Luggage Recommendations Please

[budisal]

My wife and I are looking to buy new luggage for our winter trip, but need some help. Our current luggage is soft-sided and includes both a suitcase and a carry-on (each). The biggest problem is with the carry-ons. They seem to almost front-weighted... in other words, they constantly fall over frontwards once they're packed. We are also wondering about going with hard cases instead of soft. Does anyone have any suggestions regarding hard or soft; and a carry-on that doesn't fall over on its own? Any particular brand names to recommend? Price is not a problem... I would rather spend more on good luggage than cheap out and get lesser quality that doesn't do the job.

 

 

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[mllewis48]

My wife and I are looking to buy new luggage for our winter trip, but need some help. Our current luggage is soft-sided and includes both a suitcase and a carry-on (each). The biggest problem is with the carry-ons. They seem to almost front-weighted... in other words, they constantly fall over frontwards once they're packed. We are also wondering about going with hard cases instead of soft. Does anyone have any suggestions regarding hard or soft; and a carry-on that doesn't fall over on its own? Any particular brand names to recommend? Price is not a problem... I would rather spend more on good luggage than cheap out and get lesser quality that doesn't do the job.

 

 

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We have four Delsey pieces, 2 folding garments, a duffel, and a 26" piece. They have made several cruises and hold up well. Middle of the road in price. Don't like hard side, probably wouldn't hold up to well in airports? JMO

 

 

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[Tom O.]

The current trend is lightweight hard sided luggage.

However, I still prefer soft sided luggage, I think they stay looking nice for a longer period of time- they also cost less.

I am old enough to remember when all luggage was hard sided. I had an old samsonite suit case that weighed a ton even when it was empty. So even if the new hard sided ones are very light, even lighter than soft sided ones, I am hesitant to go back to them.

[JasYHZ]

I'm not a big fan of hard sided. I work at an airport and see too many with big dents and cracks from one end to the other. We just bought new luggage and we've had it on two trips and are in love with it so far. TravelPro Platinum Magna 2. Lightweight but very strong and not tippy when the carry on spinners are loaded. And they roll like they're on ice - no effort at all to get them through an airport!

 

 

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[Iwant2BatC]

Sturdy duffles on wheels for check through. They fit easily under the beds. I telescope two (one inside the other) in case I "acquire" things along the way. Sometimes I separate them going if I am taking gifts. Then put one inside the other on the return. Carry on HAS to have spinner wheels. They have changed my life. I have a luggage fettish and used to buy expensive brands. No more.

 

 

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[Essiesmom]

We are long tired of dragging suitcases through airports and terminals, or to hotels (Venice). So we are down to a carry-on max rollaboard spinner, and a backpack. the carryon is hard sided and has a zipper in the middle, and is expandable. The suitcase has to have a handle on the side and/or bottom to make it easier to get into the overhead compartment. And must have one completely zipped compartment inside. the backpack , must have a strap on the back so that it can slip down over the handle of the carry-on. The plus for a suitcase with the zipper in the middle is that it doesn't tip when loaded. This is all we take no matter how long the cruise. Next cruise is 21 days... We are 72/73. EM

[nealstuber]

For cruises that we drive to, we love garment bags and shoe organizers for things that don't hang in the garment bags. Last cruise we took 3 garment bags and a "shoe case".

 

 

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[Doggielover68]

I did extensive research for this last year when we needed new carry ons. Hard side luggage can be great if you get a high quality polycarbonate material. We went with Samsonite ziplite 20 inch spinner luggages from Kohls. The dimensions are perfect for domestic and international flight requirements (including the wheels), they are very sturdy and hold a lot of stuff. With the 4 wheels they don't tip over. We have used them on several trips so far and they look like new, not a scratch on them. I bought them when they were on sale and kohls had a "kohls cash" promotion which makes the price reasonable.

 

 

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[1of4]

We have had great success with Samsonite hardsided luggage with gaskets instead of zippers. We have been using 2 of the large size for over 10 years. I call them flying buckets as they are just that, no lining. We love them so much that we bought a third only because our then 12 year old had to manage one and the new suitcase has 4 wheels instead of 2.

 

No zippers means they are waterproof and nothing to break. They haven't been damaged on any of our cruises or trips in over a decade and we have not been gentle. In fact, I would never buy soft sided suitcases again.

 

We find any carry on with 4 wheels don't fall over like the 2 wheel variety does.

[easyboy]

We use the Samsonite for check-in and carry-on luggage. We bought this 2-pc luggage both with 4 wheels on sale at Costco for around $120. Been using for more than 5 yrs on average of 3 trips a year. Been satisfied with it.

 

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[Kamloops50]

We just bought two carry bags that are designed to be smaller than any current carry on or European size requirements. It is designed to fit under the seat of a Q400 . That is going to be what we carry for all our cruises.

[senorjim]

If price is not a concern I'd suggest looking at Tumi brand luggage. Available in soft and hard. Top quality. For carry on I'd also suggest you consider international size rather than continental size. A little smaller but gets on all flights.

Jim

 

 

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[Scrapnana]

I like soft-sided IT luggage. Most way no more than 5-6 pounds. I don't like hard-sided luggage because with the zipper in the middle, you need twice as much space to pack/unpack.

[Gigi1977]

We love our Travel Pro. We have both soft sided and hard sided set. We have found that the soft sided is much easier to pack and unpack because it takes up 1/2 of the space when opened. Just make sure you get 4 wheeled 'spinner'. It's much easier to handle regardless of size or brand.

 

 

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[Carnevale]

We are fans of Heys. They are hard sided, lightweight, inexpensive, long lasting, and have wheels that turn on a dime so they glide along with us. Some we have had for many years and are centre opening (they open like a book into two sides of equal size so are very nice/easy to pack). But, the centre opening is a pain in small hotel rooms as it takes more space and the bag might not fit on a luggage rack. Thankfully, Heys now has what they call their "smart" luggage which can be used with the centre opening or with the more traditional top opening (which takes less space so is good in smaller hotel rms).

[IndyDenise]

I had a Hey's hard side case. It's traveled to Europe twice and held up well.. until a cruise last year. The top handle busted.

 

No biggie I thought. I've written Heys 6 times asking to BUY a handle . I've called at least that many times and left messages about buying one. No response. I'm done with them , I just bought a soft sided 4 wheeler by Samsonite from TJ Max on clearance.

 

 

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[OlsSalt]

It is odd looking, but I liked the Tutto brand - has an internal collapsible "skeleton" which folds down later to easily put under the bed, but is strong enough to sit on it.

 

Best thing is it is on the lightweight end of the scale for the luggage itself which means you get to take more with you. Airlines are getting stricter and stricter now about carryon.

 

That being said, I recently turned in my large Tutto for an even lighter brand for a very large size suitcase - 5 pounds for the suitcase but it holds 50# of packing (45# plus the 5# suitcase - brand name is "it Luggage" -- it does win the online lightest luggage contest, and so far has held up very well. It does not fold down but still did fit under the HAL bed on our last cruise.

 

It is basically a big empty space, no extra pocket or frills. I have also used a rolling duffle but it was around 9#, so this one give me just enough extra pounds and still stay under 50# that finally I can pack just one suitcase, even for 28 days with a variety of temperature zones, and formal nights.

Edited November 25, 2016 by OlsSalt

[TiogaCruiser]

Adding another question to OPs question:

 

Does the designation "carry on" refer to size, or are they (typically) sturdy enough for check on? I'm looking at replacing an older, heavier bag that needs to be fixed, with a smaller, lighter model, that I would check on.

[crystalspin]

@Tioga

Carry-on is a size, and that's why you see the reference to 'international' carry-on vs US/domestic carry-on -- and even that isn't necessarily accurate as even domestic US airlines are varying in their requirements.

 

Some luggage companies cheat and sell carry-ons that meet the common (domestic) size of 45"=length+depth+height, but they don't count the wheels and handles! So if you get to a gate and they actually are using the 'cage' -- your bag will not fit! This was recently profiled in Consumer Reports, I believe.

 

Carry-on (and I suppose, checked bag) requirement that is being more and more enforced is WEIGHT. For that reason, we have joined the 2-wheel IT soft-side team -- 3.5 pounds empty! (about 1.6kg)

 

We had only shortly before (year and a half, maybe) treated ourselves to new Ricardo brand carry-on sized hard-shell spinners. I thought they were the cat's pajamas, so stable and easy to roll! And they were lighter than our older cloth carryons, but still about twice the ITs. So that's more clothes or sundries we can take and still be in weight.

 

Any good brand (or even off-brand) carry-on can be checked... I'm not sure we've checked the IT's except a few times having to leave them off plane-side on small commuter planes. Spinners' wheels are fully outside the case (where two-wheelers are usually recessed partly) so they have the reputation of shearing off in the cargo hold (or likely in the hands of the handlers!), but at least in the airports they are a charm to navigate! And as long as you still have the back two wheels, they can be rolled like a 2-wheeler.

 

I believe if I were planning to check a carry-on sized bag I would go with the hard-case spinner... that's why we've kept them! The danger of losing a wheel is there, but the danger of having a zipper split or fabric being torn is also possible.

 

If cost were also not a factor, and I needed a new one, I might look into the Samsonite mentioned above as our Samsonite pullmans lasted and lasted and were also the gasket-rimmed waterproof style. But when is cost not a factor?!! I see you're in SoCal -- we got the Ricardo spinners at Cost-co right around the holidays; if you're not a member maybe you know someone who is and can keep their eyes open for you.

 

We bought our IT's (and then one for my mom and one for my sister!) off eBags.com

[Krazy Kruizers]

All our luggage is soft sided -- American Tourist.

The four large suitcases as well as our 2 carry-ons are all spinners.

[ComputerTravelGuy]

We use eBag luggage from computer bags to carry-on to large luggage. I'm a business traveler and a heavy user of these sturdy, well-designed, and long-lasting bags.

[Randyk47]

We have a mix. Mrs K travels a lot for business and got hooked on Samsonite spinners when they first came out years ago for all of her luggage. Easier for her to handle by herself and they seem to have held up well. I like Delsey and now they've come out with spinners and I will most probably go that way as I need to replace luggage. My business travel has virtually disappeared so the wear and tear on my luggage is minimal. In either case we buy the majority of our luggage at Macy's when they have one of their very frequent sales.

[RocketMan275]

The best idea for solving your luggage problem is to reduce the items you're taking along. As was once said: "lay out all your clothing that you think you need to take and put half of it back in the closet and go to the bank and get more cash".

 

There is simply no reason why an adult cannot pack for a seven day cruise in one roller carry on with room to spare. It requires self-discipline and prior planning. Contrary to the opinion of some, no women really needs to take fourteen pairs of shoes for a seven day cruise. Two or three will do nicely.

 

Wife and I drive to the port so we could take as many items as we wish but we've found that we can pack quite nicely on one roller carry-on for each of us. I also take a backpack to carry six bottles of wine.

[Lady Arwen]

I have Samsonite and my husband has Swiss Army, soft sided cases and carry-ons.....all spinners. They are terrific. Great quality. We purchased a set of Polo International a year ago and they fell apart after the first trip........handles broke off on all pieces! Bought them at Amazon and gave up trying to get them replaced....long story. Expensive luggage, so cost is not always an indicator of quality.

[Randyk47]

The best idea for solving your luggage problem is to reduce the items you're taking along. As was once said: "lay out all your clothing that you think you need to take and put half of it back in the closet and go to the bank and get more cash".

 

There is simply no reason why an adult cannot pack for a seven day cruise in one roller carry on with room to spare. It requires self-discipline and prior planning. Contrary to the opinion of some, no women really needs to take fourteen pairs of shoes for a seven day cruise. Two or three will do nicely.

 

Wife and I drive to the port so we could take as many items as we wish but we've found that we can pack quite nicely on one roller carry-on for each of us. I also take a backpack to carry six bottles of wine.

 

You obviously have not met my wife. :o We look more like we're moving than going on vacation. :rolleyes::) Of course we don't take anything under a 10-day cruise and with pre and post cruise time we're typically gone more like 14 days minimally but wife feels that's why there are porters. :D