Do you have a layover or a late flight? The internet is raving about these ‘lifesaver’ apps that find places to safely store your luggage on holiday, from hairdressers to cafes

Carrying heavy luggage during a layover or prior to a late flight or train can negatively impact your travel experience.

But a solution for bag storage is closer than you might think.

A handful of smart apps show that there are thousands of trusted drop-off points in cities around the world, such as hairdressers and cafes, that you can use online for a fee.

Here’s more information about some of the “lifesaver” luggage apps that are quickly growing in popularity on social media.

Radical storage

This luggage service offers more than 7,000 storage points worldwide in London, Paris and Barcelona, ​​among others.

The app allows users to find a nearby drop-off point via a ‘simple’ online booking system that offers flat rates from £5 ($6.08) per bag, per day.

Customers can feel safe leaving their bags with one of their ‘carefully screened partners’, known as ‘Angels’ – based in hotels, restaurants, bistros, cafes, bars, shops 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.

CompanyFormerly known as Bagbnb, it was founded in 2016 and now boasts of having ‘carefully stored’ over three million suitcases worldwide.

Social media users have quickly gotten the hang of the convenience. TikToker @bianca.montalova described it as the “perfect app” for travelers to use when they have time to kill before their flight but no place to leave their luggage.

Explaining the service to her 16,200 followers, she said: ‘It allows you to drop off your bags at one of the quick locations in the city, so you can easily explore the city without having to lug all your luggage with you.’

Luggage hero

Travelers can drop off their suitcases at one of the baggage points LuggageHeros ‘certified locations’, including local shops, cafes and hotels.

Customers have the option to pay a flat rate starting from £5.95 ($7.24) per day, or choose the ‘pay as you go’ hourly rate from £1.19 ($1.45) .

The company was founded in Copenhagen in 2016 by Jannik Lawaetz and now has more than 1,000 warehouse locations worldwide in 228 different cities, from Bratislava to Brighton.

Frequent travelers Tristan and Cara, known online as @tc.travelsdescribed 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 traveling it’s dragging that luggage everywhere, but we’ve found the best way to store your luggage if you have a few without an Airbnb or hotel for days. o’clock.’

She explained the quick process, saying that they delivered their bags to a point near their Airbnb and that their bags were tied down and secured with zip ties “to make sure no one got into our bags.”

She said that ‘everything was done via the app’ and that ‘we came back six hours later and our bags were exactly as we left them’.

Bounce

The ‘number one’ global luggage storage app Bounce has more than 10,000 storage locations in more than 2,000 cities worldwide.

From Paris and Rome to Cairo and Bangkok, the app allows travelers to find a nearby drop-off point at their partner locations, including 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) per bag.

TikTok user @rachelalexandriadias praised the ‘super easy to use’ app and described it as a ‘lifesaver’ during her trip to Europe earlier this year.

Speaking to her followers, she said: ‘This is the number one app you need when traveling alone in Europe.

‘As someone who literally brought two carry-ons and lugged them around England and Edinburgh, this was a lifesaver.’

Based on over 2,900 reviews on Apple App StoreBounce has a rating of 4.9/5, with Apple users praising it as “convenient” and “simple and secure.”

Babysitter

Babysitter is another useful luggage storage app, operating in over 2,000 locations in 250 cities.

Prices start at £6 (or $6) per day, regardless of item size, with protection against loss, damage or theft up to €1,000 (£873/$1,061) per bag deposited.

TikTok user @sagevanalstine says Nannybag has allowed her to “get the most out of every trip” she has taken because she “doesn’t waste the first and last days of vacation getting stuck with luggage.”

The TikToker said she had always struggled to find the “right place” to store her luggage, but said Nannybag allowed her to find reliable locations to leave her bags.

She explained to her 20,000 followers: ‘Putting away my luggage allowed me to see the Acropolis and spend a whole evening in Athens right after I got off the plane.’

The TikToker, who was exploring the Greek city with her boyfriend, chose a convenient location near the Acropolis and left her bag in a ‘secure’ locker, which came with a key.

She said the place “even had a changing room and bathroom so we could change out of our airport clothes and enjoy the evening.”

Stasher

Stasherwhich has more than 3,700 “trusted Stashpoints” in more than 890 cities around the world, has 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 the convenient locations marked on an interactive map.

For a full day of storage, the app has a fixed price of £4.70 ($5.60) per day and guarantees money back on cancellations up to the drop-off time.

The service insures bags against loss, theft and damage up to £2,500, but still lists a number ‘prohibited items’ customers cannot store, including travel documents, jewelry and watches.

Starting in London in 2015, Stasher’s growth has seen it work with companies such as Hotels.com, Klook and Marriott, as well as Premier Inn, Expedia and Acorn.

However, it’s worth noting that the app has mixed reviews Google Play, with a rating of 3.6/5, based on 65 reviews. Several reviewers complained that they had trouble loading the app on their phones, with one unnamed user writing: “Great idea, but the app functionality is very poor.” Meanwhile, others praised the service as “useful” and “intuitive.”