Best luggage

Comments

• Claudia Sails

  July 2019

  Too broad a topic. There are some people who can pack for a month or more in a carry on and others that think they need the biggest checked bag AND biggest allowed carry on for a 1 week tour. There are so many options for sizes, styles, and places to purchase them that you can go inexpensive or spend a mint. I just did a 20 day trip - river cruise plus extra days at beginning and end using a 24" checked bag - Travelpro maxlite bought from Tuesday Morning for about $60 plus a small underseat roller bag made by Aerolite - under $50 from Amazon. My husband is still using the Ricardo bag bought at Costco in 2014. It's looking a bit battered but still works fine.
  I'll give you some thoughts on what we look for:

  • size and weight - the airlines pretty much set the limits on those - Delta checked is 62" linear including wheels and 50lb. Carryon is 45 linear. Tauck prefers you to limit their luggage handling to one bag so you may need to carry your hand luggage yourself down to the bus and to your room at the next hotel. My Maxlite comes in at just over 7lbs which is about as good as it gets for that size. The heavier the bag, the less clothing you can take. My bag weighed just over 40lb when we left home giving me space/weight for souvenirs
  • wheels tend to be one of the biggest failure points - although they can be replaced in most cases - one forum regular recently showed his experience buying replacements and installing them himself - spinners work the best on smooth/hard surfaces, not so great on cobblestone, stairs, etc
  • covered corners on checked bags - I have a Ricardo bag bought from Costco that was used for 4 trips to Europe and the corners are showing the most wear - my new Maxlite has better protection there
  • pockets - what do they have both inside and outside - how will I use them - my old costco bag had 2 outside front pockets but both went all the way to the bottom so anything small was hard to get to
  • hardside bags are gaining in popularity - I'd consider one for a carry on if using that as my main bag but not a full size one mainly because when opened they won't fit on most luggage stands - also most don't have any outside pockets - I like having outside pockets to hold things like a rain coat, umbrella, etc that I want to get to without opening the bag
  • roller duffles - we just looked at some nice, inexpensive ones recently but opted against when we realized that they won't stand upright without holding them - if standing in line you either need to be holding it up or lay it on the floor
  • color - if you insist on staying with plain ole black you'll have more hassle spotting your bag on the carousel - we tried adding colored ribbons, tags, etc but inevitably the bag came out face down and you couldn't tell it from a dozen others - eventually I used white craft paint and a stencil on the sides and back of my husbands black bag to make it easier to spot
  • there's the old "you get what you pay for" line which is valid but can go overboard - how many trips do you plan, initial price, what's the warranty - you can buy some really nice luggage from specialty stores and websites like Travelsmith or Magellan, or look for a bargain on amazon, costco, other department or big box stores

  Besides the luggage itself, look really hard at what you are packing. Get a kitchen scale and actually weigh clothing and shoes. Items made from wool or cotton will be almost double in weight for a comparable item made from polar fleece, modal blends, etc. I can take 2 modal blend tops for the same weight as a cotton T and know that they can be washed out in the sink and dry overnight.

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• Kathy0529

  July 2019

  I love the hardside spinner suitcases. There are many great names in the line of luggage. I have a 29 inch from the Delsey Shadow line which I bought at Macy's years ago. I went w/purple because as Claudia stated black makes it more difficult to find when the luggage starts coming out on the belts. I do add a luggage strap around my suitcase, too, and use packing cubes that help a lot in keeping my clothes neat inside and also helps by giving me more space inside. I will say my first piece of luggage travelled many places before it had a gash in the front. Even thought the piece was many years old, Delta reimbursed me the price I paid which was more than the replacement piece I bought. I have smaller pieces, too, in purple from Delsey...love it!!

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