually the departure airport.
• In a remote warehouse or on a truck, they work intermittently. Updates depend entirely on someone with a phone walking past.
• They cannot be used to track a person's movements in real time. Both major networks include anti-stalking alerts that notify someone if an unknown tracker is traveling with them.

So the realistic expectation is this: you will know which airport your bag is at, and usually which part of it. That is genuinely valuable - it is the difference between an airline telling you the bag is 'in the system' and you telling them it has been in Charles de Gaulle baggage services for eleven hours.

Network density above everything else, because it is not one feature among many - it is the product. A tracker on a sparse network is a coin cell in a plastic case. Then which phone you carry, which determines the network available to you. Then battery replaceability, since a sealed tracker is disposable. Then format, which decides where in the bag it can live.

We have not tested detection latency in airports ourselves and we do not run a testing lab. Network coverage claims here reflect the publicly documented structure of each network rather than our own measurements - our methodology sets out the distinction.

• GPS trackers with a SIM and a monthly fee. They genuinely work in a hold, but the subscription cost over a few years exceeds the value of most bags and the battery needs charging.
• Unbranded trackers on proprietary apps. No network means no detection, which means no product. These are the most common thing sold in this category and the least useful.
• Trackers with non-replaceable batteries at disc prices. A disposable device at a rechargeable price is a poor trade.
• Smart luggage with built-in trackers. Several airlines restrict non-removable batteries, and you cannot move the tracker to a different bag.

1. Put it inside the bag, not on the outside. An external tracker is removable by anyone. Inside a packed suitcase it works fine and cannot be detached.
2. Put it somewhere you can describe. If you need to tell an airline where the tracker is, 'in the front pocket' is more useful than 'somewhere in the bag'.
3. Check the battery before a long trip. A coin cell lasts about a year, and it will die on the trip that matters if you never check it.
4. Screenshot the location before you talk to the airline. A timestamped screenshot is a far more effective thing to show a baggage desk than a live app you have to explain.
5. Pair it with a [luggage tag](/luggage/best-luggage-tags). The tracker tells you where the bag is; the tag tells whoever finds it where to send it.

Coin-cell trackers installed in a device are generally accepted in checked baggage, and several major airlines have explicitly confirmed their position on Apple AirTags specifically after earlier confusion. The general lithium battery rules are the ones to know: spare batteries and power banks must be in carry-on baggage and are prohibited in checked bags.

That prohibition is about spare and uninstalled batteries, not about a coin cell inside a working device. If you are carrying a power bank, that is the item the rule is aimed at, and it comes out of the checked bag before you hand it over.