Is luggage rental useful? We review Cargo, a new suitcase hire service

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• Billy says:

  22 Feb22 February 06:58

  I’ve had my Tripp suitcase for three years now. It cost £50 and has a five year guarantee.

  I can’t see how a regular traveller would realise three days before a holiday that they needed more suitcases.

  This article is bizarre.

• Kieran Donohoe says:

  22 Feb22 February 07:21

  In your article on renting luggage, I was surprised to note that you did not mention the limited storage space constraints that most of us have in our homes. To me one of the main benefits of a luggage rental service is that once the trip has been taken, the luggage is returned and need not be stored. That is to say for one week’s usage, we do not need to store empty luggage for the other 51 weeks on top of wardrobes, under beds, behind couches et cetera et cetera

  • Brian says:

    22 Feb22 February 07:39

    Suitcases/bags scan be stored inside each other. I don’t therefore think space is really a factor in favour of this scheme, unless you rent ALL your luggage.

    • Anna says:

      22 Feb22 February 07:50

      +1 – when not in use luggage goes under our beds filled with winter/summer clothes depending on season.

      • Marcw says:

        22 Feb22 February 08:09

        I use it to store bed sheets and winter/summer blankets

  • Darren says:

    22 Feb22 February 09:17

    51 weeks? Mines out every other month.

    • Anna says:

      22 Feb22 February 09:26

      Quite…otherwise you’re wasting your time reading HFP!

• Brighton Belle says:

  22 Feb22 February 07:27

  I used this service. The Gatwick sniffer dogs took exceptionally keen notice in my bag. That machine they use to swab the insides flashed like a Christmas tree . I was interviewed for hours by a nice Policeman. Maybe the last renter filled it with noxious substances on his last trip to Columbia. I missed my flight.

  I also made this story up but I can see it’s not without some risk.

  • Doug M says:

    22 Feb22 February 08:38

    At least spell it right if you’re going to have a (fantasy) dig at the place, unless of course you’re referring to the clothing brand or the NY University.

    • Brighton Belle says:

      22 Feb22 February 10:55

      Fair enough my iPhone does most of my thinking and spelling and decides what to say and spell most of the time. I have delegated trivia to Cupertino. They have $billions , I’m still on luncheon vouchers

    • Lady London says:

      22 Feb22 February 11:24

      Surely that’s the British spelling of that country?

      • F99 says:

        22 Feb22 February 11:28

        No. It’s not.

        • Lady London says:

          22 Feb22 February 11:39

          Yes it is. Or was when I did geography at school.

          People who speak Spanish might be prissy or post and write Colombia but that would b a relatively new thing.

        • Lady London says:

          22 Feb22 February 11:40

          prissy or post-> prissy or posy. d*** text editor.

      • Lady London says:

        22 Feb22 February 15:51

        If it’s there then custom and practice could have evolved, my spelling was always 100% at school and I know I’m remembering correctly. Plus as above at least one mobile phone dictionary has it that way and would have come from an official source.

      • Callum says:

        23 Feb23 February 04:57

        It’s never been Columbia. If your school taught you that then your school taught you wrong.

        Lots of people spell it wrong, and while that’s how language evolves, I doubt it’s ever been recognised that the English spelling has changed.

        Not that any of this matters of course!

    • The Riddler says:

      22 Feb22 February 17:12

      One of the worlds most renowned language teachers said that the purpose of language is to communicate your point. If you get your point across, the rest isn’t particularly important. If anyone was stupid enough to fail to realise that the post was referring to the South American country given the context, then spelling is the least of their worries.

  • Lady London says:

    22 Feb22 February 10:50

    Love it!!

    • Cassandra says:

      22 Feb22 February 16:12

      You lose on this one. The country has always been Colombia. Their country, their spelling, their choice. North Americans have always preferred Columbia, but NEVER for the South American country. Their South American country, their spelling, their choice.
      A Fawlty (joke!) memory is no shame. Irascible insistence is sad, however.
      Btw, “they” would spell it Londres.
      And finally the de-Empired, Brexited, dis-United Kingdom no longer gets to award names to foreign countries.

• Sandgrounder says:

  22 Feb22 February 07:38

  I wonder what the policy on damage is? A trip through LHR usually results on a few battle scars- I would be concerned about getting an unpleasant charge on my credit card.

  • Aaron Shade says:

    2 Mar2 March 11:44

    Hello Sandgrounder,

    No need to worry about damage or charges. This is another benefit of using Cargo.

    Thanks,
    Aaron

• John says:

  22 Feb22 February 08:04

  You can tell the economic cycle is about to turn badly, when start-ups get funding for business models as desperate as this.

  Only way this can be profitable, is if they stick massive charges on your card, post-rental, for scratches on the returned suitcase.

  Presumably the only way to protect against this would be to photograph the suitcase after it’s delivered by the courier, and then just prior to it being picked up for return.

  Weird.

  • TimTam says:

    22 Feb22 February 08:41

    +1

  • Aaron Shade says:

    2 Mar2 March 11:48

    Hello John,

    Thanks for your opinions, although there is no need to worry about damage or charges. This is another benefit of using the service!

    Safe travels,
    Aaron

• Kevin says:

  22 Feb22 February 08:08

  Not really sure of this. Unless you needed a specific and unusual size case, could you not just buy a cheaper case for when you have a need? In return you can always donate it to charity if you have no need to keep or limited storage.

  Or is this simply for those who wouldn’t want to be seen with a ‘cheap’ case?

  • Kate says:

    22 Feb22 February 08:13

    That’s quite environmentally wasteful though, so if you need a suitcase very rarely it seems a good idea to hire it.

    • Anna says:

      22 Feb22 February 09:29

      We replaced our set of trusty Samsonite last year after 18 years…finally got our first set of wheelspinners, so much easier!

    • Kevin says:

      22 Feb22 February 13:48

      Only environmental wasteful if you bin it at the end. The point is by giving it to charity somebody else can benefit.

  • Spurs Debs says:

    22 Feb22 February 08:30

    I always thought it a better idea to travel with a cheap suitcase less chance of it being robbed. Mine are American Tourista bought in a sale when you used to get Avois points on them, Bright purple/pink ones.

    • Arsenal Fan says:

      22 Feb22 February 20:22

      Christ, I’ve seen them on a carousel! I just stood tutting and shaking my head, wondering who on earth would genuinely use such luggage in public.

      • Lady London says:

        23 Feb23 February 10:34

        Now you know then 🙂
        Probably wouldn’t stand out in those colours in most parts of the world.

      • Lady London says:

        23 Feb23 February 10:35

        PS @Arsenal Fan I’m guessing you saw them at LTN?

• NigelthePensioner says:

  22 Feb22 February 08:48

  Is it worldwide (I guess not) and if so can one do a one way rental………when the £ picks up vs $, we always need an extra case for bringing “properly priced” stuff back from the USA!

  • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

    22 Feb22 February 09:49

    On the few occasions when I’ve wanted to bring back shopping, I’ve packed a collapsible duffel bag in my luggage and then filled it with dirty laundry and checked it on the way back. Leaves plenty of space in the proper suitcase for more delicate items.

    • Mikeact says:

      22 Feb22 February 10:07

      Agreed.

• The Savage Squirrel says:

  22 Feb22 February 08:50

  £71 for a single bit of luggage for a 3 week trip. Amazon Basics will send me a similar sized suitcase at a lower price to own and will deliver it the next day too – without the worries of damage/drugs or the hassle of pick-up. If I can’t store it I can give it to friend/family/charity or even sell it. This product does seem incredibly niche – someone utterly price/value-indifferent, yet who can’t afford any storage space big enough for a suitcase. However I’m looking at it the wrong way. If you can expense it so somebody else pays, then it all starts to make sense….

  • Czechoslovakia says:

    22 Feb22 February 09:34

    “someone utterly price/value-indifferent, yet who can’t afford any storage space big enough for a suitcase.” I believe people like this are called “Londoners” 😉 sorry, couldn’t resist…

    • Lady London says:

      22 Feb22 February 11:00

      SO accurate, Czechoslovakia !! made me laugh out loud.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.