We're trying to avoid checking luggage on our upcoming 12 day trip to France since our traveling will be partial rental car and TGV. What do you frequent travelers recommend? Cost is not that much of an option, as whatever we purchase will be used frequently.

We have greatly enjoyed our 22" Atlantic bags that expand to 24". The 22" will go in the overhead. The extra space leaves room for souvenirs for the return trip. This is the style luggage our daughter uses as a flight attendant. She recently replaced her bag with the one sold at Costco--great features on it and very sturdy. If you don't check luggage don't pack any pointy things like scissors. Nail clippers are okay.

Please keep in mind that on some overseas carriers your carryon is limited not just by size, but by weight, and the weight allowance can be surprisingly low--13 pounds for example. Check with your airline.

When we recently bought luggage we were told that 20" was the typical max for carry-on internationally. Victorinox/Swiss Army/"SwissWerks" has some very nice pieces.

hi--we recently got back from france and we had bought two of the cases cited below,(altho we got 20 inch b/c some international airlines do not allow 22 inch carry ons). we travelled for 10 days w/no other luggage and my husband thought it was the best luggage we ever had. i bought them at one of the samsonite outlet stores in one of the many outlet malls that one finds. i paid around $149 for each--they were having some sort of buy one, get another for half price--but the bottom line is that they are very strong, very light weight and easy to use. here is a url for what they look like. http://www.irvs.com/image.php?itemno=381301

I really like the Ricardo brand. It gives you a compartment incase you want hanging space. Lasts a long time. My 22 inch just bit the dust after 10 years.

"best brand" really is totally up to you. Virtually ALL brands of luggage make 18, 19, 20 and/or 21 inch bags.

Whether you buy a cheap case at Target or Walmart, or a top of the line Tumi or Hartmann -- they will be the same sizes and have the same "checkability".

I'd just look for one w/ good substantial wheels and not too many fittings inside. The more of the interior taken up w/ "suiters" and such the less space for clothes.

I have used all sorts of bags - currently I use a 19 inch TravelPro that I really like.

I'm amazed how you can contemplate a twelve night stay with no checked luggage. I could barely survive a casual short week-end without a full size suitcase and its complement of clothes.

Just grow up and check luggage, yes it is inconvenient having to wait for it, but it's a lot more time consuming having to wash, rewash and press the same tired old garments.

m_kingdom, I really believe you have never traveled!

"yes, it's inconvenient having to wait on it..."

Yup, especially when you wait 6 days in a foreign country, as I did once!

I have a 10-year-old 22" Travelpro bag that has logged almost as many miles as I have -- mostly as a carry-on but sometimes checked. It is fairly light weight and doesn't have a lot of extras that take up inside room. I have no plans to replace it anytime soon.

I do agree with the previous comments, though, about checking with your airline re: its carry-on requirements. Some carriers have low weight limits, and while enforcement can be inconsistent, it is best to be prepared for the possibility of checking it.

Aer Lingus has a 14 pound limit and 9 X 14 X 18 size limit, and one piece. It would be tough to fit everything in that for 12 days.

I've seen some airlines allow people to bring the "kitchen sink" in as their carry-ons.

HI--not only do I find m_kingdom2's comments to be unnecessarily harsh, our experience is also that the writer is incorrect. As I said, we travelled 10 days w/only 20 inch carry-ons and did not have to do any laundry. Careful packing and savvy coordination of clothing makes this possible, esp at this time of year when clothes are light weight.

You're paying for luggage to be checked in on aircraft tickets, use it.

How you can pack a couple of different outfits for at least a week of your holiday in carryons stagger me, what's the secret?

Three things:

1. It really does depend on your airline what can or cannot be carried on-board.

2. I agree that TravelPro makes a nice rollaway case. I wouldn't leave home without it.

3. Ms. Go...stop procrastinating and get back to work!

To m_kingdom2--the "secret" is thin clothes of the kind sold in the travellers line of the chain of stores named Chico's,(if you do not have access to that store, these are clothes made of a very attractive, elegant looking rayon/acetate blend w/a touch of spandex that rolls for packing and needs no ironing when unpacked--I have seen such clothes in other stores too, it is just that Chico's has a whole line of them) lightweight silk or silk-like tops and only one pair of spare shoes, ie wear one pair, pack one pair. *No* hair dryer--hotels have them, and one smallish toiletries bag w/only the absolute minimum of products in the smallest possible containers. Jewelry in a limited amount that fits into side pockets of toiletries bag, and I even had room for a lightweight robe in additon to enough underwear for the whole 10 days.

I wouldn't want any clothes to be creased, I can pack a whole carryon sized toiletry case alone, I'll carry on the old fashioned way!

Sorry, guv, but you need to put at least one change of clothing in your carryon in case the airline loses your checked luggage.

It is easy to criticize others, Mkingdom, if this has never happened to you.

It has happened to me. Not a very nice holiday when you have to wear the same As Four jumper to dinner at Le Gavroche two nights in row, now is it?

I am sure, Mkingdom, that you seldom have your Goyard luggage lost since you fly by private jet.



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I am now paranoid about checking luggage. Our first time to Italy (cannot now remember if it was 12 or 14 days) we did have carryons, but the real story here is that my husband and I each packed some things in the other's bag "just in case" and both bags were delayed until the day before we left to come home. Not much need for them by then. This is not the only time we have had delayed bags and once we only got my husband's dress clothes needed on a business trip AFTER we returned home. Sorry to be so long about this but I warned you upfront that I was paranoid about luggage!!!
p.s.--We do carefully label and included itineraries. Wasn't that a big help!

To mimipam--I don't think you are paranoid at all. While at the dentist, I read a horror story written by a businessman in a travel magazine about his luggage nightmare on an overseas trip. The bottom line is that the only luggage you *know* will get there is that which you take w/you. Also, if travelling on trains in Europe once you are there,having to transport lots of luggage is like being Jacob Marley in "A Christmas Carol" and dragging around your huge heavy chain--better to travel light and do without a thing or two. After all, you are travelling. If you wanted access to everything you have in your home, logic suggests that you would be at home and not travelling!!

HI
I've been traveling for years, only once has a bag of mine been "misplaced" temporarily, and it did show up the next day. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, and when it does happen, it's very inconvenient at best, but that doesn't stop me from checking luggage.

I'd be more worried on trips that involve a change of planes, especially a change of airlines.

However, I try to compensate for possible problems in many areas: I try to keep my wallet safe, I confirm hotel reservations, etc. When I check my suitcase, which I most often do, I keep
necessities like medications, important documents, and a change of underwear and perhaps a clean shirt in my carry on tote. I'm not traveling to a wilderness, if worse comes to worse I can buy a couple of replacement outfits.
I'm not criticizing what others do, but I'm just not someone who can pack for a week in just a carry on.

Again, do check your airline's weight limits.