Never Check Luggage Again Thanks to This $18 Travel Hack That Lets Carry-Ons Hold ‘Double or Triple’ Their Amount

I’m a one-bag traveler through and through. Even on a recent monthlong trip through Northern Europe, I was able to fit everything I needed into a carry-on suitcase—puffer jacket included.

The best way to pack a suitcase, we seasoned travelers know, is to use compression packing cubes. These clever hacks flatten soft goods to half their size, so you can pack a checked bag’s worth of contents into a carry-on suitcase. They’re the only way a recovering overpacker like me could ever join the exclusive carry-on-only club.

Bagail Set of 6 Compression Packing Cubes
How do compression packing cubes work? They’re super simple in construction but majorly helpful in practice. Each packing cube is a zippered pouch in ripstop nylon, with two zippers: one that closes the pouch itself, and another you can zip closed to shrink the contents to the smallest size possible. It’s the same principle as sitting on your suitcase to get it to zip—except this travel hack keeps everything nice and tight from start to finish.

With clothing packed neatly into these soft nylon pouches, then zipped down to wring out all the air, you’ll wonder why you ever checked a bag to begin with.

“The compression feature is genius,” one five-star reviewer said. “Just zip everything tight, and boom, it’s like vacuum-sealing your wardrobe (minus the vacuum). I was able to fit way more than I expected, and everything stayed neatly organized. No more suitcase explosions every time I needed socks.”

Say, for instance, a stack of blouses is 6 inches high. Those blouses might squash nice and neat into the medium-sized compression cube that’s 4 inches deep. But then, you can zip that cube down to compress it even further and whittle down that 6-inch stack of clothes to just 2 inches or so.

And all that saved space adds up, letting you “pack double or triple your clothes in a small suitcase,” one shopper shared. “Just fold your clothes and overpack, then double zip it! Literally watched my clothes shrink as air was let out.” That shopper was able to fit four pairs of shorts, two sets of pajamas, a robe, three shirts, and nine undergarments—into just one of these compression cubes.
As a bonus, you won’t be rifling through a jumbled mess of clothing when you go to unpack in your destination. Instead, your belongings arrive neatly organized in dedicated bags to make finding what you need a breeze. “Unpacking took seconds,” one reviewer raved. “I just pulled out the cubes and popped them into drawers.”

This six-pack by Bagail includes six different size options, a variety you don’t often get from other brands. Packing cube fans call these “lightweight, but tough as nails,” with ”high-quality and durable” fabric, “reinforced seams and reliable zippers,” and a mesh panel that lets you see what’s inside. They’re also water repellent too, so if your face wash springs a leak, your clothes stand a fighting chance of still arriving unsoiled. You can even pack damp clothes, one shopper said, without fretting over leaks.

“If you're an overpacker like me or just want to feel like a travel ninja, do yourself a favor and grab a set,” a recent packing-cube convert wrote. “Your future-suitcase self will thank you.”

Snag this six-pack of the compression packing cubes even skeptical shoppers called “a real game changer,” and read on for other compression cubes for travel to level up your packing game.

Bagsmart Compression Packing Cubes, Set of 6
Tripped Travel Gear Compression Packing Cubes, Set of 6
Gonex Compression Packing Cubes, Set of 6
OlarHike Compression Packing Cubes, Set of 8
Aerotrunk Compression Packing Cubes, Set of 6
LeanTravel Compression Packing Cubes, Set of 6