The short answer: the battery is not the problem, the crate rules are. Regulators are fine with an AirTag flying in the hold. Whether one can ride inside your pet’s crate is decided by each airline’s live animal rules, and that is where owners get caught out at the cargo counter.
The FAA allows luggage trackers powered by lithium metal cells of 0.3 grams of lithium or less in checked baggage, and an AirTag’s CR2032 coin cell holds roughly a third of that limit. Lufthansa briefly announced an AirTag ban in late 2022 and withdrew it after a risk assessment, and today no major airline prohibits AirTags in checked bags. The rules live on the FAA’s PackSafe pages if you want the source.
So if your question is whether an AirTag is allowed on the aircraft, the answer is yes. The pet crate is a different story.
A pet crate is not luggage. It is a live animal container governed by the airline’s live animal program and the IATA Live Animal Regulations, and those rules are strict about what goes inside: no loose items, nothing the animal can chew loose or swallow, dishes fixed to the door, absorbent bedding, and little else. A tracker rattling around the crate floor fails that test on sight.
The person who decides is the cargo acceptance agent on the day. If the airline’s checklist does not have a line for trackers, the safe answer for the agent is to pull it out at the counter. That is why owners hear no even when the battery is perfectly legal: it is a container rule and a staff discretion call, not an electronics rule.
All of the above applies to pets flying below deck as cargo. If your pet is small enough to fly in the cabin, the picture is simpler: the carrier under the seat is your carry-on, and security screening treats an AirTag in carry-on the same way it treats one in your pocket, which is to say nobody minds. Slip it into the carrier’s outer pocket rather than inside with the pet, and you are done.
This is one more quiet advantage of in-cabin travel for pets that qualify: you are the tracking device, because the carrier never leaves your sight.
Ask the airline’s cargo desk in writing before travel day, naming the device. A yes in an email carries weight at the counter.
If the airline allows it, fix the tracker so it is not loose and not reachable: a flat pouch taped or zip tied to the outside of the crate, or secured inside the crate lining out of your pet’s reach. Never drop one loose into the crate with a dog that chews. A swallowed coin cell battery is an emergency, and preventing exactly that is the reason the no loose items rule exists.
Set expectations for what the tracker can tell you. An AirTag reports its position through nearby Apple devices, so it goes quiet in a sealed cargo hold mid flight and comes back to life at the airport, where phones are everywhere. In practice that means you see the crate at the origin terminal, then at the destination terminal, which is most of what an anxious owner wants to know anyway.
Owners imagine a live dot moving across the ocean. The reality is patchier and still reassuring. You will see the crate at your home, then at the cargo facility, where staff phones keep it reporting. During the flight it goes silent. Then, often within minutes of landing, it reappears at the destination terminal, and it usually updates again on the delivery run, because the driver’s phone is right there.
So the AirTag will not narrate the flight, but it answers the two questions that keep owners up at night: did my pet make it onto the plane at this airport, and did they come off it at that one.
Respect it at the counter. Arguing with a cargo acceptance agent on travel day risks the one thing that matters, which is your pet being accepted for the flight. And do not hide a tracker in the bedding: crates are inspected at acceptance, and an undeclared item that turns up during inspection can delay or bump the shipment.
Instead, lean on the tracking that is built into the system: the air waybill number lets you follow the shipment on the airline’s own cargo site, the live animal team logs each handling step, and your coordinator reports at every milestone. Between those three, you will know more about your pet’s journey than an AirTag alone would ever tell you.
Every cargo shipment moves under an air waybill with airline tracking of its own, and the airline’s live animal staff log acceptance, loading, and arrival. When we coordinate a move, you also hear from us at each milestone: pickup, check in, departure, landing, and delivery. The AirTag is a nice extra set of eyes; it should not be the plan. Our guide to how pets fly covers what happens below deck between those milestones.
Want the full preparation sequence in one place? Our free two page checklist covers every step in order, from the first vet visit to travel day.
Yes. The FAA permits trackers with lithium metal cells of 0.3 grams or less in checked baggage, and an AirTag is well under that. No major airline bans them in checked bags.
Usually not mid flight, because it needs nearby Apple devices to report its position. It updates reliably at airports, which shows you the crate at origin and destination, the two moments that matter most.
Yes. Live animal containers are inspected at acceptance, and anything loose or not on the airline’s checklist can be pulled. Getting written approval from the cargo desk beforehand is the best protection against a surprise at the counter.
The same battery rule applies, but not every tracker uses as small a cell as an AirTag, and the FAA notes that other devices may not meet the threshold. Check the lithium content for your specific model, and expect the same crate rules either way.
Yes. In the cabin, the carrier counts as carry-on baggage, where trackers are unrestricted. Use an outside pocket so it is not loose with your pet.
No. Crates are inspected at cargo acceptance, and an undeclared item found during inspection can delay or bump your pet’s shipment. If the answer is no, rely on the air waybill tracking and milestone updates instead.
Planning a move and want the journey watched by people as well as gadgets? Request a quote and your coordinator will keep you updated at every milestone.
Last updated 20 August 2026
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