The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- Sarah Marshal
Lugging heavy luggage around with you during a layover or ahead of a late-night flight or train can put a dampener on your travel experience.
But a bag storage solution is closer than you might imagine.
A handful of clever apps reveal how there are thousands of trusted drop-off spots in cities around the world, such as hairdressers and cafes, that you can pay to use online.
Here’s more on some of the ‘lifesaver’ luggage apps that are rapidly growing in popularity on social media.
A handful of clever apps reveal how there are thousands of trusted drop-off spots in cities around the world, such as hairdressers and cafes, that you can pay to use online
This luggage service offers over 7,000 storage points worldwide in cities that include London, Paris and Barcelona.
The app allows users to locate a nearby drop-off point via an ‘easy’ online booking system that offers fixed rates from £5 ($6.08) per bag, per day.
Customers can feel safe leaving their bags with one of their ‘meticulously screened partners’ known as ‘Angels’ – based in hotels, restaurants, bistros, cafes, bars, retail stores, and bike rentals.
Each booking can be backed by a ‘personal guarantee’ of up to €3,000 (£2,619 or $3,186) for each item and the transaction takes place via secure servers.
The company, formerly known as Bagbnb, was founded in 2016 and now boasts that it has ‘carefully stored’ over three million suitcases worldwide.
Social media users have quickly caught on to the convenience. TikToker @bianca.montalova described it as the ‘perfect app’ for travellers to use if they have time to kill before their flight, but don’t have anywhere to leave their luggage.
Explaining the service to her 16,200 followers, she said: ‘This allows you to drop off your bags at one of the quick locations in the city, so you can easily explore without having to carry around all of your luggage.’
Luggage apps have allowed customers to hop straight off their flight and enjoy their travels
Travellers can drop their bags off at one of LuggageHero’s ‘certified locations’, which include local shops, cafés and hotels.
Customers have the option to pay a flat-rate fee, starting from £5.95 ($7.24) a day, or choose the ‘pay as you go’ hourly fee from £1.19 ($1.45).
Founded in 2016 in Copenhagen by Jannik Lawaetz, the company now has over 1,000 storage locations worldwide in 228 different cities, from Bratislava to Brighton.
Frequent travellers Tristan and Cara, known online as @tc.travels, described their experience using LuggageHero as ‘an absolute travel game changer’.
Speaking to their 35,600 followers, Cara said: ‘If there’s one thing I hate about travel, it’s dragging the freaking luggage everywhere, but we found the best way to store your luggage if you don’t have an Airbnb or hotel for a couple of hours.’
Explaining the swift process, she said they dropped off their bags at a point close to their Airbnb, and that their bags were tied and secured with Ziplocs ‘to ensure that no one went into our bags’.
She said that ‘everything was done through the app’ and that ‘six hours later we returned and our bags were just as we left them’.
Luggage storage services often partner with convenient locations such as dry cleaners, restaurants, cafes and hotels
The ‘number one’ worldwide luggage storage app Bounce has over 10,000 storage locations in over 2,000 cities worldwide.
From Paris and Rome to Cairo and Bangkok, the app allows travellers to find a nearby drop-off point in their partnered locations, which include dry cleaners, restaurants, cafes, delis, and hotels.
Prices start at just £5 ($5.90) per day depending on location and bookings include insurance of up to $10,000 (£8,224) protection per bag.
TikTok user @rachelalexandriadias praised the ‘super easy to use’ app, describing it as a ‘lifesaver’ during her trip across Europe earlier this year.
Speaking to her followers, she said: ‘This is the number one app you need if you are solo travelling throughout Europe.
‘As someone who literally brought two carry-ons and was lugging it around England and Edinburgh, this was a lifesaver to have.’
Based on over 2,900 reviews on Apple’s app store, Bounce has a rating of 4.9/5, with Apple users praising it as ‘convenient’ and ‘simple and safe’.
Nannybag
Nannybag is another handy luggage storage app, operating in over 2,000 locations across 250 cities.
Prices start at £6 (or $6) per day, whatever the size of the item, with protection against loss, damage or theft of up to €1,000 (£873/$1,061) per deposited baggage.
TikTok user @sagevanalstine said Nannybag has allowed her to ‘make the most out of every single trip’ she’s been on because she doesn’t ‘waste the first and last day of vacation by being stuck with luggage’.
The TikToker said she had always struggled to find the ‘right place’ to store her luggage, but said that Nannybag allowed her to find trustworthy locations to leave her bags.
Many of the apps offer a fixed-rate fee and protect against loss, damages and stolen goods. Social media users have praised apps such as Nannybag for their ‘secure’ services
She explained to her 20,000 followers: ‘Storing my luggage allowed me to see the Acropolis and spend a whole evening in Athens right after getting off the plane.’
The TikToker, who was exploring the Greek city with her boyfriend, chose a convenient location near the Acropolis and dropped her bag into a ‘secure’ locker, which came with a key.
She said the spot ‘even had a changing room and a bathroom, so we were able to change out of our airport clothes and enjoy the evening’.
Stasher
Stasher, which has more than 3,700 ‘trusted Stashpoints’ in over 890 cities worldwide, boasts thousands of customers per day.
It mirrors other luggage storage apps, where customers can choose their drop-off and pick-up time and date, and choose from one of its convenient locations pinpointed on an interactive map.
For a full day of storage, the app has a fixed-rate price of £4.70 ($5.60) per day and guarantees money back for cancellations up until the drop-off time.
The service insures bags against loss, theft, and damage of up to £2,500, yet lists some ‘prohibited items’ customers cannot store, including travel documents, jewellery and watches.
Beginning in London in 2015, Stasher’s growth has seen it partner with companies such as Hotels.com, Klook and Marriott, as well as Premier Inn, Expedia and Acorn.
It’s worth noting, however, that the app has mixed reviews on Google Play, with a rating of 3.6/5, based on 65 reviews. Several reviewers complained that they struggled to load the app on their phones, with one unnamed user writing: ‘Great idea but the functionality of the app is very poor.’ Meanwhile, others praised the service as ‘useful’ and ‘intuitive’.
