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Electronic baggage tags have been offered by European airlines like Lufthansa for several years and are now making their way across the Atlantic. Dutch travel tech pioneers ‘BAGTAG’ have partnered up with Alaska Airlines for the US debut.

Alaska Airlines will be the first US airline to introduce electronic baggage tags and is also the first airline to announce branded BAGTAGs.

What is an electronic baggage tag?

Electronic bag tags are an alternative to the paper label that you usually receive at the airport when checking in. BAGTAGs make travelling with checked baggage simpler and faster, because you get to skip a stressful part of the trip – namely the unpredictable queues and potential long wait at the check-in counter.

With BAGTAG, you simply attach a reusable electronic device to your bag and its e-paper display is updated with your flight details via NFC when you check in online. You can therefore easily label your luggage from home or on the go. All you have to do at the airport is hand your bag in at the fast drop off point.

Alaska has fully integrated BAGTAG technology into its own app, which means that checking in and updating the baggage tag with the relevant flight details is seamless.

You can watch a video here to see how simple the process is.

Alaska will also introduce fully customised hardware, with the roll-out happening in several phases. The first phase will initially include 2,500 Alaska Airlines frequent flyers who will begin using the electronic bag tags in late 2022. All Alaska Mileage Plan members will have the option to purchase the Alaska branded devices from early next year.

Save 25% When Buying A ‘BAGTAG Fix’ This Summer

If you are happy to have a standard BAGTAG, rather than an Alaska branded one (they still work the same!), you can buy one right now and save 25%.

BAGTAGs are designed to last a lifetime and do not need to be charged. By using the included TSA approved strap, you can easily swap your BAGTAG between different pieces of luggage. BAGTAGs can currently be used with a range of well-known airlines, including KLM, Austrian, Lufthansa and SWISS.