The Edit — Travel
Can You Put an AirTag in Checked Luggage? The FAA Rule
The FAA lists trackers by name and allows them in checked bags up to 0.3 grams of lithium. An AirTag's CR2032 holds about 0.109, so it clears the limit roughly threefold.
This guide is research-led: we have not handled these units ourselves. If you buy through our links we may earn a commission — it never changes a pick.Research-led, nothing handled. We may earn from links; it never changes a pick. How we choose
This page reads the FAA’s own rules, checked on 23 September 2026, and lists the 4 trackers a checked bag most often carries, ranked by rating; How we choose sets out the method. Nothing here was flown or tested.
Apple AirTag (1st Generation), 4-Pack
Good fit Tagging every checked bag in a family
Not for Anyone with an Android phone
Good fit One checked bag on an iPhone
Not for Anyone with an Android phone
Good fit A household with both kinds of phone
Not for Tracking a bag far from home, where owners report it is weaker
Good fit A bag tag on any phone, with nothing to recharge
Not for Anyone who wants to swap the battery
The FAA names trackers specifically
PackSafe, the FAA’s guidance for passengers, has a row for location trackers that names Apple AirTags and Tile. They are allowed in both carry-on and checked baggage, with one condition: lithium content not over 0.3 grams, or a lithium-ion rating not over 2.7 watt-hours.
An AirTag runs on a CR2032 coin cell. Energizer’s datasheet for that cell puts its lithium content at 0.109 grams, roughly a third of the limit. The tag clears the rule with room to spare.
| What you are packing | Carry-on | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| AirTag or Tile in the bag | Yes | Yes, at 0.3 g lithium or less |
| Spare CR2032 cells, loose | Yes | No, carry-on only |
| Power bank or portable charger | Yes | No, carry-on only |
| Phone, laptop, camera | Yes | Yes, powered off and protected |
The rule that catches people is the second row. A tag installed in a bag is fine; loose spare batteries are carry-on only, and so is every power bank, whatever its size.
Airlines can be stricter than the FAA
The FAA sets the floor at 0.3 grams of lithium, and carriers add their own rules on top. Check the airline’s dangerous goods page before a trip, especially outside the US, where the operator’s policy rather than the FAA’s is what the check-in desk applies.
Nothing in the FAA guidance requires you to declare a tracker or to switch it off, because a coin-cell tracker is not the hazard a lithium-ion pack is.
What the map will actually show you
An AirTag has no GPS and no cellular radio. It sends a Bluetooth signal that nearby Apple devices pick up and relay to iCloud, and Apple’s network spans more than a billion devices.
In practice that means a bag goes quiet in a cargo hold and reappears when it reaches a terminal full of phones. You get a trail of points rather than a live line: the gate, the baggage hall, the van. That is enough to tell you whether a bag made the transfer, which is the question most travellers are asking.
Precision Finding, the part that walks you to within a few feet, only works when you are near the tag and holding an Ultra Wideband iPhone. It is what finds a bag sitting behind a counter in the lost luggage office, not what finds a bag 2,000 miles away.
Apple AirTag (1st Generation), 4-Pack
47,796 ratings at 4.8, the best-rated tag here and the older model: 4 tags for a family's checked bags.
Current price shown on Amazon. We may earn a commission.
| Phone | iPhone only |
|---|---|
| Network | Apple Find My |
| Battery | Replaceable coin cell |
The 4-pack suits a family that checks more than 1 bag, with a tag for each case. Owners call it dependable and easy to set up, and good value at 4 tags. Battery life is the split: many report cells that last, some report early failures.
It is the best-rated tag here, but it is the older model. For a bag lost in a busy terminal, the newer tag’s louder speaker and longer Precision Finding range are the better fit.
Buy it if
- Tagging every checked bag in a family
Don't buy it if
- Anyone with an Android phone
Apple AirTag (2nd Generation)
11,539 ratings at 4.6, with a speaker Apple says is 50% louder and up to 1.5 times the Precision Finding range.
Current price shown on Amazon. We may earn a commission.
| Phone | iPhone only |
|---|---|
| Network | Apple Find My |
| Battery | More than a year, replaceable |
| Sharing | Up to 5 people |
This is the tag for one checked bag and an iPhone. Apple states a speaker 50% louder than the first model and up to 1.5 times the Precision Finding range, which is what helps in a lost luggage office. Owners praise how precisely it points to a lost item.
Connection drops are the recurring complaint, and value splits owners. It takes the same kind of replaceable coin cell, so pack any spare in the cabin.
Buy it if
- One checked bag on an iPhone
Don't buy it if
- Anyone with an Android phone
Where to put it in the bag
Bury it in the middle of soft contents rather than in an outside pocket. Bluetooth carries better than most people expect from inside a case, and an outside pocket is the first thing opened.
If the bag is hard-sided, tuck the tag into a packing cube near the top layer. Packing cubes and compression covers how that packing works, and the tracker itself is profiled in Apple AirTag (2nd Generation), including the louder speaker that matters in the lost luggage office. For the drive to the airport instead, the winter car emergency kit is the list that matters. On an Android phone, an AirTag will not set up; Bluetooth trackers compared covers the tags that will.
On Android, pack a Tile instead
A Tile is the tag to pack when anyone in the household carries an Android phone, because it sets up on both. The FAA’s tracker row names Tile alongside AirTags, so the same checked-bag rule applies.
Tile Pro
4,026 ratings at 4.4, Tile's longest-range tracker, with a 1-year replaceable battery and an SOS alert.
Current price shown on Amazon. We may earn a commission.
| Phone | iOS and Android |
|---|---|
| Battery | 1 year, replaceable |
| Extra | Discreet SOS alert |
The Tile Pro suits a couple with an iPhone and an Android phone sharing one set of bags. Owners find the app walks them through setup quickly. The recurring complaint is range: owners report it works best near their own phone, and less well once a bag is across town.
Buy it if
- A household with both kinds of phone
Don't buy it if
- Tracking a bag far from home, where owners report it is weaker
Tile Mate
16,488 ratings at 4.3, a sealed tag with up to 3 years of battery by Life360's figure, so no spare cell to pack.
Current price shown on Amazon. We may earn a commission.
| Phone | iOS and Android |
|---|---|
| Battery | Up to 3 years, not replaceable |
The Tile Mate suits a traveller who wants a tag to leave in a suitcase and forget. Its battery is sealed, so there is no loose coin cell to pack in the cabin. Owners call it reliable and easy to set up; the complaint is that the tag is finished when the battery dies.
Buy it if
- A bag tag on any phone, with nothing to recharge
Don't buy it if
- Anyone who wants to swap the battery
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