Bounce Luggage Storage Review: How the Service Works and How It Can Help You Travel Better

We’ve all lived through it. You’ve checked out of your lodging on vacation, but your flight doesn’t leave for another 10 hours. Or, your flight has landed, but you can’t check in for another six hours. Doesn’t carrying your luggage around with you just sound lovely?

No. No, it doesn’t.

Bounce Luggage Storage makes it so you don’t have to. You can drop your bags and explore, then come back and get them when you’re ready to go. And it’s not just for traveling. Maybe you’re going to a concert, and your bag is too big to be allowed in. A local Bounce storage site can hold it for you. Use Bounce as your bags’ home away from home.

What is Bounce Luggage Storage? 

Think of Bounce Luggage Storage like an AirBNB for your bags. The service was founded in 2019 by Cody Candee, a former product manager at Intuit. Candee’s goal was to simplify luggage storage by providing full-day and long-term options around the world so you can drop off your bags and go explore. 

The company partners with businesses like coffee shops, hotels, museums, and more in more than 2,000 cities to provide safe and convenient luggage storage at their location. For example, if you’re going to explore the Alamo in San Antonio one day but don’t want to cart your luggage around, you can look on the website or app to find a place to store your bags. (In this case, the nearest spot is a convenience store a five-minute walk away.) Your bags will always be kept in a safe place away from the regular clientele of the storage spot you choose.

Bounce Luggage Storage reviews

Reviews for Bounce are overwhelmingly positive. It’s important to note that the business does not appear to be accredited by the Better Business Bureau, but it’s also difficult to find any reviews for the service on the BBB website at all. On Trustpilot, though, Bounce has an average 4.4 stars out of 5 based on 1,178 reviews. On the Apple App Store, the Bounce app has a rating of 4.9 out of 5 from about 11,300 reviews; on the Google Play Store, it rates 4.8 out of 5 stars with about 5,630 reviews and more than 100,000 downloads.

As far as common complaints, users don’t seem to like storage options in liquor stores and run into the most issues when using those. Sometimes new employees at the storage location aren’t trained on the service, so it can be difficult to check in with your bags in that situation. People have also occasionally reported issues with incorrect in-app map directions.

Every Bounce location is rated in the app, as well, so be sure to pick one that meets your standards.

Pros

• The size of your luggage is irrelevant. As long as you can get it into the storage location, you’ll pay the same cost for it regardless of size. (Keep in mind that some very large items, like surfboards, may be charged as multiple bags depending on how much space they take up.)
• Bounce is entirely cashless, so you don’t need to worry about paying at the store or leaving a tip. It’s all handled when you book.
• There’s no cancellation fee, no matter how close to your reservation time you cancel.
• Bounce allows for long-term storage, even up to months of storage at a time.
• Every booking comes with $10,000 of protection.

Cons

• Depending on location, some users have not been pleased with the storage environment—particularly if it’s at a liquor store.
• The hours of each location are firm. If you miss your chance to pick up your bags, you won’t be able to retrieve them until the shop reopens.
• According to users, getting a refund can be difficult, and Bounce usually offers credit for future storage instead of refunding the price to your payment method.
• Prices are based on 24 hours instead of the hours you need—so if you only need four hours of storage, you’ll pay for the entire day.
• Everything you drop off counts as a bag and must be paid for, even if it’s something small like a purse. Be sure to consolidate your bags.

Where is Bounce Luggage Storage available? 

Bounce is available in more than 2,000 cities around the world, including the following major spots.

United States

• Atlanta
• Austin
• Boston
• Charleston
• Chicago
• Dallas
• Denver
• Fort Lauderdale
• Honolulu
• Houston
• Las Vegas
• Long Beach
• Los Angeles
• Miami
• Nashville
• New Orleans
• New York
• Orlando
• Philadelphia
• Phoenix
• Portland
• San Antonio
• San Diego
• San Francisco
• San Jose
• Seattle
• Tampa
• Washington D.C.

Canada

• Montreal
• Niagara Falls
• Toronto
• Vancouver

Europe

• Amsterdam
• Barcelona
• Bath
• Berlin
• Bilbao
• Birmingham
• Bologna
• Brussels
• Budapest
• Cambridge
• Catania
• Cologne
• Copenhagen
• Dublin
• Dubrovnik
• Florence
• Frankfurt
• Genoa
• Glasgow
• Lisbon
• Liverpool
• London
• Lyon
• Madrid
• Malaga
• Manchester
• Marseille
• Milan
• Munich
• Nantes
• Naples
• Nice
• Oxford
• Palermo
• Paris
• Pisa
• Porto
• Prague
• Rome
• Seville
• Split
• Strasbourg
• Turin
• Valencia
• Venice
• Verona
• Vienna
• York

Asia

• Bali
• Bangalore
• Bangkok
• Hong Kong
• Kyoto
• Seoul
• Singapore
• Tokyo

Australia & New Zealand

• Adelaide
• Auckland
• Brisbane
• Cairns
• Christchurch
• Gold Coast
• Melbourne
• Perth
• Queenstown
• Sydney

Mexico

• Cancun
• Guanajuato
• Playa del Carmen
• Puerto Vallarta

Latin America

• Buenos Aires
• Rio de Janeiro

Middle East

• Cairo
• Dubai
• Jerash
• Paphos

There are more than 10,000 storage spots throughout the cities Bounce operates in. I’ve used it in Mexico City (see map below), New York City, and Reykjavik recently. New locations open all the time, but they must go through a vetting process prior to being announced and launched.

Bounce Luggage Storage costs 

When booking luggage storage with Bounce, you’ll pay for each bag you store, plus a service fee that increases as you store more bags. Typically, you’ll pay about $5.90 (€5.00) per bag, but note that the cost may change based on your location. Service fees cover things like 24/7 customer support and are bundled with the cost of taxes when you book. Typically, the service fee for a single bag is about $1.65 (€1.52).

How does Bounce Luggage Storage work? 

Booking with Bounce Luggage Storage is an easy process. You use the app or website to search for where you want to store your bags, put in the times you need and the number of items you’re storing, send through payment, and then head to the shop to drop off your bags when the time comes. You’ll be emailed a confirmation to show when you check in and out.

Here’s the process if you were looking for a spot to store bags in downtown Chicago.

1. Search for locations in the city where you’re traveling

You can search by city, zip code, neighborhood, or address. If you want to see more locations around your desired spot, move the map to a new spot or zoom in or out, then click “search this area.” Pick the location you want to use by clicking “See Details” and then “See Store Details.”

2. Enter your drop off and pick up times and number of pieces. 

Once you pick your desired location, you’ll be able to see on the left panel the spot’s hours and rating, plus how long of a walk it is from wherever you’ll be while you’re storing your luggage (if you searched for a specific address). On the right panel, you’ll select how many bags you want to leave and the times you need to store your luggage, and then pay for the storage.

3. Drop off your luggage. 

Once you’re booked, you’ll receive a confirmation email with the exact address of your storage spot and how to get there. Take your luggage to the spot, show your confirmation, and leave your bags. When you’re ready to pick them up, just head back to the storage spot and get them. Remember that location hours are strict—if you miss your chance to pick up for the day, you’ll have to wait until the spot reopens.

My experience with Bounce Luggage Storage 

I’ve generally used Bounce when I need to store my bags for travel-related reasons. In Reykjavik, for example, my flight arrived early, but I couldn’t check into my Airbnb for several hours. Bounce helped. 

In Mexico City, my husband and I used it when we switched hotels mid-trip. We found a Bounce location between the two hotels in an area we wanted to explore and left the bags there. I’ve also used it in New York City so I could hang around town bag-free until the very last second I needed to leave for the airport. 

Probably my favorite use, though, was during Chicago’s Christkindlmarket. My family was down from the suburbs for the day. We went to the market in the morning, stored all our souvenir purchases at the closest Bounce location (a shop a two-minute walk away), and then enjoyed the rest of the afternoon eating and walking around the Loop before going back to grab everything for the ride home. 

I’ve never had any problems using Bounce. The app and website have always worked well for me, and check-in and check-out have always been a breeze. It’s great for storage on short notice, too. The Christkindlmarket spot was booked just moments before we walked over there.

Summary

Bounce Luggage Storage is a great place to store your bags for any amount of time you need—from hours to months. If you’re ever in any situation where you don’t want to carry anything with you, look to Bounce for the solution. It’s a safe and convenient option, with more than 10,000 storage locations worldwide at partner businesses. It’s also reasonably priced and secure. What more could you want?