Help! I left my iPad on the plane!

Enjoy your device on your flight, but don't leave it behind!

by Todd Romaine

Ever forgot your phone, iPad, iPod, book or glasses on an airplane before? Maybe you left it in the seat pocket, in the overhead compartment or simply on the seat.

Well unless you remember this shortly after you disembark from your plane and can chase down an agent, be prepared to delve into the frustrating depths of hell trying to get it back.

I left my iPad in the seat pocket on a flight from Heathrow to Edmonton. Admittedly, it was my own fault. I personally blame my own sleep deprivation after a 28 hour trip for such carelessness.

Once I got home, I quickly called Air Canada’s lost baggage department and quickly got a claim number from an Air Canada Agent in an overseas office. I was told in broken English that a system was in place to track down my lost item and once the airline cleaners found it it would be logged in the system, flown to Vancouver and that I would have 5 days to retrieve it before it is sent to the central lost and found in Montreal. Admittedly, it did cross my mind numerous times that the cleaners or another passenger could have swiped the device and have it reformatted but I had faith in humanity and Air Canada!

Over the course of 4 days I called the number I was given 12 times and to no avail they had no update and seem less inclined to go that extra mile and call the Air Canada Edmonton office to check with them on the recovery of any lost iPad.

I decided to then call the Edmonton Airport and request their assistance. It was made clear to me that there is a difference between Lost and Found at the Airport and Lost and Found with Air Canada. They were kind enough to forward me to one lady that works at Air Canada whom was able to track down my iPad at Heathrow!

Yes that’s right, my iPad flew from Heathrow to Edmonton and return without being noticed by the cleaners or the next passenger sitting in my seat.

She sent a note to Heathrow Air Canada to send me my iPad, and 2 days later I called again to check on the status and they never read her note so she sent another message... and still nothing. Since that time I have sent notes to the Heathrow Air Canada office as well as Air Canada customer relations and still nothing back.

Somewhere out there, my iPad is sitting on a shelf somewhere in an arena of corporate indifference to my plight to have back a device that contained many of my life’s contents. :(

The land of 1-800-anywhere...

Here are some tips if you are ever in the same situation as me:

• Make it a habit to ensure every item is packed away and ready to go 20 minutes before the plane touches down. This includes removing everything from the seat pocket that belongs to you. In your hand should be your passport, tickets, and immigration card, alongside your phone
• Never leave the airport without your stuff – if an agent tries to direct you towards a 1-800 number push back and force the issue for them to retrieve your item right away, if possible.
• If you need to handle this matter once you are home, try to go local. In other words, try in desperation to get an airline contact number at the airport where your item was left, otherwise they will put you into the nebulous 1-800 land where wait times are long and answers are few.
• Here is a good reference site for tracking telephone numbers: GetHuman.com (the site helps you get through to a human at 1000's of companies).
• Otherwise beg and plea with the local airport to direct you to the local airline number.
• If nothing is occurring, make a trip out to the airport and make demands to speak to managers there to elevate the issue. This has a chance of them elevating your request versus the 1-800-somewhere else agents whom are rather indifferent about your personal plight for a lost item.
• If you lost something at an airport, contact the airport’s lost and found department.
• Check out MissingX.com, a system used by the lost and found departments in many airports.

Related resources

• Stolen iPad found within 2 hours using 'trace' function
• What To Do If Your iDevice Is Lost or Stolen
• How to track your lost iPhone or iPad without a tracking app
• How To Track Your Lost Android Phone Without Installed Tracking App
• Leave something on the airplane? Here's how to get it back
• Oops! iForgot My New iPad On the Plane; Now What?
• Dealing with lost luggage

Travel Innovations We Like

The good thing about innovation is that every so often it hits stuff that makes a difference to your life. Here are a few cool things we've spotted lately:

Order a burger delivered to you at your gate

iPads at the gate

• At La Guardia Airport (LGA), gates in Terminal D now feature tables of the type you might see in a bar or coffee shop equipped with, yes, you guessed it, iPads free for anyone to use. In addition to flight alterts and games, you can order food delivered to the gate. Elegant. Now there's a word you don't hear often in conversation about New York airports! BTW, they are cropping up elsewhere too... watch out for them!
• Read more:  How iPads Spruce Up Airport `Bus Station’ Seating Areas
  

Scottevest's iPad Compatible Clothing

iPad cloaking devices

• We love this one: a jacket (or vest) with a secret pocket you can slip your iPad into and, presto!, it's invisible. Invisible to anyone watching you walk down the street that is. Best yet, this innovation comes with more... more pockets! Scottevest's clothing have oodles of pockets - some have 20 or more! - and they've got that cool magic clear plastic thingy stuff that will let you work your finger sensitive device through the pocket and built in wiring (technical term: TEC-Technology Enabled Clothing®, which they invented).

Buy your luggage it's own ticket

Luggage that travels solo

• With all the hassle - and charges - that come with flying with luggage these days, why not travel light and give your luggage it's own ticket to ride? If only.... Well, it's not "if" anymore. Lugless promises "travel without the baggage". You can ship your little carry on, your big suitcase, your bike, your whatever - and they deliver it at the other end. They send you a protective wrapper, pick it up (perhaps using their friends at FedEx, UPS or the like), then deliver it to your destination. Door-to-door. Hey, that's better than you get! The prices are pretty good (we think) and a real dream for journeys like travel overseas or sports fanatics that just can't leave their surfboard at home. 

What are your favourite innovations of late?