I love our Rick Steve's bags. They are extremely durable and not expensive at all, and not heavy. We do carryon only, so the largest we go is 21". We have a few of these, and the one I use we have had for 13 years so far. My husband actually uses a hard sided tiny one from Costco most of the time. It is one that is designed to fit underneath the seat in front of you. I found it for $29, and figured it would be good for his 1-2 day work trips, but he has taken it on 6 trips to Europe this year, for up to 10 days at a time.

hi schmerl, hi jubilada :-) I got my first IT from TJ Maxx mostly because it has a cute print and was by far the lightest weight option available. I do have a second one of a slightly larger size (like a 24" and a 26"). And no they don't last a lifetime, because nothing so lightweight can be totally durable. But I'd rather pay $50 and replace when needed. There's just no way I'm paying a thousand bucks or even a few hundred bucks for a suitcase, especially if it is one that I am ever going to surrender to checked baggage on an airline.

If I traveled for business or carry-on only... well... oh never mind, I'd probably still go for IT anyway -lol!

I like the IT bags, too. However, our last trip involved the most restrictive carry on restrictions making the ITs 2 cm too tall (handle and wheels count). I found 2 old 2 wheelers that made the dimension limits because the wheels are inset instead of sticking out on the spinner cases. Got my 2 cm savings while the interior space was the same. Yes, spinners are easier to manage while walking, but at the expense of a significant loss of packing space. That said, we can get what we need to take in the IT bags so I still prefer them if I can use them on a particular trip.

With the strict weight limits on carry ons, my other most important desired feature is low weight. That means fewer or no dividers, packing features, pockets, extra handles and dodads. Simple is better, at least for me.

As for durability, in case of midtrip failure, there is always duct tape or purchase of a cheap replacement bag wherever you are. And having an expensive famous name bag makes you a theft target.

Thank you for the pictures and all of the recommendations!

Fun to think about something travel related and I hope we are able to use our luggage again soon, at least in 2020!

I haven't made a decision yet, am checking websites but I appreciate all of the ideas and suggestions!

Good point AJP, I've always thought that about 'designer' items for a purses or luggage. Seems not the smartest time to look like you have money (expensive suitcase = expensive items inside??).

My other suitcase rule... no solid black luggage.

Suze: Solid black is the color of most bags, mine included. I take brightly colored duct tape and run a racing stripe completely around the bag parallel to the zipper. It makes the bag easily identifiable while giving me an easy way to take duct tape on the trip.

Nope not for me. I just see no reason for black luggage. Trust me no one is grabbing mine in error. Certainly nothing wrong with your method either.

No matter how funky your bag may look the factory made many thousands of that pattern. Plus others in the same pattern but different sizes.

Most of the people grabbing the wrong bag are sleepy,stressed out and couldn't tell blue from black from dark red .

I have found that carefully selected, inexpensive luggage often holds up just as well as more costly brands, and I like different luggage for different trips, rather than one all-purpose piece. We have an attic full and still once in awhile add something. We have pieces for weekends, for cruises, for longer trips to Europe, etc. If we are going to be taking our own luggage through a lot of airports, then I like a spinner with a small carry on that fits on top. Lots of train travel in Europe, I like a narrow, duffel bag style but with trunk style opening on long side and two wheels. Car and visiting friends, something with lots of pockets to stay organized. Cruise, large with no extra pieces and we use packing cubes. It also depends on where we are going and if we are packing art supplies or things for the beach, etc. For me, choosing the luggage is a fun part of the trip and something new for up to a hundred dollars or so is just a little extra for the cost of the trip. I like Olympia for design and IT for weight, but have a dozen other brands.

No matter how funky your bag may look the factory made many thousands of that pattern. Plus others in the same pattern but different sizes.

My suitcase fabric is a pattern of purple, pink, black, and white geometric design. With a thick red 'samsonite' luggage strap around it. And an oversized hula girl and palm tree luggage tag. It's, uh, fairly distinctive -lol!

I definitely agree about different bags for different trips. The ITs I use for beach vacations where I pack generously (about 30 lbs packed) and check it thru. For Europe travel I'd go an entirely different route (I'd still probably look for a new IT but in a smaller size for train travel).

Dear Lynni,

My travel mostly revolves around going to the jungle, river and cycling trek - on sealed and off road. Hence, traveling light is crucial as the luggage needs to go for example from one boat to the other, or carried along the mountainous or jungle trail. A durable waterproof foldable hand luggage is what i trust. you can even fold this and put in your hard or soft sided luggage when you travel. For this i recommend the sustainably produced Ortlieb Waterproof travel bags.

Stay safe and once the world is healed, happy traveling.

Best wishes,
imwerren

My IT bag is a beautiful purple. I put a colored luggage strap around it and a bright orange luggage tag.
I doubt anyone would mistake my bag for theirs.

Curious -- what is the need for the luggage straps? I figure the purpose is to keep the bag from opening but does that ever happen to people? I rarely check a bag, so just wondering.

Yes, it does happen once in awhile. Zippers can break. It is just extra protection.

Correct the luggage strap is just an extra protection for the zipper(s) on a soft-sided bag, plus adds to easy identification... both.

Thanks! Not necessarily recommending Kenneth Cole luggage, but I just had a great customer service response. At the end of December, I bought at T.J.Maxx a $70, 24" clamshell luggage by Kenneth Cole. (We needed to pack hiking poles.) First flight - we checked the luggage at IAD. There were 3 separate flights to our first destination. Finally in Sri Lanka, we get the luggage & it's damaged. Our luggage had been lost and we didn't notice the damage until days later. I finally got around to dealing with this. I sent one email with photos and info to the Kenneth Cole Repair company. Within minutes I got back an apology and they are sending us a new suitcase. Now if only we could go somewhere!

Jeez suze....I was about the say the same thing. Big surprise! :)

Most of the people grabbing the wrong bag are sleepy, stressed out and couldn't tell blue from black from dark red.

I guess that's true, because one time a woman DID pick up my (above described) crazy suitcase off the conveyor belt. I couldn't believe it!!

As to the luggage strap, yes I have, just a few times, seen bags open up and people's clothes falling out at the luggage carousel.

re: luggage straps
Luggage straps saved us from emptying an entire suitcase and having to purchase an entire wardrobe.

We used hard sided luggage on a vacation trip and wrapped luggage straps around it mainly for easier identification. When we arrived at our home airport, the hard sided case looked like a forklift punctured it and the side as well as top locks were all popped open. Luckily I had used XXL Ziploc bags for packing. The luggage straps held the bag relatively closed (it had about a 1” gap all around, and the interior bags kept the contents from being strewn all over the airport.

they sure saved you!

Most hard-sided bags without zips need those luggage straps. We had a huge Delsey bag we used when my husband would have to take several types of uniforms to Germany. No packing light then.

Macross - what do you mean by "Most hard-sided bags without zips"?

I've never used luggage straps but I did have a popped zipper with clothes fallig out on the baggage carousel at Logan one time. Delta gave me a new suitcase. I had asked for a box. That suitcase was a replacement suitcase that Delta sent me after I reported a crunched wheel in Hawaii. That was in the midst of weekly travel for 9 years. Three suitcases = 2 free from Delta to replace the first one I bought.

If you want a "name" suitcase for status, go for it. But IME the no name suitcases and the $10 Roma carryon that lasted for years have convinced me that I (personally) don't need to spend a lot on a suitcase. YMMV

latches, no zips.

I have Travelpro, recommended by a coworker who was formerly an air steward and said that was what they all used. I purchased a set of 3 in 2000, and mostly use the 21" as carryon. They still look about the same as when I bought them. The zipper pull tab came off the larger one, otherwise intact. Black- I rely on something bright wrapped around the handle & a neon luggage strap. Whoah, I just looked at their website. I think I paid $200 for all 3. I wonder if it's the 20 years, or a lot of improvements I don't have.
suze love your luggage tag description. Brilliant!
Newark airport lost my 26" on departure for a cruise(even though all info was inside luggage as well as on tags). On the flight home, a frequent flyer seated next to me recommended Tumi. He came from a very high income town, but I went to a luggage store in the mall, and asked for "bulletproof" nylon. I meant ballistic! I thought, I'll never get a good price now and left.
I never bothered to replace it; only for cruises have I wanted all the cute clothes and shoes, and I'm not going to spend time buying toiletries and sunscreen once I get there, so had to check the bag.
I hope I get to decide whether to check it on the next trip, when we can travel safely again.

Thanks ninasdream- I do love a colorful suitcase. And looks crazy enough I can't imagine anyone else would want it or believe it to be valueable. Tumi, Travelpro, any of the fancy brands mentioned here, are all too heavy for my needs (even if they weren't silly expensive for my budget).

I've always said if someone can come up with a sturdy suitcase that weighs only a few ounces, then I'd pay a lot for it! :-)

I'm with you on that suze. That's why I love my IT bag although it's not really what I"d call sturdy.

No, I agree, the IT bags are not sturdy. And they don't last forever. Was only trying to say if I'm going to spend $1000 on luggage, it better not weigh 12 pounds -haha.

I want a carry on under 6 or close to it. Its interesting to hear comments on IT luggage. I have looked at it and came close to buying it.

https://www.overstock.com/Luggage-Ba...egation-region

I like Olympia luggage a lot. Have had several pieces and DH always seem to take them over, so this time I bought matching under seat totes, less than 4 pounds. They have some nice carry-ons too. If you like pockets and dividers, they are great for that.

looks nice! I am leary of using outside pockets, but I like the looks of all the inside ones and compartments.
Now, if you don't mind my asking, how do you find you use this? Is it your only carry on (besides handbag)? What else are you usually packing? I usually travel with a 21" that I carry on. But overhead bin guidelines are getting stricter and stricter. Appreciate you sharing your experience as my travel had been on hold until just before COVID.

yestravel - The IT carry-on styles are between 3.5 to 6.0 pounds (~21")

maybe when we can travel again i will get an IT carry on. Thanks

Yah... I thought I was repurposing my best canvas carry-on tote as a new gym bag... but right now I sadly need neither :-( haha.

We bought these around Christmas, anticipating several trips this year, so sadly, have not used them yet. We almost always check luggage. We fear losing it though and like having meds, a change of clothes, I-pads, etc. with us, so we always do some kind of carry on. We had totes that attached to luggage, but once luggage is checked, we are left carrying it around. I hated that, so after a couple of trips carrying a bag on and off the plane, I looked for something that could attach to luggage, but still had wheels for pulling around in the airport, was big enough for our needs, but light enough to lift and smaller than most carry-ons because we don’t need it. In regular luggage, I use packing cubes so prefer one big compartment. For a carry-on, I like pockets so I can get to things easily, not have to dig through stuff.

What I expect with these is tickets, Misc papers, Note book (yes, I still use one), pens, etc. in small front zip pocket. Drinks, snacks, tissues, Tylenol, cough drops, in one side pocket. I-pad in front larger pocket, jacket and umbrella in other side pocket. Meds, clothes, extra shoes, inside. Basically, it holds everything we need after luggage is checked and in an emergency, fits just about any space, can be pulled or attached to luggage. I found ours at Tuesday Morning on sale for $39.99. Ours is the Olympia Lansing, wheeled, under the seat carry-on/RT 8200 series, 15”w x 14” h x 8” deep and weighs 4.7 lbs. This would do for a weekend or overnight, but not big enough for me to be my only luggage on a trip. Hope this helps.

Here are few things I learned.

Wheels - Look for sturdy wheels that have solid shafts attaching them to the body. Four way pivoting wheels, aka spinners, allow you to leave your bag upright, and wheel it down the aisle of the plane. Hard to do with only two wheels in back. Some manufacturers have moved to rollerblade style wheels, and not those flimsy casters.

Handle - Look for one that is long enough, and has more than one adjustable length stop. If the handle frame isn't inside the bag, you are giving up some internal packing space. Also look at the fit and finish inside the bag around the collapsed handle.

Pockets - Those hard sided bags look really great, but it can be very handy to have external pockets that let you quickly find items you will use during the trip.

Size - there are different regulations for carry on size between US and international flights. Best to double check that before dropping your money into a bag.

How do they open? Clamshell style where the zipper is in the middle of the bag requires more space when it's open because the clothes are packed into both halves of the bag. Top opening style you just unzip the flap, and can get to everything only needs half the table space to get to the contents.

Finally, the best brands I found in the shop were Tumi (VERY expensive and stylish) Briggs & Riley (really well built, has a unique compression ratchet that lets you overstuff the bag, zip it, and then smash it so it meets regs) Travelpro (Flight crew luggage, but highly discounted to them for promotional purposes) and Victorinox (best value overall, has most of the top end features but lower price point.)

Surely weight is only important if you are packing right up to the last gram in your allowance? It isn't the case you are carrying, it is the contents. .ir total weight.
When you compare a light and heavy piece the difference as percentage of total weight isn't that great a kg or so?. Most airlines allow 20 to 35 kg as standard checkin weight. The next problem you face is internal flights who tend to only permit the lower weights....but again that's down to your own items, not the bag itself.
The thing that would concern me about ultra light luggage also would be its strength and resilience

As for brands...I may be out of date but all my main luggage is Samsonite. I have used one large case since 1998. It is faultless. My computer bag has been in constant daily use since 2007 and shows no sign of wear.

The one thing you can't have is any breakage, i e. shell or hinge failure and I wouldn't know of any other brand that is equally bullet proof.

I don't like the idea of fabric luggage as I get the impression (perhaps wrongly) that it could be cut open or ripped on an edge of something during handling.
This year in April, I flew Bkk to UK with excess luggage and began to look for a new case, largely through boredom rather than any real need. In the end common sense prevailed...I saved the cost and filled the old Samsonite case to 30 kg with no problems at all.
This case has flown UK to Oz return about 7 times, several more trips Oz to Thailand (3or 4 per year) in between and several Thailand to UK in the last 15 years.
it has done camping trips into the tropical jungles and road trips around S E. Asia and Europe, it's frequently been overweight.
The wheels still work perfectly the handles are perfect, the locks still work including the combo, the only damage is the plastic name holder cover that fell off a few years back.
It's black... when I first bought it, you could see it coming on the conveyor belt from miles off... then to my consternation on one occasion I nearly picked up the wrong case ... it was the same model and color as mine.... as time progressed, it became more and more common to see similar cases coming along the carousel. Now I'm happy to say they are less commoner at least conspicuous as newer luggage seems to get more colourful and bizarre every time i fly. Let's just hope this new flimsy stuff survives the ravages of time and baggage handlers as well as my old Samsonite .

https://youtu.be/vz_Sxh4526w

PS - watch out for luggage straps . They may actually make it more likely your luggage or contents get damaged....they snag during handling and require extra throwing about by the handlers, they can come off and take the handles along with them. They form pressure spots on the casing. Your luggage needs to slide as easily as possible to survive unscathed.

Most of the time I'm carry on only. A light weight bag makes that possible.

Many of the European airlines allow a carry on and a smaller personal item. Between the two I can pack quite a bit of stuff for a longer trip but only if the carry on is light.