Travellers praise £6.99 'handpump trick' for fitting twice the amount of clothes into cabin bags
These days, packing for the airport can be a minefield - but Brits have discovered a £6.99 'handpump trick' for fitting twice the amount of clothes into cabin bags.
As frequent travellers will know, some UK airlines now charge eye-watering fees for the privilege of putting your luggage into the overhead compartment.
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Many budget airlines, such as Ryanair, only allow customers to bring free under-the-seat baggage allowance - that's a 40cm by 20cm bag - and squeezing a week's worth of outfits into a tiny bag is no easy feat.
Thankfully, this 'genius' travel hack doing the rounds and saving people a fortune in the process.
What's the 'handpump trick' everyone is talking about?
In case you missed it, people are now using compression storage bags to fit more stuff into their suitcases. Clever, right?
This particular set of five large compression bags has racked up thousands of rave reviews on Amazon.
"Got all my holiday clothes into a cabin bag, saving me money," one five-star reviewer bragged.
Another happy customer agreed, as they wrote: "Perfect for travelling! Works well and it's spacious. Good for a large cabin bag."
And the pictures are pretty impressive, with one shopper managing to fit all the gear for his skiing holiday into one tiny suitcase.
The best part? The compression bags come with a handpump to make packing easier than ever before, whether you're jetting off or heading home.
"Genius packing aid. It's great to find vacuum bags that don’t require a vacuum cleaner to suck out the air," one customer wrote. "The pump works extremely well and enables me to take enough clothes for a two-week holiday but pack it all into a cabin-sized case."
A second shared, "Good variety of sizes, which meant packing for a recent holiday took up less space, and using the pump meant we could do the same coming home and not be reliant on a vacuum cleaner."
How do compression bags work?
If you've never given the gadget a go, listen up. Compression bags are designed to enable you to pack or store clothes and bed linen away without taking up too much space.
All you need to do is fold your belongings and place them into the bag in question. Then, simply use a vacuum cleaner to suck the air out of the compression bag, so that it becomes smaller (and easier to place into a suitcase or wardrobe). You can secure the bag using the airtight valve provided.
So, where can you buy the compression bags this summer?
You can currently purchase a set of five large compression bags complete with a handpump on Amazon here.
According to the product description, the bags come in at 80cm by 60cm and are ideal for packing or storing clothes, towels, and linens.
Built to withstand travel, they boast double-zip seals and even a triple-seal turbo valve for airtight protection. What's more, the bags are made from layers of PA and PE films for resistance against wear and tear.
What's so great about Amazon's compression bags is the hand pump included, as it eliminates the need for a vacuum cleaner - which your Airbnb might not have. At the time of publication, a pack of five Amazon Basics Compression Bags are now only £6.99 here.
If you really want to stock up, a pack of 20 comes in at £22.99 here. The compression bags come in different sizes depending on your suitcase, from medium to extra jumbo if you have lots of holiday clothes to squeeze in. Make sure to hurry if you're keen, they're selling fast.
Danielle Fowler