How much luggage does the average American carry while traveling? The answer, usually, is one or two main bags and a carry-on.

The reason for this is quite simple. While some airlines will let you store more than one bag, they'll also charge a fee for each additional one. These fees tend to be quite high, often at $20 to $30 dollars at least for each extra bag.

This raises some interesting questions, with the biggest being how do I handle luggage storage when traveling? The truth is that you have a few different options, and we'll talk about some of them in this article.

The Airport

Layovers are unfortunate, but they do happen sometimes. Keeping track of your luggage during a layover can be aggravating. Layovers often last hours or more, and nobody wants to drag their bags along with them while they get something to eat or find a place to sleep.

The good news is that most airports have areas for storing your luggage. Some airports will even allow you to have your luggage shipped to your destination, so you don't have to find a place to store it on the plane. We should note that this will cost extra.

Luggage Storage Business

If you don't want to keep your luggage in an airport or aren't traveling by plane, you could pay for a luggage storage business. Businesses like mindmybag will keep your luggage in a safe place while you explore, shop, or do whatever else you want to do.

Much like airport storage, luggage storage businesses often don't work non-stop. There are certain times when you may not be able to store your luggage. Luggage storage businesses won't transfer your bags for you in most cases, so you'll have to take it with you or find another way to transport it.

Train

If you're traveling light, a train might fit your travel plans quite well. According to Amtrak policy, each passenger is allowed to bring two bags with them at no extra charge. However, each bag after that costs $20, and you can only take up to four total.

That shouldn't be a problem in most cases because most people don't carry many bags when they travel. If you do plan to bring several bags along with you, be ready.

One of the advantages of trains is that transport and storage are one and the same. The tradeoff is that trains are a lot slower than planes. What might be a two-hour or four-hour trip on a plane might take a day or more by rail.

Luggage Storage Options

Finding a place to store your baggage is often a confusing part of vacations. You have a lot of luggage storage options when traveling. We've discussed some of your options in this article, but there are probably more out there.

If you want to learn more about travel, finances, and various other lifestyle topics, we encourage you to read our other blog articles. We also suggest figuring out a luggage storage plan before you book your trip. It should make things much easier.