What luggage brand do you have?

We seem to keep buying luggage that gets damaged within the first 3 uses. We've bought cheap luggage and expensive luggage. Cost doesn't seem to matter. The rolling wheels or one of the feet break. They tear. Or the retractable handle breaks.

Anyone have strong lightweight luggage that has stood the test of many airline and cruise travels? If so what brand is it, where have you purchased it, and approx how much was it?

Thanks everyone!

If you want to minimize damage get a hard kind. But the drawback is the weight.

Keith

There are some brands with stellar reputations and lifetime unconditional warranties that cover everything, but they are expensive (I think Briggs & Riley and Eagle Creek fall into that category, at least for some of their lines). Certain configurations will have weak spots, but also offer benefits (like wheels). I'm now using a rolling duffel bag rather than a suitcase, and I love it (Canadian brand, lifetime warranty).

I've heard very good things about LL Bean's luggage, including great warranty and customer service. I would have purchased from them except the extra cost of buying from Canada (taxes and duties) made it not worthwhile for me, but you might want to consider it.

I'll agree with calliopecruiser with the brands, There is a a new Eagle Creek line, called Ease, that I really like a lot. It's lightweight, rolls on 4 wheels and the black is distinguishable from other black with the detailed piping. It also comes in a berry color and right now is on sale @20% off (manufacturers sale so all retailers will sell it at a discount).

Briggs and Riley is great, a bit on the heavy side but sturdy. Tumi is also heavy and pricey but lasts years. Hartmann is probably the sturdiest luggage I've ever seen, again pricey and heavy. We have pieces of Hartmann that are 20 years old coming in for minor repair sometimes.

If you want to go lightweight and hardsided (not really hard, the material is bendable) you want to look at polycarbonate luggage. Rimowa is the best, Tumi also has a line, Vapor, that is great. Really compare wheels when looking at luggage, many of the cheaply made pieces have wheels that just won't stand up to the weight and rigors of travel. I've observed people with cases that look as difficult as a wayward grocery shopping cart that have bad wheels.

There is a major difference between cheap and good quality. All of it can be damaged by airline or other luggage handlers and conveyor belts. The big difference is that the cheap bags will fail sooner (sometimes after only one use) and are not worth fixing.

If you possibly can, go in person to compare. I read reviews on luggage sometimes and many times the people haven't even used it yet, or have only used the piece once. There is a lot more to luggage than the color and the number of wheels. I work part time in a luggage store, we have many different brands and price points. Some of it I won't even bother to show if I think it's not worth the price. I also don't try to talk people into purchasing luggage they think is too high priced.

Many business travelers walk in, go right to the Tumi and are out of the store in less than 5 minutes. Once in a while you show a piece of Tumi to a business traveler when they say they don't want the brand...and they always end up buying Tumi.

Back to the OP's original question. We have several cases and brands. Tumi, Briggs and Riley and some older Victorinox. My dream luggage is Hartmann Wings. If I could afford it, I'd definitely have a selection of Rimowa.

We have Ricardo hardside spinners. I caught them on sale at Macy's the day after Christmas one year and had a coupon. (Coupon queen here :D)

If I remember correctly, they were right at $400 each, but got them for $125 after the sale and my coupon.

Love, love, love them!! Still look like new, except for a few minor scratches (from the airlines of course).

I have seen more and more hard sided luggage lately. That seems to be the trend.

I have used a set of Ricardo soft sided for years and the only damage has been to zippers. The zippers seem to be the most vulnerable part of the luggage in airport handling. It is what I would be most concerned about when buying luggage again.

I have Cabelas ripcord rolling duffel, Calpak rolling duffel, Dockers 26" rolling upright, and American Tourister 21" carry-on rolling upright. I pretty much listed them in order of durrability.

If you are looking for strong and lightweight pretty much either have to spend a lot. Thinner, lighter materials wear faster. Look for ripstop nylon or codura construction and I suggest the rolling duffel design as it seems lighter than the uprights.

Make sure retractable handles lock in securely.

I find the most durable wheels are the inset rollerblade wheels, spinners and wheels mounted on the outer edge of the bag are much more vulnerable.

For my first cruise I bought a new Samsonite rolling garment bag. Very nice and roomy and at a great price From Amazon.com.

We have our "Lanza" non-brand forever! Tie a bright ribbon to spot it on the carousel or in the cruise holding - the ribbon we've changed several times, just didn't want to wash :rolleyes:

Got it in San Francisco China-town store for maybe $30-40, don't even remember. Survived even Venice bridges - my husband just dragged it up and pushed it down :cool:

For my first cruise I bought a new Samsonite rolling garment bag. Very nice and roomy and at a great price From Amazon.com.

We got a 24" Samsonite as a promotion from Princess. We keep spare bedding in it :p With the weight restriction this is too heavy for us.

We like International Traveller hardside luggage. It is important to us to have luggage that isn't 15 pounds in weight before we start packing. We go to ebags.com and look for specials. I pay attention to the reviews and, of course, how much the luggage weights.

For carry-on we purchased "hybrid" hardside luggage. This gives us room on the outside to put paperwork, etc.

I think I've tried all the brands that aren't the super expensive ones and now use our Briggs & Riley (24 or 25"), Eagle Creek (24 or 25") and one 22" Victorinox carry one. Each has it's own unique reasons and all are light weight. I also have a Briggs & Riley carry on that I use sometimes instead of the Victorinox as it hitches to the other one nicely and depending on what I need for the trip as it is a strange shape.

Hard-sided Samsonite, all the way! :D Our newer bags even have TSA-approved locks, eliminating the necessity for a locking luggage strap.

Knock on wood, we've never had one damaged by the cruise line. Certain airlines' baggage handlers, however, seem to take great delight in bouncing them onto the tarmac -- resulting in several instances of crushed corners. :eek: We always inspect our bags for damage before we leave the airport (or cruise port). If damage has occurred, we've found that it's much easier to file a claim on the spot -- so, we can get the necessary repairs approved, and get on with our trip. :cool:

We buy it at Ross ..

For my first cruise I bought a new Samsonite rolling garment bag. Very nice and roomy and at a great price From Amazon.com.

We have the same for about four years and are still good if a little beaten up. We walk a lot with them and the rollers are still good.

Hard-sided Samsonite, all the way! :D Our newer bags even have TSA-approved locks, eliminating the necessity for a locking luggage strap.

Knock on wood, we've never had one damaged by the cruise line. Certain airlines' baggage handlers, however, seem to take great delight in bouncing them onto the tarmac -- resulting in several instances of crushed corners. :eek: We always inspect our bags for damage before we leave the airport (or cruise port). If damage has occurred, we've found that it's much easier to file a claim on the spot -- so, we can get the necessary repairs approved, and get on with our trip. :cool:

Well, that is exactly the problem with hard sided luggage: it simply cannot hold against rough handling. The problem is that in rigid object such as a hard sided luggage there is no way to effectively dissipate the energy of an impact. Pretty much all of my hard sided luggage are banged up, with various crumple zones (corners) crumpled. If you want a luggage that stands up to abuse, your luggage must have an effective energy management system. For example, duffel bags are great -- you can drop a common duffel bag from 2 story building and it’ll be OK; a hard sided luggage dropped from half the height would likely not survive unscathed.

Currently, and into the foreseeable future, we use duffle bags or convertible internal frame packs for checked luggage (in the 40 to 80 L range), and use rigid soft-sided 21” luggage as carry-ons.

I bought TravelPro after noting that the brand was used by airline flight crews. They ought to know.

I bought TravelPro after noting that the brand was used by airline flight crews. They ought to know.

Well, yeah, but that is their carry on luggage, which does not get thrown around. For that you can have any luggage, even a very fragile luggage. I think that OP was looking for a checked luggage, which does get tossed around a lot.

I bought TravelPro after noting that the brand was used by airline flight crews. They ought to know.

We have several pieces of TravelPro but even they can be damaged.

We do like our Travelpro.

It's unfortunate that just about any piece of luggage can get damaged.

Keith

I bought TravelPro after noting that the brand was used by airline flight crews. They ought to know.

What's funny about that is TravelPro either gives the luggage to flight crews, or very deeply discounts it for them. We no longer sell the brand, I did have one piece years ago and it was fine, I gave it away a couple years back.

Well, that is exactly the problem with hard sided luggage: it simply cannot hold against rough handling. The problem is that in rigid object such as a hard sided luggage there is no way to effectively dissipate the energy of an impact. Pretty much all of my hard sided luggage are banged up, with various crumple zones (corners) crumpled. If you want a luggage that stands up to abuse, your luggage must have an effective energy management system. For example, duffel bags are great -- you can drop a common duffel bag from 2 story building and it’ll be OK; a hard sided luggage dropped from half the height would likely not survive unscathed.

Very true -- but one interesting note: we've never had a suitcase pop open, or had anything inside it (including bubble-wrapped liquids) damaged or crushed. The only problems we've encountered is what you so accurately refer to as the "crumple zones" -- and one instance of a damaged latch.

(Remember those old American Tourister "savage baggage handler" TV ads -- with the gorilla jumping up and down on the hard-side suitcase?) :cool:

Well, that is exactly the problem with hard sided luggage: it simply cannot hold against rough handling. The problem is that in rigid object such as a hard sided luggage there is no way to effectively dissipate the energy of an impact. Pretty much all of my hard sided luggage are banged up, with various crumple zones (corners) crumpled. If you want a luggage that stands up to abuse, your luggage must have an effective energy management system. For example, duffel bags are great -- you can drop a common duffel bag from 2 story building and it’ll be OK; a hard sided luggage dropped from half the height would likely not survive unscathed.

 

Currently, and into the foreseeable future, we use duffle bags or convertible internal frame packs for checked luggage (in the 40 to 80 L range), and use rigid soft-sided 21” luggage as carry-ons.

The newer polycarbonates are flexible, light weight and most of it 4 wheeled which is why you are seeing a lot more of it around. The better brands, such as Rimowa, could indeed withstand a drop like that.

The older hard sided bags such as the Samsonite clamshell, are extremely heavy. We once had a piece, I think it was 27 inch, that weighed about 18 lbs. We were very happy to see that one finally sold and out of the store. The newer Samsonite we are now carrying (we typically don't sell that brand) starts at $500 for a carry on. I look at it and say "really?". I think people ar so used to the name Samsonite they automatically think it's going to be good quality, not so. They do have some good lines, some cheaply made lines, so you have to be careful, people should not just trust the brand name.

The newer hard sided (poly or ABS) almost always has TSA locks on the exterior. Some of them work great, others break easily.

Duffel bags have no structure and may withstand a fall better than a structured case (bent frames) but can be punctured easier. It depends on the fabric weight, the cheap ones we sell sometimes come back ripped after one use and the customer is angry...don't blame them, but the cheap brands also don't warranty damage like that. I don't lie and tell them it's a good quality product, but many people are not willing to spend much on quality luggage. Duffels are great for long trips where you need to take a lot, kicks the weight out.

I'm a firm believer in good quality luggage that's worth the cost of repair. I see luggage come in for repair and see the damage to the cases. In a lesser quality piece you run the risk of not only losing the luggage, but the contents too. Good luggage is not cheap and it's not terribly lightweight.

Finally, those luggage deals where you see the piece marked down from $400 to $200 and then a further discount. Well, they never really sold for $400 to begin with, it's always been $400, marked down to $200 and then a percentage off. Hopefully a deep discount, because that is what it is worth most of the time. I don't even trust a designer name, just because it says Ricardo of Beverly Hills, or Tommy Hilfiger or Kenneth Cole does not mean it's a quality piece. I once saw a piece of luggage in a Kate Spade store, her name on it and it wasn't made any better than the Ricardo of Beverly Hills piece you can pick up at a Ross or TJ Maxx for $60-80. It was marked @ $700 :eek:

I never had a problem with luggage handling by the cruise lines, but I don't think there is a luggage made that can withstand airline handling. After reading all of the posts, I would just do my best to find a seemingly sturdy bag at a reasonable price, knowing that none are sure bets. I do believe that the higher priced won't be any better than the middle ground, yet cheap is cheap.

I always carry a roll of duct tape just in case.

We have had Rick Steves luggage for 12 years - we have traveled to Europe, Africa and Australia with it. They are expandable, light weight and extremely durable. I almost WISH they were destructable - I could use a change! You order them on line on the RIck Steve's website.