Holidays are a time to relax, unwind and be carefree. But there's no quicker way to turn them into a stressful endeavour than luggage lost in transit, especially after a lengthy, arduous flight. Here’s a not-so-fun fact: 7.6 bags out of every 1,000 air travel passengers were mishandled by airlines across the world in 2022, according to air transport communications and information technology specialists, SITA. When you think about how many thousands of people fly each day, that’s a lot of lost bags (and resulting headaches). So it’s welcome news that Virgin has launched a bag-tracking tool – the first Australian airline to do so.
Domestic travellers can now access the digital bag tracking on two-thirds of Virgin’s aircrafts throughout the Australian network, before it gets rolled out for all their flights. You’ll be able to use the Virgin Australia app to keep your eyes on your bag during every step of the journey – so if it ends up taking a little sojourn to Istanbul when you’ve landed in Athens, it’s a whole lot easier to track down and get back.
While there are already products on the market like the Apple Airtag, which tracks your luggage to your devices, Virgin’s new tech means you won’t have to fork out money for accessories or manage the process yourself. No more waiting in airport queues or on the phone for hours to try to track down your suitcase.
This new development for Virgin comes as the airline injects $400 million into programs and initiatives to improve the overall customer experience.
They’ve also just revealed a $110 million cabin renovation, which makes flying in Economy comfier and a little more luxe – check out the changes, here.