22" rolling suitcase max. (?maybe with zipper expansion for the trip home & then check the bag thru with the airlines). plus one small shoulder bag/carry-on. <BR><BR>I only use a couple gallon ziplocks (sit on them to get the air out and seal) for undies, socks, loose stuff. My clothes I simply fold and stack into the suitcase, no tricks. My thinking is that those packet/folders are just extra weight in the suitcase.<BR><BR>(Tip, I learned the hard way latest trip... compressing clothes with whatever means makes them SMALLER so you are able to pack a HEAVIER suitcase... not necessarily a good thing ;-)

This past June I used 2-gallon ziplock bags to condense 4 changes of clothes and a duffle bag -- yes, a second suitcase! -- into one 22" suitcase along with a second pair of shoes, my shaving kit, and a few presents.<BR><BR>Since my clothes were just slacker cotton clothes -- t-shirts, shorts that look fine wrinkled, etc. -- putting them into ziplock bags worked fine. I had to sit on one or two of the bags to squeeze as much of the air out as possible, but I managed to do it *and* keep my suitcase within the 9x14x22 dimensions.<BR><BR>Since I packed a second suitcase into my one suitcase, I didn't necessarily need the bags to compress and condense clothes on the way home. That said, I still did use them to a lesser extent and then used the leftover bags to encase liquid items, like bottles of olive oil or vino.<BR><BR>I wholeheartedly recommend the ziplock method of packing.

I just purchased a package of TWO gallon "zip locs" at Smart and Final ---Iris Brand. Twice as much room as ONE gallons, of course

Another vote for a smaller bag. I used a 24" rolling bag and a small tote that fit over the handle. The suitcase was expandable but not in width (depth). So even expanded it just fit down the aisle of the train. Our experience was that on the Eurostar trains we didn't have to maneuver the bag down the aisle because the luggage rack was just inside the door. One the overnight trains we had to get down a hallway to our compartment and our rolling bags just fit.<BR><BR>As for packing, I used compressor bags to put our dirty clothes in, large ziplocks to hold folded tshirts (solid color for wearing under my jackt), packet folders for button down type shirts, and here's the secret - I installed a sturdy piece of cardboard down the middle of the suitcase, put the packet folder with shirts on the bottom and folded my slacks and packed them on the top half of the suitcase. I also used drycleaning bags to reduce wrinkles. You put your shirt or slacks inside a drycleaning bag and then fold it. Helps tremendously.