Things were starting to look bleak after I waited over 40 minutes for one of my checked bags to come off the belt and onto the luggage carousel at Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport.
The carousel was so full that the bags stopped coming down.
In order to keep things moving, fellow passengers worked together, unloading bags onto the floor and playing a game of dominos with the ones still on the carousel in the background.
An announcement came over the speaker saying if your bags weren't at the carousel for your flight, check another one.
It was implied from the scene that they could be anywhere, even though they didn't say anything over the intercom. It could be nowhere.
My bag was not the only one going home.
There is a favorite carry-on luggage.
There are piles of stuck-in-limbo checked bags when there is a lot of delayed and canceled flights.
Over the last few weeks there have been many stories of checked bags that are not where they are supposed to be.
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It has happened before with airports and airlines. Many travelers were prepared to find the bags themselves with the help of Air tags.
Apple AirTags, which retails for $29 each or $99 for a pack of four, can keep tabs on the location of everything from your keys to your bag.
The stories and photos of unclaimed luggage at some airports made them a must-have for frequent flyers.
Sometimes the AirTag knows the best way to track bags in an airline's system, as was the case with recent traveler Valerie Szybala.
Szybala caught the attention of over 22 million people when she wrote about her missing bag pinging at a random apartment complex instead of where the airline said it was.
Szybala's bag had a multi-night stay at that apartment complex and she went out to eat at a few restaurants.
After catching the attention of the news crews, the bag and its owner were finally found. The AirTag is believed to be the only reason the story ended happily.
The AirTag I put inside my checked bag was an important part of our reunion. The bag made it to Houston thanks to the AirTag.
I knew it wouldn't be that far away after an hour in baggage claim. Knowing it was at the right airport kept me from throwing in the towel, even though the AirTag wasn't updating its location in time.
My bag was found on the floor next to a baggage carousel that had nothing to do with my flight.
I don't know if it sat there for five minutes or the entire time I was waiting. Knowing that I was close to finding it, I kept searching for it until I found that bag.
Track your luggage with Apple Air.
Carrying on all your luggage isn't always possible. Throw an AirTag in the bag before handing it over to the airline to increase your chances of meeting again.
The majority of bags make it where they are supposed to be.
This is especially true when an airline experiences an operational meltdown impacting thousands of flights and untold number of bags, which also causes ripple effects even to flights and airlines that otherwise have normal operations underway.
I want to go home with the things I left with, even if airlines and credit cards reimburse for lost and delayed bags.
An AirTag is a perfect tool to help with that job and a small price to pay for some pretty hefty peace of mind.
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