New Luggage Recomendations

[cruise wizard]

We have had great luck with Travel-Pro luggage - very light weight and durable. We have the spinner style for our carry-ons and the more traditional 2 wheels for the 25" and 27" models.

[celebrity]

We have had great luck with Travel-Pro luggage - very light weight and durable. We have the spinner style for our carry-ons and the more traditional 2 wheels for the 25" and 27" models.

 

Love my Travelpro as well. Has held up on many trips.

[sxphil]

If your in the UK Tescos are doing deals on Wengen cases same people who make swiss army knives

 

I recently bought 2 larges cases, Suithanger case, Travel Bag and briefcase thingy total cost £459 with vouchers £150

 

Great quality VERY LIGHT BUT Black ;)

[denamo]

:D Fellow cruisers: My DW is in the market for new luggage. So many choices. Soft sided, Hard sided, Duffel, Two wheels, 4 wheels. Looking for recommendations. Currently using Atlantic 10 yrs old, thanks to work related travel on my part, it's time. Looking at 28" for checked baggage. :cool:

 

We purchased new red Samsonite luggage within the last six months. These have now endured one flight and two road trips and made all trips in great shape. We purchased 25" and 29" sizes. I now wish we had just purchased two 25" size. The 29" is just too big to be used effectively. In days without luggage weight limits, we could have probably gotten everything in the one larger sized suitcase. Now, to meet the weight limitations of airlines, the larger sized one is no where near packed to its limit. It means items shift around and often arrive at our destination more wrinkled. :(

The larger suitcase for car travel without weight limitations works well. If much of traveling is done by air, two smaller ones might be the way to go. In actuality, two smaller ones are also easier on the back when lifting around. :)

These suitcases are the spinner type and also will roll on two wheels at a slanted level. After so many years of using the two wheeled type suitcases, the four wheeled ones do take some getting used to. Old habits die hard with wanting to tip the suitcase! :)

Probably the more vibrant the color the better for airline travel. We have a black rolling garment bag that more than once has been taken off of the conveyer belt by someone ahead of us thinking it is their bag even with a bright colored ribbon attached.:eek: I can quickly identify ours and step in to identify it.

Happy hunting for new luggage.

[SPacificbound]

Our "old" 29" spinners weigh 16 pounds empty, new Samsonite Lift 29"weigh

9 pounds, significant difference. On shorter trips, 14 days or so, I take 25" & DH 29" but on long trips I also take 29", 25" stays home. I always take two king size down pillows with me so need the space for them. We have been just under on the airline weight limit with old bags so with the new ones it will not be a problem. Our next trip will be 3 1/2 to 4 months so it was time for lighter bags. With good spinners you don't really have to drag them behind you, we just roll them beside us, much easier. :)

[Buckeye State Cruisers]

I agree the more distinctive and vibrant the color the better. When we had to replace a piece of luggage this year we found this piece.

[/img]

[Happy ks]

what do you buy that lasts 20-30 trips? Are these flights + cruise?:confused::D

 

Tumi, Hartmann, Briggs and Riley, some Victorinox, Eagle Creek is a great brand. The Briggs, EC and some Victorinox is guaranteed for life and they will fix the piece free if anything breaks. For the hard sided, you can't beat Rimowa or Tumi Vapor. Tumi also has a new line out called Tegra, pricey but just about indestructible.

 

I'm not familiar with a lot of brands, such as American Tourister, Ricardo or other discount brands. Some of our stores carry TravelPro, we haven't in years as it just didn't sell well in comparison to other brands so it got pulled.

 

I work part time in a luggage store, so my answer would be, if you can go in person to see what you are buying, do that rather than trust other's recommendations or online stores. The online stores do not sell luggage any cheaper than brick and mortar stores. If they do, the store will price match.

 

We do have pieces of Tumi and Hartmann that come in 15-20 years old for minor repair. The stuff is heavy and pricey, but people who travel often love it and wouldn't buy another brand, a lot of them business travelers who are constantly flying.

 

For myself, I have an assortment of pieces, Tumi, Briggs and Riley and older Victorinox. I did have some Delsey and a Travelpro piece that I gave away after I started buying these other brands. My sister carries Rimowa and every time we travel together, I covet her luggage.

[sherilyn70]

As already mentioned... not all spinners are created equal. I highly recomend checking them in person to see how sturdy the wheels are and how well they move in all directions. I have two different pieces from the same brand but different models and one has 100% better wheels than the other. The one I bought online (thinking it would be the same quality as the rest of my set) has cheaper plastic wheels that don't spin as easily and has issues with going backwards and we pretty much decided it isn't worth using again. The ones we bought in person at our local AAA store are wonderful and are holding up well so far. They are both Travelers Polo and Racquet Club brand.

[McDebbie]

Question, in the old days I had some hard sided Samsonite luggage that opened in the middle and could pack on both sides and a cardboard divider went over one side to hold the clothes in when you closed the suitcase. Do they still make luggage like that? I just hate packing that big deep bag. Is there anything like that in soft side? I may just take a jaunt to the luggage store at the outlet mall to see what is out there.

 

I HATE packing!

[Alrana Eris]

I agree the more distinctive and vibrant the color the better. When we had to replace a piece of luggage this year we found this piece.

[/img]

 

 

 

I got one similar but mine has peacock eyes on it

[Alrana Eris]

ditto on what happy KS said on luggage brands:

 

Okay tips to buying luggage.

If you do a lot of flying keep airline size regulations in mind. They are all different.

Always wheel it around the store for a test drive to get the feel.

 

Pull upright handle up and down if it is way too loose or tight- a sign that it will give you trouble down the road. It has to go up and down easily for you

 

Lift luggage if its heavy empty- then its going to be heavier when you put stuff in it.

 

Carry-on again lift over head as if you were pretending to put in overhead bin. If you can't lift it over your head empty- you won't be able to lift it full of your stuff.

 

Zippers play around with them especially corners if you have trouble with them or fabric catches. When traveling: keep zippers ALWAYS on top- prevents damage to zipper pulls rolling it through the airport.

 

Look inside of how organized you like it either a plain basic or one with pockets and such. Do you want a feature you can hang your dress/suits in?

pick your size. Or one with an expansion to give yourself 2-3 inches more room to pack?

I personally don't go any larger than a 24", its how I pack. Choose size that fits your packing needs.

 

Our personal luggage I have Tumi, Briggs & Riley, Boyt, Victorinox and Kipling, and Delsey.

 

 

good luck

[casandbliz]

Just purchased a pair of Samsonite Hi Light suitcases from Costco. They both are spinners (love those!). The 27" one is 9.2 lbs. and the 21" (carry on) is 6.8 lbs. My old 25" is almost 12 lbs. The only thing is---they are black, so I will have to spice them up a bit!!!:p

 

Also, recently got a digital luggage scale- so easy to weigh suitcases with it!

[Happy ks]

Question, in the old days I had some hard sided Samsonite luggage that opened in the middle and could pack on both sides and a cardboard divider went over one side to hold the clothes in when you closed the suitcase. Do they still make luggage like that? I just hate packing that big deep bag. Is there anything like that in soft side? I may just take a jaunt to the luggage store at the outlet mall to see what is out there.

 

I HATE packing!

 

Almost all of the newer polycarbonate and ABS plastic case open in the middle, with two sides to them. Most of them have zippers, instead of the old Samsonite clamshell fasteners.

 

Rimowa does make a line that has fasteners and is waterproof, they call it Titanium. It's heavy, made of aluminum and very expensive in comparison to what most people want. Kind of a specialty item...we do sell some of it but it certainly doesn't fly off the shelf. Many people look at it but instantly put it down when they pick it up and see how heavy it is, then look at the price tag.

 

We had some old Samsonite a couple years ago that was spinner style and had fasteners instead of zippers. Empty the stuff weighed in @ around 20 lbs., I wouldn't even show it to people unless they were insistant they wanted Samsonite, one of those myths that it's the best luggage out there, kind of like TravelPro. I was so happy when that stuff got shipped out, I think it went to one of our outlet stores. BTW, the outlet stores sell the stuff at the same price we do.

 

I will say that if you are looking for hardsided, try to buy polycarbonate or a poly blend rather than ABS plastic. The ABS plastic is more rigid and more prone to cracking.

 

Pay attention to wheels. The best 4 wheels out there are on the Rimowa Salsa Deluxe, if you wheel a piece of Heys along with Rimowa it's like childrens roller skates next to a professional racing roller skates. Just the wheel system alone has sold many Rimowa pieces for us.

[Happy ks]

We do have an outlet store in Sawgrass Mills. I think Sunrise is close to Ft. Lauderdale??

[Kilnwood]

Tumi, Hartmann, Briggs and Riley, some Victorinox, Eagle Creek is a great brand. The Briggs, EC and some Victorinox is guaranteed for life and they will fix the piece free if anything breaks. For the hard sided, you can't beat Rimowa or Tumi Vapor. Tumi also has a new line out called Tegra, pricey but just about indestructible.

 

I'm not familiar with a lot of brands, such as American Tourister, Ricardo or other discount brands. Some of our stores carry TravelPro, we haven't in years as it just didn't sell well in comparison to other brands so it got pulled.

 

I work part time in a luggage store, so my answer would be, if you can go in person to see what you are buying, do that rather than trust other's recommendations or online stores. The online stores do not sell luggage any cheaper than brick and mortar stores. If they do, the store will price match.

 

We do have pieces of Tumi and Hartmann that come in 15-20 years old for minor repair. The stuff is heavy and pricey, but people who travel often love it and wouldn't buy another brand, a lot of them business travelers who are constantly flying.

 

For myself, I have an assortment of pieces, Tumi, Briggs and Riley and older Victorinox. I did have some Delsey and a Travelpro piece that I gave away after I started buying these other brands. My sister carries Rimowa and every time we travel together, I covet her luggage.

 

BBM

 

I consider myself extremely fortunate to have inherited 11 pieces of Hartmann walnut tweed following my mother's death in 1994; I wonder how I ever travelled without it!

 

DH loves his LL Bean Sportsman's Collection pieces, and Bean's is great when it comes to repairs.

 

My niece has "Boyt Bags" which I passed along to her when the Hartmann came my way, and she treasures the ruggedness of those duffles.

 

HAPPY CRUISING!!

[Lois R]

We do have an outlet store in Sawgrass Mills. I think Sunrise is close to Ft. Lauderdale??

 

Hi Kathy:) yes, Sawgrass Mills is actually west of Ft. Lauderdale.

It is a GIANT MALL. And Sunrise? It is sort of neigborhood of

Ft. Lauderdale too.

[Lois R]

I have a 4 wheel spinner from SwissGear. I recently purchased

it from ROSS and used it for my cruise to the MED in May:).....I LOVE

IT.:D...I also got a new carry on spinner and omg...what a difference

those make when going up and down the aisle of the plane:D

My carry on is from a brand called Olympia and I LOVE IT too:)

[Sassy Chassis]

I've been using my Brookstone "Dash" hard-sided spinner for a while and it's performing very well for me. :) It's carry-on sized.

[lovemylab]

We have hard sided luggage - Heys spinners. Easy to move, lightweight and so far have held up well. I also like the bright colors because they stick out on a luggage belt.

 

We got them at costco for a great price.

[McDebbie]

We do have an outlet store in Sawgrass Mills. I think Sunrise is close to Ft. Lauderdale??

 

We actually live in Davie off Flamingo which is right down the street from the Sawgrass. I think I bought my DH some soft sided Samsonite there about 12 years ago. Nice store, right outside Target but there may be other luggage stores there, I haven't walked the entire mall in years.

[Bowie MeMe]

I love luggage and really want to buy for each trip the "perfect" bag. The latest ones are a polycarbonate with zippered middle of the bag (2 halves) and 4 wheels of the little type. Good points: rolls great on concrete/sturdy carpet/holds alot and is light weight (7 lbs). Bad points: hard to open up to put something else in/ doesn't fit on luggage stand (hate them on bed BED BUGS transport system) and they do not do at all well on cobblestone, brick, sand or in transfering to dinghy for that yacht type cruise:p 24 inch sturdy rolling duffle bag. Good: Holds a large amount. Weights 6 pounds empty. Fairly easy to drag on 2 wheels. Crushes small for storage. Easy to pack Bad: those of dufflehood - - standing alone, material shows abrasions quickly, material not fully waterproof. Depending on the journey I pick the bag I need. If my daughter is picking me up at airport, I take two rolling tote bags because two suitcases will not fit in her trunk (and this is a huge problem in other countries with small cars and high cost of gasoline)

 

I also have a 29/30 inch polycarbonate that only went on one cruise. The suitcase was so big that it would hold over 80 pounds and it would not fit in the trunk of the taxi and I arrived at the QM2 with my suitcase sticking out the back tied in with a bungee chord!:o:o Guess I showed I was NOT in the Queen's grill. This suitcase now holds the Christmas wrappings. Storage -- the fate of most suitcases that have been retired to my luggage storeroom.

 

Seriously consider airline regulations, surfaces that the wheels will have to go over {must be able to drag as well as roll}, fit in small to medium sized cars (Think Europe or poor relatives with small cars) and storage for those unhappy times when you are home and the suitcase (or many suitcases) are taking up space.

 

I paint my suitcases with fabric paint including printing my email address on the outside by the handle (Sharpie or fabric paint). Big flowers make the suitcase observable. I usually try to find a suitcase of very moderate price since I really do like a new one really often. Expensive bags just seem to make the luggage apes go wild and show off their badness. :p

[slidergirl]

BowieMeMe brings up an important point. If you need to use transportation like a taxi, you may not be able to get that bag (or 2 of them of there are 2 of you) into your taxi! Especially in Europe, where the taxis are more along the lines of compact cars than the mid-size we have in the US. Trunks in European taxis that I've been in are horribly small. Someone always ends up having to squeeze into half a back seat because there was so much luggage stuffed into the back seat area!!!

Much of luggage selection boils down to your transportation options. Always plan for the smallest mode of transportation! That 29" hard sided is great if you're driving yourself to the cruise or if you are taking shuttle service from the airport to the cruise. But, if you're going to rely on other modes of transportation, absolutely think about if your bags will fit into the trunk of the potentially small vehicle or in the back seat with all of you.

[Happy ks]

I don't really think a lot of luggage handlers or thieves will know the difference between an expensive piece of luggage vs. a cheaply made one. Most people who don't often shop for luggage are shocked at the price of good luggage. They are expecting quality pieces for under $100, they all gravitate to the most expensive stuff in the store first.

[slidergirl]

I would LOVE to have a Rimowa Salsa Lite or Tumi Vapor international carryon, but I can't bring myself to pay that much!!! $250 is my limit :( What I would really love is if either one of those was truly at 20", not the 21.7" or so. I would still worry about intra-Europe travel with one of those bags...

[Happy ks]

Watch for sales! Sometimes a discontinued color will come up @ around 40% off. Tumi sets their own pricing and tells us when we can mark things down, so if you see a piece on sale...that's the price you will pay anywhere. Once in a while you can pick up a years old piece at a final discounter like TJ Maxx.

 

Both Rimowa Salsa Air and Vapor are worth the $$$.

 

Tumi has a new line, Tegra-lite, even pricier but almost indestructible.

 

Edit to add, Rimowa has only had one sale since I started selling luggage 5 years ago and that was the day after Christmas this year. Funny thing was, they raised the price before they put it on sale, so the sale price wasn't as big a savings as what people thought it was. Kind of sneaky on their part, but I think they just didn't want to bring the new version of Salsa Deluxe out at a much higher price point. But again, sometimes there is the rare piece, usually discontinued colors and usually only a couple odd pieces, never the best sellers.

 

I just work there, I don't price the stuff.