A man traveling on an American Airlines flight last week realized he had left his wallet behind after deplaning in Fort Lauderdale. The wallet, which had a popular tracking device, showed the passenger that it was still on the plane as it flew to other destinations.

The traveler, John Lewis, reported the missing wallet but said he watched it travel to several cities from his smartphone through a connection to his Apple AirTag on the wallet. American is now reportedly looking into the situation.

On the other coast

Lewis landed at Fort Lauderdale International Airport on Tuesday, January 24th, and said he did not realize he left his wallet behind until he attempted to rent a car. Known as "Bad Ass Vegan" on social media, he shared a video to Instagram on Saturday that explained the incident, showing a screenshot of the wallet's location at Portland International Airport, nearly 3,000 miles away.

"So as you can see here, my wallet has been gone since Tuesday. I landed in Fort Lauderdale Tuesday, only to realize that I didn't have my wallet on me when I went to rent my car. The crazy part is, is that I have called and contacted American Airlines and they say they can't find my wallet." - John Lewis, American Airlines passenger

He also explained how he watched the wallet travel to more than 30 destinations.

"The crazier part is, is that I do have the AirTag on my wallet so I'm able to trace my wallet and it's still on the plane and it has gone to over 35 cities since Tuesday." Lewis said. "And they say they thoroughly clean the plane, but how can you thoroughly clean the plane if the wallet is still on the plane and you haven't gotten it yet?"

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Asking for help

Lewis also shared that he is a platinum member of American's frequent flyer program, AAdvantage, and said the airline needs to do better.

"So American Airlines, for real, like I know it's not your fault that I left the wallet, but at the same time, I'm a platinum member with you, come on now," he noted. "Like as many miles as I put in to you all, you gotta help a brother out, just saying. American Airlines, step up."

Another reaction that Lewis shared was the number of miles his wallet had accumulated since he left it behind. The passenger rhetorically asked whether the Fort Worth-based carrier would apply the miles to his AAdvantage account.

"Are they gonna apply this to my account and do I get to keep all the miles that my wallet is accumulating over these last days? It's gotta be like 100,000 miles easily," Lewis said. "That's like a trip to Belize or something."

American's response

The Instagram post was also shared on Twitter. On Saturday, a customer service representative from American replied to Lewis and invited him to direct message the airline with the record locator of his flight, a description, and a lost and found claim number.

When Lewis sent the information, a representative said the airline was investigating.

"We're taking a look and will respond to you shortly," the representative said.

Although Lewis may be reunited with his wallet, it is unlikely that he will earn any additional miles from the wallet being stuck on the aircraft. According to American, AAdvantage members only earn miles based on the ticket price of each flight, not the distance flown.

AirTags have proven to be somewhat of great help when it comes to locating lost items. A United Airlines passenger found their missing bag, and others, at an apartment complex earlier this month.