It wasn’t the duffel bag the parents cared about. It was Leo, the stuffed lion hidden inside; a small, well-loved creature with threadbare fur and button eyes that had seen too many adventures to be easily replaced.
“I mean, technically, it was a lost bag,” said Byron Smith, CTO of Reunitus. “But what really mattered was that Leo got home.”
Smith, a veteran of the travel tech space who’s been with the Reunitus family since 2007, lives for moments like these.
Not because they make for cute stories, but because they reveal what the company’s work is really about: rebuilding trust in the moments people feel most anxious, vulnerable, and disappointed.
“When you’ve lost something important, whether it’s a kid’s toy or your own laptop, you’re in a state of stress,” he said. “Our job is to meet people there and fix it.”
From panic to precision
Reunitus operates behind the scenes of the travel and hospitality world, partnering with airlines, hotels, resorts, and airports to reunite lost items with their rightful owners. Their software, used by brands like Delta Airlines and major hotel chains, leverages intelligent matching systems, layered integrations, and accessible interfaces to actively close the loop.
Smith cites a common scenario: you’ve just arrived at your hotel in another city when you realise your carry-on didn’t make it off the plane. Panic sets in. Was it left at security? Did it get gate-checked and lost in transit?
“You don’t always remember right away where you last saw it. That anxiety builds fast.” Smith said.
But the real opportunity for Reunitus and its partners lies not just in solving the issue but in how it’s solved.
“Step one is giving the guest a meaningful way to report what’s gone missing. It should not be just a generic form, but something that guides them, helps them articulate what was lost without overwhelming them,” he explained.
“Then we keep them informed throughout the process, whether the item is found or not. People don’t expect perfection. But they do expect communication.”
Tech that knows what matters
The software behind Reunitus collects structured descriptions from users and cross-references them against incoming inventories from across the ecosystem, such as airport janitorial teams, airline agents, and hotel front desks. It flags potential matches in real time, automates updates to customers, and integrates deeply into booking and baggage systems to fill in any missing context.
The success rates speak for themselves. While most airlines already deliver 99.5% of baggage correctly, Reunitus helps recover 99.5% of the remaining half-percent—those rare but painful mishandlings.
“We use our own tech, every day. Our teams don’t just build the software. They use it on behalf of our partners. We know exactly where the friction points are, and we refine them constantly,” Smith said.
Reunitus stays ahead of tech trends. The rise of smart tags like Apple AirTags and Google tags means the company is continually coaching partners on how to leverage these tools to improve tracking and recovery, especially when tags get separated from the bags themselves.
When the system can’t win
A small fraction of items go unclaimed despite every effort. In those cases, Reunitus shifts focus to sustainability, putting its environmental values into action.
“We’ve been responsibly handling unclaimed property for 55 years. We don’t just throw things out. We upcycle, sanitise and protect data while giving items a new life if they can’t be returned,” Smith said.
That might mean donating electronics, recycling clothing, or finding ways to repurpose lost items rather than adding to landfills. Yes, there’s often a monetisation component, but Smith is quick to point out that this isn’t the goal.
“Returning the item is always cheaper than paying out a claim. And way better for brand loyalty,” he added.
Beyond software
At its heart, Reunitus is a trust company. “We’re not here to sell a platform and walk away. We stay involved, making sure someone’s Teddy bear finds its way home,” Smith said.
“Leo the lion made it back, by the way. We got the match. We called the parents personally. That kind of thing you don’t forget,” he reminisced.
Nor do the people on the other side of the phone. In the era of lost connections, whether physical or digital, Reunitus is quietly building something most companies only talk about: trust earned one lost item at a time.