How to use AirTag sharing when travelling with family and friends

I didn’t waste any time when AirTags first came out, immediately buying eight of them: for five bags, keys, a videography rig, and a bicycle. But I’ve also repurposed some of them during trips for some AirTag sharingwith friends, and iOS 18.2 makes this option even better.

I’ve confessed before to being something of a bagaholic, so the first thing I did was to slip an AirTag into each of my main bags, where they live almost permanently …

This means that no matter which of my main bags I take out with me, it will be protected.

For less-frequently used bags, I just borrow one to temporarily protect whichever bag I’m using that day.

But I’ve also lent one or two of these AirTags to my partner or friends when travelling together, so that I can track their bags as well as my own. In addition to the obvious value if a bag does go missing, I also really like the reassurance I get from boarding the plane, checking the Find My app and confirming that all our hold baggage made it safely on board.

But the AirTag sharing feature introduced in iOS 18.2 makes this type of social use even better. I can simply share the link for the tags used in my companion’s bags with them, so that they too can track them. It does, though, mean that they have no ability to track items until they are marked as lost (and you can’t cheat and do that when they aren’t, as the option isn’t available when they are with you).

This can be done with the original sharing feature, but that requires them to have an Apple account and an Apple device. Share Item Location in contrast works with any device, and without the need for an Apple ID.

I’ll also share with them the AirTags in my own bags as that way we get some additional redundancy. In the worst case of someone snatching both my phone and my cabin bag – containing my other Apple devices – my travel buddy will be able to instantly track my possessions on their own phone.

Share Item Location is a significant enhancement to AirTags when traveling with family or friends, ensuring that everyone in the party has oversight over all the bags.

Check out our simple how-to guide for instructions, and enjoy even greater peace of mind on your next trip.

Photo by 4zyxxn on Unsplash