What would be your pick for the best luggage?
 

My luggage got ruined on a flight and I am getting reimbursed. I need to go out and buy luggage. Of course there are so many different manufacturers.

I am looking for something that is a good weight (not too heavy) and expandable. It is important that it be durable and that the wheels, handle and zippers are all reliable.

I would appreciate your suggestions. I also don't know if the better deals are on sale in the department stores, in Marshalls or TJ Max. If your luggage has served you well and held up nicely I would love to hear your suggestions. Thanks.

I found my luggage on eBags.com. Although hard-sided, the pieces are surprisingly light, and they are expandable, roll on wheels, and have telescoping handles.

http://www.ebags.com/international_t...?modelid=42537

Good luck,
BC

JC Penney's usually has their luggage sale around New Year's.

I bought a Pierre Cardin set that I'm happy with. On sale at JC Penney's, it was $99 for the 4 piece set. They are expandable and have the inline wheels with telescoping handles. They are also tapestry so are easy to locate at luggage pickup.

I bought a cheap set at Target once and it broke on the first flight.

There are a jillion posts about this.
Costco has a great 22" expandable to 24" that equated to our daughter's TravelPro she got as an FA. Tuesday Morning sells good luggage.

Any airline can ruin any luggage - whether it's cheap or expensive I think you are lucky if it can go undamaged for 3 trips (checked luggage that is).

There are 2 schools of thought about luggage. See where you fit in and that will narrow your choices.

1. Buy cheap luggage because either the airline will lose or damage it. If you want to go this route -- then simply select the nearest discounter.

2. Would like a stylish couple of pieces that would last for years. This as you can imagine, is the more expensive trail. When searching for my daughter (in her early 20's) -- it was quite startling at how many luggage stores have disappeared. Yes, you can shop online but it really helps when you make an investment to actually handle the product, tryout the zippers, and see the construction of the unit. Also, it helps to have knowledgable sales persons who also service the product.

Our final choice came to the Pathfinder Revolution series in Black Cherry. We have the 20" carryon and the 24" Trolley Suiter. It's beautiful and quality is excellant. She loves it!

I agree Lori on that any luggage can be damaged by an airline. In my case, the luggage itself wasn't damaged, it was just the wheel that was broken. In that instance, I felt it was more due to the luggage than the handling (especially since as I continued to tote it around, I was catching the remaining wheel on everything).

Miss Maple - Did you buy the Pathfinder on line or if in a store, which one?

people on our last trip had the set that bookchick posted. they loved it and the bags were super light. also, definitely stands out on the baggage carousel.

We purchased the luggage from Wilson Luggage in Ann Arbor. They had knowledgable staff, service what they sell (a broken wheel would be covered under warranty for instance) and they were just plain nice folks. Would let us look, zip and unzip as many of the bags that they carry. This brand has:
Polycarbonate 5-sided frame cellular memory frame technology -- which makes is very strong b

We purchased the luggage from Wilson Luggage in Ann Arbor. They had knowledgable staff, service what they sell (a broken wheel would be covered under warranty for instance) and they were just plain nice folks. Would let us look, zip and unzip as many of the bags that they carry. This brand has:
Polycarbonate 5-sided frame cellular memory frame technology -- which makes it a very strong bag. The zippers were super strong -- not wimpy at all and my daughter really like the storage pockets inside and classy lining.

In regards to color: I know folks love black but the Black Cherry has black accents so it can be coordinated with a black knapsack or laptop case. Also, we were kind of surprised at the number of red bags that is out on the baggage claim turnabouts -- but the Black Cherry has a deeper tone and doesn't scream RED at you. It is a color that you can love for many years to come.

This product can be found from an online vendor -- put Pathfinder Revolution in your search engine if you can't find a vendor near where you live. Good luck on your purchase.

Eagle Creek.

I like a piece that we purchased from QVC recently. It was CIAO and very durable!! My best advice however, is to purchase an unusual color. It is a sea of black and now red. I had purchased red thinking it would stand out. That was OK a few years ago, now red is in the mix!!

My Pathfinder has 100,000 miles of AA handling and still looks new.
I bought the whole set at Marshall's.

The Pathfinder sounds great. I am going to look for it locally. I would never get black. What I had was a dark plum color and just enough color to be noticeable.

Miss Maple, could you perhaps mean Wilkinson Luggage on Main Street? Those folks have been there for decades, and definitely know their stuff!

BC

10 years ago I bought a samsonite roller bag with the very small wheels on teh outside. It pulls on teh narrow side bottem...a little unstable at times. It has Obviously lasted..really..I swear Gorillas have jumped on it..I won't give it up for anything and it still looks new.
Wheels on the outside give you more room on teh inside...
I persoanlly prefer TUMI for large suitcase and for compute carry on brief cases..expensive but I buy it thru military exchanges at a pretty good discount so teh bullet proof material is worth it for me..

bookchick: Thank you.

Yes -- you are correct -- was replying off the top of my head -- it is Wilkerson Luggage, they are now located off Zeeb road (take Zeeb road exit off I-94).

www.wilkinsonluggage.com

They are very nice folks and it was a pleasure to visit their shop. They also carry Vera Bradley and Baggallini bags as well.

I'm on the road an average of at least once each month and I *love* my TravelPro bag, which I've had for at least 5 years now. It definitely meets all your criteria--extremely durable, expandable, relatively lightweight, etc. I frequently see FAs with the same bag.

TravelPro isn't cheap but you can often find good deals at department stores. We bought some additional pieces a few years ago at Bloomingdales for 50% off.

I have a 22" and 24" expandable. Each cost ~$50 and has lasted for years. I got one at JC Penny and one at Marshalls. Though I've also seen a nice selection recently at TJ Maxx.

What I would look for in brand new luggage is the LIGHTEST possible weight when empty. If they could invent a sturdy one that was on a couple lbs. for THAT I'd pay big money.

My daughter and I have had good luck with Costco, TJ Maxx and eBags for luggage.

BookChick (reply #2 above) - I have that same luggage and really like it. We bought it for a Europe trip where we were traveling fir RyanAir and EasyJet. It was the lightest stuff we could find and really helped with the weight restrictions over there.

It has held up surprisingly well - and since we chose the bags in purple (which I don't see any longer on the ebags website) - we NEVER get our bags confused or spend time staring at luggage tags as bags roll along the airport conveyor.

The only downside to these bags is that to get into them you have to open them up completely and the way the bags are configured your luggage is split evenly between the two sides. So we usually have to haul them onto a bed in order to open them.

They hinge at the bottom so they take up quite a bit of space when open.

On the plus side, they "nest" very well when not in use. It's like Russian dolls - very compact.

We get looks and comments every once in awhile because I really do think they look rather 21st Century compared to what's out there on the market.

any luggage with wheels would be good. second, find an unusual pattern for luggage because it is so much easier to find it when it comes on the ramp. qvc is a great place to find luggage. i got a nice hunter green floral tapestry set and got a nice Atlantic luggage set through ebay.

I also have Atlantic luggage, it's much older and not as good as the Pathfinder. I was told by the owner of the luggage shop that Atlantic has gone out of business. It features good design but alas, a victim of tough competition.

Our entire family has Travel Pro. It has lasted for several years with thousands of miles of travel - airlines and cruises - we think it's the best.

Having had virtually every piece of luggage I have purchased in the last ten years get ruined in some fashion or other soon after purchase, I recently opted for a couple of pieces from LLBean after visiting their new store here in Massachusetts. Virtually a lifetime guarantee. Haven't given it a good workout yet, but it's getting tested this week.

I bought a pricey rolling carryon from LLBean, monogramed and in navy (so it looks a bit different from the sea of black bags). VERY durable with lots of nice features. I love it.

I got the giant rolling duffel (definitely not a carry on!) in the bright orange hawaii print. Can't miss that one coming off the carousel!

I've got the giant rolling duffle in red. Great for ski trips or beach gear.

I've had good luck with Travelpro. Between my husband and I, we own four of their suitcases, all purchased from Luggageonline.com.

I want to thank all of you for your responses to my question about choosing luggage.
My husband got a TravelPro rolling duffle that he loves. It has so many pockets and compartments which he likes a lot. I bought a 24# Pathfinder and am thrilled with the decison. We will get a second Pathfinder but not sure which size. Of all the luggage I researched, I like the layout inside the Pathfinder the best - great pockets and mesh compartment. I got the metallic and like the color. This year's model has a different expansion. There are no zippers for the expansion which is great.
I already took one flight with it and I loved it. So, thanks for the all of your postings.

Absolutely bullet proof Tumi for my carry on....but honestly it is mostly for style.

I have two other pieces (Samsonite) that I bought at least 19 years ago, and darling...they have seen a LOT of miles...and I mean super road warrior miles....and to this day they are in near perfect shape.

I have Hartman and they are built to last; I also have a cheap samsonite carryon roller that has lasted as long so I'm not sure if paying more is justified.

You cant go wrong with Samsonite.There indestructable.Paul

I am afraid to say that Samsonite just isn't what it used to be. My hubby has a bag that he has used and abused since high school - we're getting into the 20 year time period here. We received a large one for a wedding present (it was huge and we rarely used it) - was destroyed on our second voyage with it. The internal metal frame bent horribly so that it cut down significantly on the usable space. Zipper broke, too, on second trip. Even though it was only our 2nd trip with it, it was past the warranty period (think it was only 1 year - sucks!).

I then gave Samsonite a second chance and bought a rolling carry-on. Handle broke within 5 uses. Cannot telescope the handle anymore and the zipper is not working well either. It will cost so much to fix the handle that it isn't worth doing so. Very irritating.

I am pleased with my recently purchased LL Bean luggage. Lifetime warranty (so they say, haven't had to test it yet), but my rolling duffle is heavier than I realized. Fully loaded, it was WELL over the 50 lb. limit on its recent real test run a couple of weeks ago. Need a smaller size, I guess....

Noticed TravelPro in our most recent Tuesday morning circular.