I used Apple Airtag to track my stolen wallet across 35 cities

He sought his missing wallet as far as the dough flies.
In a mile-high-mishap for the ages, a Missouri man reportedly watched his wallet travel to 35 different cities after he left it behind on an American Airlines flight. A post detailing his misplaced money pouch’s alleged cross-country jaunt is currently going viral on Twitter.
“The crazy part is that I have called and contacted American Airlines and they say they can’t find my wallet,” John Lewis, 46, exclaimed in the post.
The in-flight fiasco occurred on Jan. 24 after the Ferguson native landed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and realized he didn’t have his wallet when he went to rent a car. He said he subsequently “called and contacted American Airlines,” but they couldn’t locate the carrier of his lost card.
He found their answer strange as he’d watched the wallet fly to multiple locations using Apple’s Airtag, a disc-like device that helps people keep tabs on personal items via the Find My app. “I’m able to trace my wallet and it’s still on the plane and it has gone to over 35 cities since Tuesday,” Lewis stated.
Lewis said he called American Airlines, but they couldn’t locate his wallet. Twitter / @BAD___VEGAN
An accompanying screenshot showed an Airtag of one of the wallet’s layovers in Portland, Oregon.
American Airlines subsequently told Lewis that they hadn’t found any wallets despite thoroughly cleaning the plane — which Lewis further found suspect. “But how can they thoroughly clean the plane if the wallet is still on the plane?” protested the passenger, who implored AA to “step up” because he’s a “platinum member.”
“Come on now … help your boy out. I only fly with you and you treat me like you don’t even know me,” he wrote.
And while acknowledging it was his fault for losing the wallet, Lewis claimed he’d become distracted while trying to catch a connecting flight because the prior one was delayed.
In a follow-up post several days later, the Missourian claimed that the airline had found the Airtag but not his wallet. This led him to deduce that a crewmember had yoinked it. “That means the cleaning crew says they cleaned up so well, somebody from the cleaning crew took the wallet and just left the AirTag,” theorized Lewis.
He found the scenario particularly suspicious as the staff claimed they found it buried under the seat — a space too small for his wallet to fit, Lewis insisted.
Theft victim John Lewis was able to confirm that a person cleaning the plane took the wallet but left the AirTag on the plane — which explains why his wallet appeared to be jet-setting across the US. Instagram / @BAD___VEGAN
His suspicions were confirmed after one of his credit cards was charged. “It was confirmed that a person cleaning [the plane] took the wallet and left the AirTag on the plane because Sunday one of my credit cards was used in Dallas which is where I got off of the plane,” he told the Post. “The next flight for that plane went to Oklahoma so the card wouldn’t have stayed in Dallas if it was a passenger on the next flight.”
“American has not been in contact with me since finding the tag,” added the frustrated flyer, who says he’s in the process of canceling his cards.
As of yet, the wallet has not been recovered.
Apple’s Airtag, a device used to geo-locate personal belongings. Getty Images
Fortunately, Lewis has been able to see some humor in the grueling ordeal.
“The crazier part is I’m watching my wallet accumulate all these miles,” he wrote in the post. “Are they [American Airlines] gonna apply this to my account and do I get to keep all the miles that my wallet is accumulating.”