30 May 2025

The luggage storage apps that let you leave your bags anywhere

New services let travellers leave their belongings at cafes, launderettes and shops

Several new apps can help you store your bags for a few hours when exploring a city.

These services don’t run luggage storage locations themselves but allow you to leave bags in hotels, cafes or shops for a fee.

Bounce is the world’s largest luggage storage service. When we checked for a convenient location near the Eiffel Tower, we were given 101 options, from supermarkets to newsagents and hotels. The closest was a shop a five-minute walk away at €7.55 (£6.50) per bag for the whole day.

This article first appeared in full in the May edition of Which? Travel magazine

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All of the luggage storage services claim the businesses they use are vetted, but they take limited responsibility for the locations.

It also doesn’t mean you’ll want to store your cabin bag in the laundrettes and nail bars listed on the apps.

Theft can be a problem. One storage review we read claimed their laptop had been stolen from a site in London’s Soho. The disgruntled user went on to say they were still waiting to be reimbursed two months later.

How safe is luggage storage?

Secure lockers are rare: most services simply promise to store bags away from public areas. So what happens if your bag is stolen, lost or damaged?

Your level of protection varies dramatically depending on who you booked with. We checked four of the most popular storage services, and payouts ranged from £10,000 down to just £200.

And your travel insurance is also unlikely to help. Comparison site GoCompare told us that even if you do have cover, there will be multiple caveats – particularly if your bag is taken from a facility with limited security.

Luggage storage site closed

More common than theft or damage is turning up to find that your prebooked location has shut up shop for the day. Our own editor, Rory, nearly missed his train when the storage point - a shop near Valencia station - was unexpectedly closed on his return.

There are multiple accounts online from unhappy customers who either had to leave the country without their luggage, or missed their flight.

Stasher includes an emergency number in its FAQs for this exact scenario, acknowledging that shops ‘may be open different times to their normal opening hours. If you have a plane to catch, we strongly recommend not missing your flight. It is normally cheaper to ship bags than to rebook a plane ticket,’ it advises.

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Secure luggage lockers at UK train stations

The one service that is a bit different is Excess Baggage Company, which has its own lockers and left-luggage offices at all major UK train stations and airports. While its locations are limited, they are manned and monitored by 24-hour CCTV. But that peace of mind will cost you more (£15 a bag for four hours).

Of all the services we looked at, Bounce has the most locations worldwide, the most flexible cancellation policy and the best protection policy. But whichever provider you choose, make sure to pay attention to the storage location itself. You’re likely to feel more comfortable using a 24-hour facility, a hotel or a FedEx shop that’s used to handling other people’s belongings.

The risk is inherently higher at a laundrette, newsagent or nail salon. Also look for sites with high ratings and positive reviews from previous users. Don’t store valuables, no matter what level of cover is offered. Jewellery, cash or travel documents such as passports and boarding passes are usually prohibited anyway (you’ll find a full list in each company’s T&Cs).

Luggage storage apps compared

Bounce luggage storage

Bounce will cover items up to £10,000 in value, which is the most generous protection policy of the services we looked at. Still, personally, we wouldn’t advise leaving your valuables in a corner shop in central London.

It also has the most locations: 15,000-plus storage sites in more than 4,000 cities worldwide. There’s no size limit on bags, although it does advise getting advance approval for bulky items like surfboards or bicycles.

You can also cancel for a full refund right up until the arranged drop-off time. Our main grumble is Bounce doesn’t have hourly rates: so you have to fork out for a full day’s storage even if you only need a couple of hours.

Stasher luggage storage

You can book Stasher in advance or find space on the day through the website or app. There are more than 6,300 ‘stashpoints’ worldwide, from Brighton to Byron Bay.

There’s no size limit and each bag is protected for up to £1,000. Again, you can cancel right up to the drop-off time – but you’ll only get a 50% refund or, alternatively, 100% credit towards a future booking. We found the map feature particularly user-friendly.

It clearly displayed all locations, along with how many minutes’ walk they are from your current location. Stasher says prices are 5% cheaper if you book on the app, rather than the website.

LuggageHero luggage storage

Bounce and LuggageHero all add a sneaky service fee at checkout. Stasher scrapped its booking and guarantee fee earlier this month after a Which? Investigation found that its pricing could be breaking the law.

The difference with LuggageHero is that it also tries to auto opt you in for premium insurance that covers bags for up to $3,000 (£2,377). Opt out and you’ll get just $500 (£396) of protection.

We also found a deluge of complaints about LuggageHero online. Users grumbled that storage sites – from tourist gift shops to launderettes – were unmanned or unsecured. One reviewer went as far as to say that you ‘could just as well leave your luggage on the street’. Same-day cancellations are £5 a bag, and no-shows are charged the entire booking.

Website: Excess Baggage Company

If you’ve ever used a locker at a UK rail station or airport, it was probably through the Excess Baggage Company. The company, which has a website but not an app, was the only outfit we found that promises manned facilities and 24-hour CCTV in all locations.

It also offers door-to-door luggage transfers. But as it only has UK locations, you’ll have to be passing through one of the major transport hubs for it to be useful.

It’s also expensive: we were quoted £30 to store two bags at King’s Cross for four hours – that’s twice the price of rival apps that offer storage two minutes away in a hotel. Its protection cover is also a stingy £200.