What They Say
Alaska Airlines is the next carrier to try using E Ink-based electronic baggage tags that it plans to make available initially to 2,500 regular flyers from San Jose, USA. Other frequent flyers will be able to buy the tag from early 2023.
The airline tested the concept initially in 2015, but the earlier one used batteries, with the new one able to be powered from a smartphone.
What We Think
This idea has been around for a while (BagTag Wants to Add Tags to Bags…..). I was slightly surprised to see that Alaska is not yet listed on the Bagtag website, which lists Lufthansa, Austrian, SwissAir, Air Dolomit, KLM and China Southern as supporting its system. The battery-less version of the tag is available direct from Bagtag is listed at €79.95 (but is ‘out of stock’). At one time, German luxury brand Rimowa (now part of LVMH) had the tags in its baggage (Rimowa Now Has Two Airline Clients), but those products don’t seem to be around any more. At one time, Bagtag said it was in discussion with 30+ airlines, so clearly, the system is a tough sell! (BR)
