Finding my Lost iPhone

Last Tuesday we flew back to Sacramento airport after a long adventure in London and Norway. In LAX, after being on the move for more than 20 hours, I was happy to be on the last short flight and almost home. I sent a group text that we were boarding our flight, got on the plane and put it into Airplane mode. I’m not sure what happened next but when I got off the plane I knew that I did not have my phone with me.

I spent some time in the gate area scrounging through my backpack without success. I asked the gate agent twice to look for it and she returned back both times saying it wasn’t there. I tried to locate it with FindMy but, as expected, since my phone was in Airplane Mode, FindMy couldn’t locate it.

We spent a lot of time in the airport trying to figure out what to do. The customer service guy in the Delta Baggage Office gave us the link to submit a lost and found report, as well as the phone number for his colleagues at LAX. Mark called them and they put him through to the Crown Room we visited to make sure my phone wasn’t there. I knew it wasn’t but it was worth checking. I was tired, after all.

Dejected, we finally made our way home. I googled some articles that advised me that most lost phones on planes are never returned. I felt stupid for getting off the plane when I knew I didn’t have it and was depressed that I would have to buy a new phone soon.

Using FindMy

We have long been fans and users of Apple FindMy. We use it on all our Apple devices, have AirTags in all our luggage and use the Eufy SmartTrack cards and tags with FindMy built in. 

I’ve been lucky so far that I’ve never lost my phone so this was my first time reporting my phone lost. I had my iPad with me at the airport so I was able to do it from there.

It’s easy to do – just open up the FindMy App – navigate to devices and pick the one you want to report lost. When you do that, it will bring up a dialog box to let you know what happens when you proceed. 

I was able to put in a message and Mark’s phone number to call in case it was found. 

However, my phone was in Airplane Mode, which means that none of that stuff was on. My phone’s last location was either in LAX or in Amsterdam – depending on who’s app you opened. So I wasn’t very hopeful that anyone would ever see my message.

But there was another way for someone to find me while the phone was still in Airplane Mode – via my Medical ID.

Emergency Contact Settings

I had long ago added my emergency contacts into my iPhone. If you haven’t done this yet, I encourage you to do so, and not just because it will help you get your lost phone back. It could also help save your life.

I have Medical ID enabled in Apple Health. That way if I’m ever injured or incapacitated and alone, emergency personnel can open my phone and see my key health information as well as my emergency contacts. You can even enable a feature that will call your emergency contacts if you’re ever in a car crash (that your phone detects anyway). As cyclists, Mark and I have been using this for years as well as bracelets we wear on longer rides just in case. 

You decide what to share here based on your individual needs – it can be very helpful if you have allergies or medical conditions – but in any case it’s always good to know that your loved ones can locate you if something happens.

Arrival in Albuquerque

The next day, Mark got a call from Chris at the Delta Baggage Services in Albuquerque. Evidently my LAX flight went there at some point, and that is where my phone wound up. Chris was able to access the emergency contacts without unlocking my phone to find Mark’s number there to call right away.

Chris obviously does this a lot and he was super helpful. He stayed on the phone with us until he received our pre-paid UPS label. Then he boxed up my phone and sent it on its way back home. He even gave it a charge and turned off airplane mode before packing it up so we’d be able to track it along the way.

FindMy Updates

I was able to follow my phone from Albuquerque through Colorado, Utah and finally Sparks, NV, where it got delayed in a snowstorm over I-80. The battery must have died at that point, but it definitely made it longer than I expected.

One thing I learned – I must have clicked the “send email updates” when I declared my phone lost, and I soon got tired of it notifying me by email every time the UPS truck stopped. I tried to turn it off later but couldn’t. If you have another device that can track your lost item, the email updates are unnecessary since you can see it at any time on the FindMy app.

Lessons Learned

I knew that I didn’t have my phone when I left the plane. It must have somehow slipped out of my pocket or in between the seats. My first mistake was getting off the plane before I looked around for it. Once you’re off, no one is going to let you back on to check for your lost item.

I was lucky that I had already put my emergency contact information into my profile. I didn’t put it there for that reason, but it was the first thing that the Delta service guy looked at to try to find us. He told us that not that many people do that. 

It is possible to turn the Airplane Mode off without unlocking a phone, which I didn’t know about until this happened. But I’m hopeful that if I ever lose my phone again, it won’t be in Airplane Mode in the first place so FindMy will be more effective.