Luggage; cheap or expensive

I was looking at my luggage for my upcoming cruise. I will be flying home from Denmark so the "50lb." weight limit got me thinking. The set I've had for years now is pretty beat up and heavy too. Could I use it; probably. Should I?

Do you buy cheaper "disposable" luggage or do you get "expensive" good luggage? And what constitutes good?

Many years ago on our first "real" vacation to Hawaii we bought some "nice" luggage. After that first flight with the ripped off zipper pulls, ripped luggage, one wheel torn off and grease smears we said "NO MORE". From then on, it's just cheap stuff....

We try to stick to the middle. We will pay a bit more for a decent brand name that has a good warranty on their product. That way we get something that is light, has better construction, but isn't so expensive that I will wail every time I see a scratch or soil mark.

Let me pose a hypothetical question. If you were a luggage thief (and these bad guys hang around airports) would you steel a cheap beat-up bag, or a nice expensive piece of luggage? Enough said.

Hank

Middle of the road for me -- there's too much to be lost if it falls apart, but I don't want a well-known expensive brand (like Tumi, regardless of the quality) or fancy looking luggage either. I look for companies that have good warranties and well known quality but don't advertise a lot and aren't well known as luggage retailers. I've also found that previously well-respected brands (like Samsonite and TravelPro) make a lot of lousy luggage, so the labeled brand name means very little to me.

I expect (and hope) my luggage will get scuffed and worn looking, but I also expect (and hope) that the critical points like zippers and seams will hold strongly.

Currently I have a large rolling duffel bag from MEC (it's Canadian, and the US rough equivalent is REI), a smaller rolling duffel from LL Bean, and a small spinner from Brookstone. That last was an impulse purchase because I had to use a Brookstone gift card before it expired, and I have been very pleased with its value. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend LL Bean or MEC to anyone for luggage.

I try to buy something LIGHTWEIGHT and economical! NO luggage lasts forever, unless you never check it anywhere! Luggage handlers are awful...slinging stuff, throwing stuff....so I see no need to buy something very expensive to have it get beaten up!

I don't care what it looks like, as long as it holds what I need!

I usually use a canvas "Sea Bag" I got from being in the Navy. No dents, scratches etc. The downside? No wheels either.

Let me pose a hypothetical question. If you were a luggage thief (and these bad guys hang around airports) would you steel a cheap beat-up bag, or a nice expensive piece of luggage? Enough said.

 

Hank

Good point!;)

I guess I'm leaning towards the lesser expensive luggage because of the misuse that happens. Walmart/Kohl's; here I come. Thanks everyone!

I figure you should opt for decent quality, but not something luxurious.

I try to buy fairly good brands of luggage. But I usually buy it at Marshall's stores or other discount places, such as Tuesday Morning. You can get really nice luggage but at better prices. Sometime they even have currect year designs and models. I bought Ann Klein luggage last year at about 33% discount at the same time the big department stores were selling the exact same items at full price. I also look for sales at on-line stores, such as TravelSmith especially when they offer free shipping!

The bags from MEC (LOVE that store!!! And, I don't' even live in Canada) and REI are good quality items at a reasonable price point. Sure, they don't look fancy, but they are durable.

I have bags now from Osprey and eBags and 1 Eagle Creek. The Osprey bags have lifetime warranties. They've been bounced around numerous planes, trains, and automobiles for the past 5 years and the only "damage" is some spots on one of the bags from probably a little oil. Wheels or no wheels. I've have both and one bag that is literally both (a wheeled bag that also had backpack straps). I have the eBags Mother Lode weekender and weekender jr. They are the bags I use if I'm doing a quickie weekender or overnighter. Again, durable and hanging in there. The Eagle Creek Tarmac 22" was the "roll aboard" of choice since 2006. It's still in great shape. But, I now use it only when I know I'm on a regional jet, since it is a tad larger than "legally" allowed.

When I think of expensive luggage, I think Tumi and Rimowa.

Bring a luggage scale with you when shopping for luggage. You'd be surprised at the difference in weights for 'lightweight' luggage. Four wheels are usually heavier than those with two. Also two wheeled bags have more interior space than the same sized four wheel bags.

Just bought DD a 26" IT bag from TJMaxx. It held up well going Los Angeles to Rome via Munich. It's a light yellow-lime color. Easy to see coming off the belt. :p Oh, it weighs about 6lbs. This replaced her heaviest bag.

Her best piece of luggage has been a brown tweed Jordache bag with four tiny wheels. (Remember those from the late 80's, early 90's?) It has flown at least 8 times LAX-FCO and still looks as good as the day we bought it at Goodwill for $5.

I recently bought luggage from luggagefactory.com. They have great prices, free shipping on anything over $50, and a good return policy. This way I can get decent luggage for around $100. Watch for closeouts for best prices. I also prefer luggage in any color but black. I have spent too much time hunting for my black luggage in a sea of more black luggage!

My most recent purchase were two items from National Geographic's 'Kontiki' line made by TravelPro. Very light, nicely priced, and NOT BLACK! They are also well rated. http://practicaltravelgear.com/travelpro-national-geographic-kontiki-suitcase/

Luggage that is extremely light weight is the most important factor to us. Certainly, it doesn't have to be expensive.

Sub-0-G works for us.

LuLu

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Let me pose a hypothetical question. If you were a luggage thief (and these bad guys hang around airports) would you steel a cheap beat-up bag, or a nice expensive piece of luggage? Enough said.

 

Hank

I doubt many luggage thieves would know the difference. They just grab and go, any bag will do.

We get cheap luggage. They use the same nylon and metals as the expensive luggage. (Believe it or not, the metal used in expensive luggage doesn't come from special mines on Mars or anything).

Much of the luggage is made in the same factories using mostly the same materials, and if they slap a designer label on it, they sell it for a high price, and if they leave the label off, they sell it for a lower price.

Luggage is going to get scratched and ripped after a few trips, so we replace every few years.

Plus, if you have expensive luggage, thieves will expect to find some good stuff in there. Those are the ones they'll break into.

Most Travelpro lines are well made with good guarantees. And they have colors other than black (most sailors of yore cringed at a black bag on a ship - very bad luck).

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We get cheap luggage. They use the same nylon and metals as the expensive luggage. (Believe it or not, the metal used in expensive luggage doesn't come from special mines on Mars or anything).

 

Much of the luggage is made in the same factories using mostly the same materials, and if they slap a designer label on it, they sell it for a high price, and if they leave the label off, they sell it for a lower price.

 

Luggage is going to get scratched and ripped after a few trips, so we replace every few years.

 

Plus, if you have expensive luggage, thieves will expect to find some good stuff in there. Those are the ones they'll break into.

Is this your opinion or do you have some facts to back up this claim?

Shak

An interesting article: http://bobarno.com/thiefhunters/airport-luggage-theft/

Almost all of the trips where I need a "suitcase" are for cruises, which I need to fly to do. I have a suitcase, about 15 years old, in great shape, keeps my clothes unwrinked and has plenty of room. But empty, it is about 15 pounds. This makes it difficult to keep under 50 pounds.

I love the suitcase but will be looking to buy a soft sided nylon bag to make it possible to carry more without hitting that extra charge threshold. My daughter went on a cruise with me once and her bag was 3 pounds over. We looked silly at the airport check in transferring things to my carry on to avoid the charge.

We get cheap luggage. They use the same nylon and metals as the expensive luggage. (Believe it or not, the metal used in expensive luggage doesn't come from special mines on Mars or anything).

 

Much of the luggage is made in the same factories using mostly the same materials, and if they slap a designer label on it, they sell it for a high price, and if they leave the label off, they sell it for a lower price.

 

Luggage is going to get scratched and ripped after a few trips, so we replace every few years.

 

Plus, if you have expensive luggage, thieves will expect to find some good stuff in there. Those are the ones they'll break into.

So not true. YKK zippers are the best in the industry. They are made in Japan and they cost more money. Cheap made in China bags will use zipper pulls that look like YKK or even use fake YKK zipper pulls to trick you, but they most definitely are not real YKK.

Stronger nylons are more expensive, stronger threads are more expensive. Now I do agree that putting a name on something makes it more expensive that doesn't up the integrity if the product. But for the most part, a designer wants something with their name slapped on it to be up to par with their standards, tho I'm not talking about a cheap name like Guess.

We buy middle of the road, average quality luggage that looks like everyone else's.

Were I to want to steal luggage, I would look on the airport carousel for a designer bag knowing just the value of the suitcase is high and the contents are probably pricey. I don't like our luggage to stand out at all.

I do attach some identifying luggage tag or marking that helps us recognize our suitcases in the large pile of everyone looking for theirs'.

When you are out luggage shopping, bring a smartphone with you and look them up on Amazon. Read the reviews. It'll help you make your decisions. Sometimes a higher price is for better materials and engineering, other times it's for the brand name.

We went out shopping for luggage on Black Friday, since the stores were having big discounts on their luggage. After getting a feel for which bags we liked, we looked them up, and the reviews helped us narrow down our choices. Turned out that some of the nicer, pricier ones had several reports of bad zippers or being easily damaged. We also ended up buying them online, because the same models were much less expensive than the sale prices, free shipping and no sales tax.

My bags are in the middle. I don't want anything that's going to fall apart, but I also do want to spend an insane amount of money on luggage that's just going to get beat up.

I got mine at Marshall's. Those kind of stores have GREAT prices on luggage. Mine was about 65% off the original price, and it's good quality name-brand luggage. I've had the same set for about 6 years now, and I take 3-5 trips a year.

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