Bad weather, flight cancellations and lost luggage have made it almost impossible to travel smoothly over the holidays. Image: Anthony Kwan (Getty Images)
Traveling has been an absolute nightmare for many over the past few weeks, to say the least. Flights were cancelled, airports were besieged and luggage was lost – or was it? A traveler’s trip with lost luggage went viral on Twitter after she documented her belongings as they were being transported through Washington DC using an Apple AirTag, contradicting United Airlines’ claims.
according to her Twitter thread, Valerie Szybala claimed on Jan. 1 that United Airlines lost her bag and lied to her about its whereabouts. Szybala’s Apple AirTag attached to her luggage led her to an apartment complex, where she found other bags (but not her own) from United Airlines flights near the building’s dumpsters, as can be seen in photos she took shared on Twitter. After contacting United customer service via Twitter DMs and explaining that they had traced them to a random apartment complex, Szybala was prompted to do so “to calm oneself down” and that United would deliver her bag as it was “at delivery service”.
In an update on the same day, Szybala says so her luggage moved for the first time since December 30th and was sitting near/at a McDonald’s outside of downtown Washington DC. The AirTag then moved away from McDonald’s back to the apartment complex Szybala was led first.
Yesterday morning Szybala reported that her AirTag was moving again and was located 16 miles outside of downtown Washington DC, where she suspected it might be part of a shipment from United. However, the AirTag returned to the same apartment complex again. Szybala says that after returning to the apartment complex – with news crews documenting her story – she finally got her bag back, albeit under strange circumstances.
“Hello Valerie, I hope you are well [sic] I wish you a happy and blessed Christmas season”, a SMS that Szybala received said by an individual claiming to be affiliated with a company called DCA Couriers United. “I’m delivering the missing baggage from your flight on AA/UA. I would like to apologize [sic] for the inconvenience you had with your bag. Imma deliver it to you today. The problem was that the bag was given to me under another passenger and I delivered it to a different address and had to go back to that place and collect it.
After calling the number linked to that text message, Szybala says she was greeted by a man “Looked a bit surprised” to see her with the news teams. While Szybala was skeptical of the circumstances surrounding the texting, she was excited to get her bag back but is still interested in answers as to why the bag spent so much time moving around the Washington DC area while in returned to a condominium.
Szybala and United Airlines did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment. This lost luggage debacle comes as many travelers have started using AirTags to keep track of their luggage.