Lost airline bag? New American feature could reduce hassle

Airlines cut the number of lost bags per 1,000 passengers by more than 12 percent in 2016 over the previous year, according to an industry report. But that’s little comfort if yours is among the missing.

Now, American Airlines has released a notification system that could help you find it — or at least keep you from waiting around the caroussel needlessly.

American customers can now sign up for baggage notifications via their frequent flier accounts or on the American Airlines app. Shortly after arriving at their final destinations, the notification system issues an alert letting customers know whether their bags have arrived before them or are expected to be delayed, and give them a mobile option for filing lost-baggage reports.

This story was originally published July 27, 2017 at 3:47 PM with the headline "Lost airline bag? New American feature could reduce hassle."