Planning a family holiday often means remembering passports, luggage and travel documents—but for many parents, there’s another essential item that simply can’t be left behind: a child’s favourite teddy or comfort toy.
This summer, easyJet and easyJet holidays have teamed up with Life360 to launch Teddy Trackers, a new initiative designed to help families avoid the stress of losing treasured soft toys while travelling.
From 31 July, families flying with easyJet from London Gatwick, London Luton, Manchester, Edinburgh and Belfast can collect a free Life360 Tile Tracker at easyJet bag drop desks, while stocks last.
How easyJet’s Teddy Trackers work
The complimentary tracker easily attaches to a child’s favourite teddy, blanket or comfort toy. Once paired with the free Life360 app, parents can monitor its location in real time through the family map.
Whether a teddy is accidentally left behind at airport security, misplaced during baggage collection or forgotten beside the hotel pool, families can quickly locate it using the app.
Even better, once collected, the tracker belongs to the family, meaning it can continue to be used on future holidays and everyday adventures.
Why losing a teddy is a bigger deal than you think
New research commissioned by easyJet highlights just how emotionally important children’s comfort toys remain during family holidays.
According to the survey:
- 87% of parents worry about losing a child’s favourite toy while travelling.
- 97% say they’d feel more relaxed if they could track treasured belongings.
- 78% say their child’s favourite toy travels on most or every family holiday.
- 65% have experienced their child losing a favourite comfort toy while away.
- 55% admit they would change their holiday plans to retrieve a missing toy.
The emotional impact can also be significant. Families reported that children typically took around six weeks to recover emotionally after losing a beloved companion, while nearly one-third said bedtime routines became much more difficult following the loss.
Parents have tried every trick in the book
The research also revealed the creative lengths parents go to when disaster strikes.
- 55% pack a backup teddy—although 81% admitted their child quickly spotted the substitute.
- 29% purchased an emergency replacement online.
- 26% invented elaborate stories explaining where the missing toy had gone.
Favourite companions are also deeply woven into family life, with one-third of parents describing them as part of the family. Around 37% even include them regularly in family photographs.
The UK’s most commonly misplaced comfort toys were:
- Stuffed bunnies (26%)
- Teddy bears (25%)
- Dolls and action figures (15%)
Popular toy names included Bunny, Teddy, Fluffy and Billy.
Supporting over 370,000 travelling families
The launch comes as easyJet and easyJet holidays prepare for what is expected to be their busiest summer yet, with more than 370,000 families travelling during the holiday season.
Stuart Wright, Customer Director at easyJet holidays, said the airline wanted to remove one of the small but surprisingly stressful parts of family travel.
“We know that it’s often the little things that make the biggest difference to a family holiday. For many children, a favourite teddy or comfort toy is an important part of the journey and losing it can be upsetting at what should be an exciting time.”
easyJet Captain Matthew Clutterbuck added that favourite toys are often a child’s constant travel companion, recalling how he previously helped reunite a lost teddy called Shackleton with its young owner after it was left onboard one of the airline’s flights.
Meanwhile, Life360 says more than 40,000 toys have already been actively tracked worldwide using its Tile tracking technology over the past year.
Tom Rizzo, GM International at Life360, said attaching a tracker to a child’s favourite toy can eliminate one of the biggest anxieties families face while travelling.
Where to get a free Teddy Tracker
Families travelling with easyJet can collect a complimentary Teddy Tracker from 31 July at easyJet bag drop areas in:
- London Gatwick
- London Luton
- Manchester
- Edinburgh
- Belfast
The giveaway is available while stocks last.
Learn more about Life360 and Tile tracking.
