Wheeled Luggage
 

Does anybody else out there hate wheeled luggage as much as I do? A few things I've noticed: 1) it seems the people who use this type of luggage move more slowly in the airport. Getting through airports has now become the equivalent of scrambling through an army obstacle course, what with everyone (it seems) wielding one of these wheeled albatrosses behind them. 2) Though some of these wheeled contraptions may be sold as carry-on luggage, I have yet to see the piece that actually fits easily into the overhead bin (which then, of course, adds to further delay). But, this is just my opinion. I'm wondering if I'm alone in this opinion.

Sorry, Cap'n. <BR>I disagree on almost every count. <BR>Wheeled luggage has been one of the best innovations in travel technology in the past 15 years. Did you ever have to struggle carrying a week and a half's worth of bags on your back trying to make a connection? It was not fun. <BR>Most wheeled bags designated for carry-on use fit nicely, but snugly, in most overheads. I have the largest carry-on size that Hartmann makes and it has fit in every overhead on the hundred or so flights I've taken it on. Most importantly, it serves as a vehicle on which I can carry my (overstuffed) garment bag, which I often have to check. <BR> <BR>The one place I think you're right on is airport pedestrian traffic. I was rushing through the airport in Paris last week fighting a log jam of wheeled luggage. They can take up almost as much space as a baby stroller sometimes, so you can't fit too many of them abreast. <BR>Overall, though, I absolutely love my wheeled luggage and would hate to part with it.

You are alone!! I love wheeled luggage. Each person in our family has their own color-coded, airline-size-approved bag! We all pull our own weight - which is great when you are traveling with younger children. I have thought at times that the person who invented this wonderful luggage deserved an award!!!

Wheeled luggage is the greatest thing ever for those who are getting along in years, strangers to immense airports, or who simply can't lug heavy weights. For example, try making the transfer in LAX between a domestic and a flight to Hawaii or overseas. Without wheels, we would still be trying! With wheels, we were there under our own power in minutes, just barely making the connection even as it was. No, sorry, Captain--wheels are deals.

There was a good article in the Wall Street Journal about two Fridays ago in the Weekend Section about the horrors of wheeled luggage. I personally couldn't manage without mine, and I see you're not getting much support on this forum, so maybe you should read this piece to find kindred spirits. It claims that wheeled luggage is going out of style because it looks so uncool!

Used to be that the flight crews used the wheel luggage and then business travelers, now it seems that everyone has them. Maybe that's why they are so uncool. I like mine because it saves my shoulders and back. Maybe it's just the speed of the people walking in the airport and not the wheels that are a problem. I am a fast walker and it annoys me when I get behind someone who is really walking slow. Could be that the out of shape and overweight people just aren't moving fast enough. (It's better for your health if you move at a fast pace than at a snails pace.) <BR>

I'd love to see what logic that article was based upon, Susan. Wheeled luggage is virtually a necessity these days and whether everyone has it or not will not affect its acceptance, cool or not. <BR>Much like saying everyone has a cell phone, not trendy anymore, so I'm going to go back to using the wallbound versions. Not!

Laney, I'm completely with you on the necessity of wheeled luggage. The Journal article was not based on logic, clearly, but on a sense of fashion and hip-ness. I can't imagine caring about being chic when my arms and shoulders are in pain, but apparently that's not the case for everyone! By the way, I'm not usually very interested in the Wall Street Journal, but my husband has a subscription, and I find the Friday Weekend Journal section to be pretty fun and interesting, with an occasional good article on travel. <BR>Susan <BR>

Ahh, the all-permeating importance of hip-ness. Got it. <BR>I didn't mean to sound as though I was disagreeing with YOU, Susan. I knew you were just the messenger. <BR>Thanks for the clarification, though.

I'm not evaluating the hipness of wheeled luggage, although I personally think they are sort of dorky looking. What's wrong with just taking a simple duffle bag. Do we all pacl THAT much stuff that we need to have wheels on are luggage? And more times than not, I have seen numerous people struggling to get their wheeled bags into the overhead bin. Many times people can't because they are just TOO big, so then the person has to have their bag checked which means even further delays (the first delay comes when they stand in the aisle- blocking it - for minutes trying to get their bag into the overhead.) Wheeled bags are heavier because of all the mechanics necessary to make them wheel. Plus, many of the wheeled bags out there are cheaply made and at some point one of the wheels breaks. (Yes, I admit, there are good quality wheeled bags out there, too.) Plus, not all surfaces are created equal - try wheeling a bag down a cobblestone street.

JT Kirk, I will be glad when school starts and you are off here. <BR> <BR>First off who gives a damn if the luggage is dorky looking? <BR> <BR>Secondly, try lugging a huge duffle or carryon from one concourse to the next especially if you have any physical problems. <BR> <BR>Most airports now have a device on the belt where they xray your bags and your carryon must fit thru it. Very rarely have I been on a plane that has been delayed because someone had to check an oversize bag. Most delays were caused by idiots with their life long possessions in duffles trying to stuff them into overheads that were half the size of the bag. <BR> <BR>My only complaint is that wheeled didn't come about sooner. Now if I could just get some wheels on my purse....

Did you forget to take your Midol again today, anon? <BR>You know that PMS insanity defense was stricken down.

Wheels on luggage are great. When I got my first wheeled suitcase back in the early 80s, it made travel much easier. But I CHECKED that big suitcase. The problem with a lot of wheeled "carry-ons" is that they enable people to cram a lot more stuff into it which they otherwise would not have been able to carry, but now can manage because it rolls. And many of these bags do NOT easily fit in the overhead, and definitely not in your PRIMARY carry-on space, beneath the seat in front of you. Few airlines actually install AND use templates to screen out non-conforming carry-ons. And even when they do have templates, I've seen the security agents allow them to be bypassed -- they slide right out of the way. The security staff don't work for the airlines -- they don't care what size of baggage gets through. So you do get delayed while people try to cram their bags into the overhead. And the overheads get filled up with those big bags, so that later-boarding passengers are forced to look all over the plane to stuff their oversized bags. <BR> <BR>I've had my share of too-heavy bags, some containing important documents and other necessities that I would be negligent to check, so I empathize with folks complaining about the burden of heavy bags. But the first time I had to check a document bag (because I was in a bulkhead row with no under-seat storage, and the overheads were full) was the last time -- I purchased soft briefcase that fits under the seat standing up. If you can't fit what you need in a bag that you can carry without endangering your health, and that fits in the hanging closet or under the seat in front of you, maybe it just isn't "carry-on" luggage. <BR>

I too could never make it without my big wheeled bag when I travel, but I don't like the ones that are supposed to be carry-on size. There's no way three of the things could fit in one overhead bin. I noticed that ATA was making people check them at the gate yesterday--anything over the very smallest size.

Wheeled luggage is the greatest invention since, well, the wheel. I like mine som much, I'm thinking of putting my kids on wheels and dragging them through the airport with me.

Dammit, Jim. Why do people have to attack you just because they disagree with you? When will they grow up? <BR> <BR>The rest of us love ya!

I'm just a lonely starship captain, what do I know.

<BR> <BR>Flight attendents obviously need to know how to pack all they need to last for three-or-more days into those compact, rectangular rolling boxes. And I doubt they spend much time ironing their blouses before a six a.m. flight. Do they take a course on how to do that? <BR> <BR>I've been traveling for years, yet I still either overpack or manage to forget something. And when I get there, all my clothes are trashed--that is, wrinkled beyond recognition. Is there such a thing as Remedial Packing 101?

Wheeled luggage has been the greatest invention for travelers........however, the majority of the traveling public seems to be intent on buying the largest size made! This causes the "domino theory" of stopping up traffic in the aisles for boarding,delaying pushback from the gate due to bags that don't fit under the seat or in the overhead,etc.Please, please remember that anything over 20 inches should really be checked!The best rollaboards for keeping your clothes so they don't look like you slept in them is the kind that has a "2/3 suiter" area at the top.Happy traveling! Debbie

Love the wheeled luggage. Speaking for myself personally, I know that I move quicker through an airport with wheeled luggage than I do with something I have to carry. The only luggage I use now is a rolling 20-inch piece -- it fits everything I need for anything from a weekend to 2 weeks. <BR>If you have hanging things, they will stay unwrinkled if you put them inside a thing plastic garment bag or dry-cleaners bag before folding them inside the luggage. The plastic covering helps prevent wrinkling for some reason. Works with folding clothes too -- put several pieces inside a 2-gallon ziplock bag and press out all the air before sealing it. This allows you to fit more into your suitcase and helps avoid wrinkling.

How could anyone not appreciate wheeled luggage? Like the post above, each member of my family has the approved 9x14x21 wheeled case, and I insist that we limit our baggage to that plus a backpack for the kids and one of the underseat travel cases for my wife. We (efficiently) carry this on to the plane and magiclly, no more lost luggage, no more waiting at the baggage claim and sooooo much more room in hotel rooms since we only bring what we really need. <BR> <BR>As a 100K business travler, I learned long ago how to pack light and now my family has learned this valuable lession.

I think the sales people who sell "Carry-on", "Overhead Bin" luggage to inexperienced travlers who don't know that there's no way the bag will EVER fit into an overhead bin should all be rounded up and dumped in a sewer someplace. The customer assumes, since this kind salesperson told them so, that this bag will easily fit into any plane's overhead bin, when in fact, it won't fit into ANY plane's carry on area. It happened to me -- bought a new bag since I'd be traveling for work often and found out that it fit only in a few overhead bins. I now own another wheeled bag which DOES fit into ANY plane's overhead bin. I wouldn't trade my wheeled luggage or my backpack computer bag for anything. My shoulders love me now. P.S. Checking bags as a business travler add no less than 1/2 hr to an hr's wait to a trip. Yuck.

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My hernia, hemorrhoids and lower back thank the luggage industry for inventing the wheels. Even though I still overpack, if it weren't for those wheels, EGADS..I don't even want to think about it. I'm not kidding either. It is horrible to carry even one loaded bag and then you end up getting the last friggin' gate at the airport. Like 55, and there are gates 1-55. LOL

Ya'll seem to forget the problem with the weight of the carry-on bags. We've even progressed to a wheeled back pack at school last year when my daughter started carrying so many books home that the back pack was 50% of her weight. If you've been stuck traveling all day long, the difference between carrying that weight or pulling it can be HUGE at the end of the day!

My original complaint (though not fully voiced) had to do with the carryon wheeled luggage, much more so than the non-carryon variety. Yes, it would be nice to have wheels on the 500 pound suitcase that is carrying your supplies for the four week odyssey to Katmandu. BUT thewheeled carryon bags!!! They just so rarely fit in the overhead compartments and almost never fit under the seats. Yes, yes, I know the luggage industry has been addressing this problem. Yet why is it NO ONE on the plane I'm on has bothered to get the newer, more streamlined wheeled carryon luggage?!? I have to wait and wait as the person ahead of me tries to squeeze (which wheeled luggage UNLIKE soft luggage doesn't do) it into the overhead compartment. Also, as to the non-carryon luggage -- some people (healthy, vibrant looking people) have a tendency to wheel it VERY slowly through the airport, blocking the way. This is a just a pet peeve. I'll get over it. Eventually.

You guys would HATE my friend who has a wheeled piece so big she named it "Bob." It's like four feet high and maybe two feet across. It's quite funny, actually.

I sat on a plane for 3 hours recently. I pulled my luggage on wheels and another duffle bag wrapped around it. I walked from the gate to the rental car place...got to my destination. 12 hours later took off my sneakers. the calluses are horrendous. I'm still under medical care for them (this was 10/15). my footcare doctor said, were you pulling any bags? bingo..even wheeling them you can mess up your FEET. be careful out there.

I am thinking of purchasing some of the dreaded wheeled luggage and would like some recommendations on the best type to buy--size, manufactor....any help from you "pro-wheelers" out there???

Jeanne, I can't help you with specific manufacturers since I don't use wheeled luggage, BUT look for really stury stuff. I have heard from several people who has used wheeled luggage who have had complaints about either wheels falling off, or wheels not rolling "right." (Let me hasten to add that the luggage industry has made great strides lately improving their wheeled products. Probably because of all the complaints.) I have noticed that nearly everyone sells luggage nowadays, even the Gap (what's up with that?). Look at the zippers, the fabric, the overall constuction. This is one area where I wouldn't buy the cheapest product.

Some of the wheeled carry-on luggage is so heavy! I believe that on some of the international flights the airlines are trying to weight restrict hand luggage again so try to buy something lighter in weight. Personally I prefer the handle mechanism to be concealed and try and get rollerblade typ wheels.

I both love and hate the things. Once I passed an excessive number of birthdays, I discovered muscle-failure came increasingly frequently while carrying all the stuff I packed "on contingency." Rolling carry-ons have forced me to be far more judicious about what I take, have allowed me to make tight connections without having my luggage go to another solar system, and enabled me to cope with hotels and airports without having to tip every bellhop and skycap along the way. <BR> <BR>But I've nearly had my wrist broken when a renegade wheelie decided to go west. And my shoulder comes close to being pulled out of joint every time I try to get the silly thing to jump down a curb so I can run for the rental-car shuttlebus. <BR> <BR>Here's what I would tell you to look for if you are buying one: <BR> <BR>1. Re: Handle -- get one that slips down inside the case, or at least into a protected pouch. The ones that have handles exposed on the exterior are going to get caught on things, pull out easily, and won't lie flat when you're packing. Also I prefer handles that have grooves or "click-points" that lock the handle at various heights and esp. in the shut-down position. Those that allow the handle to slip-slide up and down with no means of locking them into position will give you fits. The further apart the two upright bars of the handles are, the better for balance and distribution of weight. If the two bars are a foot or less apart, you will have a wrist-breaker on your hands, because the thing will twist constantly. <BR> <BR>2. Wheels: Similarly, the wheels should be as far apart at the bottom as possible -- the further apart, the more stable. Watch out for wheels just attached to the bottom with a metal pin, grommet, or whatever. They will get snapped off very quickly, or bent to give you the supermarket-cart wobblies. Best are wheels recessed into plastic protective shells, least likely to catch on other luggage or parts of the luggage-transport system at the airport. <BR> <BR>3. Interior: I hate, abominate, despise the ones that are segmented inside or come with separators, with helpful diagrams of how you are supposed to stack your clothes on these pretend "shelves." Don't they realize those cases will be turned upside-down and shaken in all directions? And the shelves themselves take up valuable space. Best are those with very little interior "furniture," just a strap or webbing that can be secured over the pile of clothes. Many use velcro -- which will snag and mess up fine fabrics or pantihose to a faretheewell, esp. while you are in the process of packing. <BR> <BR>4. Exterior: This is a matter of taste. I like to have a couple of shallow outside pockets. They're useful for slipping in magazines, maps for the destination, etc. But if too many of the case's cubic inches are devoted to these outside pouches, it's just lost space -- completely unsecurable against theft and likely to put the overall dimensions of the case outside the templates many airlines now use to decide which carry-ons may actually be carried on. <BR> <BR>5. Final warning: Take a good look at the zipper. It should be heavy and the fabric it's set in should be strong. If it's a thin, weak zipper in thin, weak fabric, that will be the first thing to go. This is usually the main difference between cheap and expensive cases. If you find a cheap case that has a good zipper, wide-set wheels and handle, and no interior nonsense, get it. <BR> <BR>Luggage manufacturers, take note.

George, <BR> It's not just "overweight" and "out of shape" people who walk slowly at airports. I've seen plenty of thin people, even those who have obviously just checked in all of their luggage, walking slowly through airport terminals. People take their time for all sorts of reasons. Some might just be wasting time between flights, others might have just come off of a 10 hour or longer flight, and might be completely drained. Whether you have noticed it or not, a big part of flying is often about waiting. On the flip-side, many people are also in a hurry to catch connecting flights or a flight that they are running-late for. <BR> Why don't you think of the obvious reasons why people take their time at the airport before taking the opportunity to blame the world's problems on overweight people. Oh, and thanks for your startling observation that walking fast is good for you.

I know this is the US forum, but on the subject of luggage wheels....If you ever plan to go to Europe with your wheelie-bag, heed the advice about the wheels. As far apart as possible, because the sidewalks are very uneven over there and frequently cobblestoned. Wheels too close together will eventually twist your arm right off over there.

Loafer, slacker a home------- <BR>I have a suitcase named Bob which is now down to 3 wheels (he's had a tough life) and while I still have him, Vinnie is basically a replacement. I have to know if you are talking about me and who you are....