Alaska Airlines to offer digital baggage tags in U.S. first

Alaska Airlines claims to be the first U.S. carrier to offer some of its passengers digital baggage tags.

Alaska Airlines passengers and check-in staff will no longer have to deal with baggage tags in the future, a move that will save paper and time.

The tags can be activated from any location up to 24 hours prior to the flight.

You can start by touching the phone used for check-in to the digital bag tag, which will read relevant information from the phone. The display on the bag tag will show the traveler's flight information.

The time spent dropping off luggage is expected to be reduced by 40%.

Charu Jain, senior vice president of merchandising and innovation at Alaska, said this week that the technology allows guests to tag their own bags in just seconds.

The electronic bag tags will allow our guests to quickly drop off their luggage after they arrive at the airport, as well as giving our employees the chance to spend more one-on-one time with guests who ask for assistance and reduce lines at our lobbies.

When the digital tags are introduced later this year, Alaska will give them to around 2,500 of its frequent fliers before expanding the service to its Mileage Plan members.

The members of the Mileage Plan will have to pay a fee to use the tags. It is possible that Alaska will offer the digital tags to more travelers later on.

Alaska Airlines is fond of experimenting with new technology. Another first for U.S airlines was the trial of virtual reality headsets for passengers.

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