When you’re staying at a hotel, it’s easy to have them hold your luggage before or after
your stay in case you want to explore a location without lugging around your bags.
However, what do you do if you stay at an Airbnb, or are even just enjoying a long layover
or stopover?
How’s it going, everyone?
It’s Ernest from Trip Astute.
In this video, we’re going to review some useful services that can help temporarily
store your luggage while traveling.
Storing your luggage used to be a pretty straightforward process when hotels were the only option for
lodging.
Also, before 9/11, it was fairly common to find lockers at airports where you could store
your bags.
Though things have changed.
Most airports do not have lockers due to security concerns, and with lodging options like Airbnb,
it makes it harder to find places to hold your bag while you’re traveling.
So in this video, we’re going to review five services that you can use to store your
luggage so you don’t have to lug it around while traveling.
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I know some savvy travelers will tell you that you can often ask any hotel to store
your luggage, even if you’re not a guest of that hotel.
That may be true, but I don’t know if I would want to deal with the complications
that would arise if something happened to your bag.
I just think it would be difficult to explain why you asked a hotel to store your bags if
you’re not a guest there, and you likely would have limited recourse in getting resolution
in the event of theft or damage.
So, let’s jump into the five services that I know of that allow you to temporarily store
your luggage.
For the sake of comparison, I’ll also compare whether each of these services is available
in four major and popular destinations: Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo, and Paris.
The first service is Bounce.
This is available through both a smartphone app and website.
Bounce charges about $6 per day to store your bag.
Bounce claims to have partnered with businesses in several cities to provide storage.
They provide $5,000 insurance coverage for your bag, and bookings and payments are made
completely online via the app or website.
While Bounce lists Los Angeles as one of its top destinations, I noticed that there were
only two locations listed.
However, New York seemed to have a lot more locations.
Tokyo and Paris also had no locations listed.
Bounce does provide details on their storage locations and says that they also provide
discounts that you can use at these places.
However, I couldn’t find any locations that had special discount offers.
The second service is Luggage Hero: This service is only available on the web and does not
have an app.
Also, the service is limited to specific cities, with some strong representation in many popular
European and American cities.
Luggage Hero has partnered with hotels, cafes, and local stores to provide a safe and secure
place to store your bags.
The big difference with Luggage Hero is that they charge by the hour versus a flat daily
fee.
For example, in New York, you’re charged about $1 per hour plus a $2 handling fee.
However, $8 is the maximum daily rate that you’ll get charged for your luggage storage.
When you drop off your bag, you’ll initiate a timer on your account.
The timer stops as soon as you pick up your bag, which then determines how much you owe.
Luggage Hero places a seal on your bag zippers and provides a $3,000 insurance coverage.
They also provide 24/7 customer service through a chat line.
However, they do not provide any details on their partners until after you have completed
your booking.
I checked the four cities for availability.
Los Angeles and Tokyo had no locations listed.
New York and Paris had many locations listed.
The third service is Stasher: Stasher is yet another similar service.
They seem to have a comprehensive network of locations, and even list other popular
tourist destinations like Sydney and Bangkok.
The service costs around $6 per day, and bags are insured up to 1,000 pounds, or about $1250
US dollars.
Stasher says that they have partnered with shops and hotels around the world that can
provide a secure space to store your bag.
It’s worth noting that Stasher has some significant endorsements and partnerships
listed on their website.
While it doesn’t mean that the service is necessarily better than the others, it does
give some additional credibility to the company.
Not surprisingly, when I checked Stasher availability in our four cities, all had locations available.
Los Angeles and Tokyo definitely had fewer locations available when compared to Paris
and New York, but I was impressed that they had them.
They also provide some details on the location, like the name, hours, and picture.
The exact address is provided upon booking, but you can often look up the address with
just the store name.
Since I’m familiar with LA, I was curious at the type of locations available.
To be honest, it was a mix of established and some potentially sketchy places.
Though you can see the reviews for that location to help you decide which location might work
best for you.
The fourth service is Bagbnb.
Bagbnb seemed to have a ton of places listed.
They are also a web-based service that partners with local businesses to offer storage space
for your luggage.
The rate is $6 per day, and you can pay through the website with either a credit card or PayPal.
Bagbnb doesn’t show you the exact location of their hosts, or “angels” as they call
them.
You get the details after you complete your booking.
Though what I found is that many of the reviewers mention the type of establishment, like this
one in Los Angeles that someone in the reviews mentioned was a talent agency.
When I checked the four cities, each had strong representation.
Bagbnb also claims to have 24/7 customer service via chat and email.
However, they did have the lowest insurance coverage at 500 euros, or about 560 US dollars.
That might not be an issue, but it was the lowest of all the services.
The fifth service is Nannybag: This is a website and app that claims to have the largest network
of places.
In fact, the website says that they have 2,000 places in more than 250 cities.
Nannybag charges $6 per bag for 24 hours of storage, and $4 for every additional 24 hours.
They include insurance coverage through AXA, which is a major insurance carrier.
The coverage is for 1500 euros, which is about 1700 US dollars.
Nannybag does not show the exact address or location name, but they do provide the hours
and services available at the location, along with the reviews.
Things like free wifi, restroom, and security seals, which could be useful in determining
the right location.
Checking each of the cities listed, all had locations available except for Tokyo.
So, as you can see, there are a lot of options available when it comes to temporary luggage
storage.
The service that is going to be most useful to you will likely depend on the location
you’re visiting.
If we look at the summary, you’ll see that Luggage Hero and NannyBag seems to be the
most competitive when it comes to price.
Bounce offers the best insurance coverage.
In terms of location details, both Bounce and Stasher provide the most information prior
to booking.
When it comes to four cities that we used to test availability, the results were interesting.
Bagbnb had the most locations in Los Angeles, Paris, and Tokyo.
However, LuggageHero had significantly more locations in New York than any of the other
services.
I think what the results tell you is that it’s worth checking all of them if you’re
planning to book luggage storage while traveling.
All these services do not have any restrictions on the size or weight of your luggage, so
they are a great option for holding your luggage while you explore a location.
If I had to choose one, I probably would start with Stasher, mostly because they provide
location details and have a fairly wide range of locations around the world.
LuggageHero also seems like a good pick since they have an hourly rate and provide a security
seal on all the bags.
I just wish they provided more upfront information on their locations.
It’s kind of like Hotwire where you can book a great deal, but you won’t know the
details until after the booking is complete.
In addition, here are a couple of tips to keep in mind when using a luggage storage
service.
1.
Lock your own bag: Despite keeping your bags in a secure location, it pays to lock your
bag separately.
I recommend using non-TSA locks on your luggage for this purpose.
I usually carry one in my suitcase in case I want to lock something in my suitcase while
I’m staying at an Airbnb or hotel.
Just remember to remove it if you’re checking in your bag since it will likely get cut by
baggage inspectors in the US.
On that note, 2.
don’t leave valuables inside your bag.
Most of these services advise you not to leave your passport or other important valuables
in your bag while they are stored.
It might seem like a pain to carry your laptop or tablet while exploring a city, but it’s
not worth leaving them behind and potentially having them stolen.
3.
Beware of location hours: If you plan to drop off or pick-up your luggage outside of normal
business hours, you may want to confirm that your location will be open.
Some locations are available 24 hours a day, so that might be a consideration if there
is a risk that you’ll need a late night or early morning luggage pick-up.
And finally, 4.
Understand the condition of your destination: This one occurred to me when I was looking
at some of the locations in Los Angeles.
While these locations are safe during the day, some of them might be a bit unsafe during
the late night or early morning hours.
It pays to research the condition of your destination.
You don’t want to end up traveling into an area where you might be at a higher risk
of crime, especially when you’re carrying all your luggage.
While getting exact crime statistics can be tough, you can generally find safety information
online.
Sites like safearound.com can give you information on areas to avoid during the day and night,
as well as specific warning and dangers for cities around the world.
Have you used a luggage storage service?
Do you have any other tips for storing your luggage while traveling?
Let me know in the comment section below.
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Also, if you want to see the diagrams used in this video, I’ve posted them on our website
as well.
Until next time, travel safe and travel smart.