Travelers are finding they are leaving their electronic tablets and other personal electronic devices on board airplanes, in hotels and even near the pool while on vacation. One industry expert said that many people have two or three different devices they carry with them and may use one and then stuff it into the seatback pocket and forget it was there and leave the plane without it.
However, it is not only airplanes where people are leaving their iPads, Kindles and PlayBooks. A survey was recently taken at five airports in the U.S. and found that travelers left 979 tablets, laptops, smartphones and memory sticks behind in only the previous month.
Of that total, 365 were smartphones and tablets. Airplanes are another problem entirely. Even if you do not leave them unattended so someone takes it, they are small and sometimes get lost in the shuffle and rush to leave the plane. One newspaper said airlines have hundreds of tablets and other devices of which less than 50% are claimed.
There are steps people can take to reclaim their lost devices. A business card taped to the case is one good precaution to take as well as registering with the device’s manufacturer. There are also apps that allow you the opportunity to track the lost device.
In airplanes, the chance to recover the device is higher, as the plane is checked after every flight and items left behind are handed over to the airline’s office in the airport, in which the plane landed. However, if the device is left in a taxi, chances are when it drives off, it is the last time the device will be seen as the driver or next passenger will claim it as theirs.
