Which suitcase brand is best
 

Hello all.

We are interessted in purchasing some luggage and willing to spend some money on it. Problem - we can seeem to find any good answers on which brand is best? We have heard a lot about TravelPro and Victornox?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Jennifer

I do not spend a lot of money on luggage. The airlines, cruise lines etc do not take any better care of your $1000 suitcase than they take care of a $50 suitcase.

My friends bought a $1500 Louis Vuitton garment bag only to have the cruise line practically destroy it. They worst part is that the liability insurance was $500 per bag.

I also would not spend alot of money on luggage. We generally do carry-on only so, of course, we are easier on our luggage than the airlines would be. I've used the same $20 carry-on from Walmart for about a dozen trips to Europe. No sign of wear yet.

Carry On, Travel Pro is very good.

If you're checking luggage though, best to get something good, but cheaper....it's life expectancy will vary greatly.

If I were buying new, I'd shop for the lightest weight suitcase I could find. Victornox are quite heavy. I'd rather have a no-name brand that is extremely lightweight, than a designer clunker. I've never paid more than $50 on sale for mine and they last for years.

I'll cast a vote for TravelPro. They are well thought out and well made. Plus, the lifetime guarantee is true! Well worth the money.

A few years ago, the seam was coming undone. I took it to the nearest authorized repair shop which sent it to the factory. Apparently they had another model on the line so they just shipped us a brand new one! The more current model had better design features too.

One caveat, depending on your use/size/travel preferences, etc. Consider which size to buy before you get it. We have a medium and large and I wished we'd gotten 2 meds instead. However, it was our first luggage we'd bought so didn't know better.

Enjoy-la!

Unlike many others (who do carry-on only), I actually do check luggage, 1 piece on wheels. I purchased TravelPro about a year and a half-2 years ago. So far I am happy with it and the airlines and cruise lines have not damaged it. And it has been getting used :) I do not think TravelPro is terribly high priced for the quality. The same manufacturer also makes Atlantic, which I used prior to this set. I like the way TravelPro does the edges better than the Atlantic set I had been using. I used the Atlantic set for probabaly 10+ years. The wear mainly on the edges was apparent after that long, so I treated myself to the new set.

All my luggage is from LLBean. Excellent quality and price. Best of all, there are color options that make it far easier to find your bag.

There are a lot of choices besides brand. We just bought some new luggage - went to a Samsonite discount store. We were able to look at all their lines and see the variation in materials and design by price level. We got an exceptionally good price for a discontinued line.

Weight is really important. Then there's hard shell versus soft. Some of the Samsonites are hard bottomed, soft top. Most of the soft bags expand 2 inches. Size is obviously critical. (The people in the store recommended we stay away from the largest as they can be stuffed over the weight limit). Some now have four wheels on a single piece instead of two. You have to make sure they are securely attached and decide if this is important to you. Lots of choices out there.

These are answers to a lot of questions you didn't ask. I don't know about the difference between brands, which is what you did ask. We've had Samsonite for years (along with other brands) and most of our bags have held up okay. My husband actually bought aluminum bags (Halliburton), thinking they would survive abuse as he travels a lot. The latches broke several times as they were not recessed. The damage was not covered under the warranty. They are extremely heavy and always inspected, so I have avoided using them. I have been using an American Tourister bag (hard side) that is bashed in in the front and the latches are damaged. Plus the inside piece that holds the things in the top back is broken off. I'd watch for the fastenings of those inside pieces as we've had problems with that with most of our luggage.

Well, that's my 10 cents worth on this topic. Good luck! Let us know what you get!

Tumi is a great brand but expensive. I'd just get a good carry-on with wheels by Tumi and a cheaper 24" size if I needed to check.
TJMaxx has just has some new Tumi items in at about half retail price ($130 for 21'roller).

Best advice is get something you like that's lightweight, medium sized, maybe a 'different' color..like orange and affordable as you might need to replace it in a couple of years.

My expensive luggage I rarely check.

My large bag that I do check is Victorinox by Swiss Army.

It has held up better than any other peice of luggage I've owned.

I think I paid $50 for it at TJMaxx.

They actually cover any damages the airlines cause.

If you are deciding which suitcase to break in or steal, the expensive one is probably the more lucrative option. Checked luggage of every price range and durability is subject to the grease gun, claw hook and fire hose treatment. The luggage you check will never be beautiful after the first trip.

A majority of wheelie luggage is black. Buying the same color and style as everybody else increases the chance another traveler will claim your suitcase.

I HAD a nice piece of luggage and checked it in with Lufthansa on our flight to Germany. It took 15 days for them to finally find it and return it to me, ripped, soaking wet, with ruined clothing inside.

Did I get hassled about the price when I turned in the claim YES

I now own a reasonably priced luggage (actually 2) so that they can destroy to their leisure and I won't be upset.

I have always loved T.Anthony for my luggage. Its very durable and the large garment bags have a lot of room. My wife and I can easily share one when we travel.
www.tanthony.com

For checkin . .I have three large Oysters by Samsonite that have been around the world more than 20 times ( and maybe thru it once or twice )

Several gashes on the side, but so far, nothing has ever been damaged in any of them.

I paint a Fluorscent Orange stripe around them so I can spot them easily.

I love my 24" Expandable Mobile Traveler (Luxe) by Hartmann, it is in Apple Green with large brown polka dots! ***kim*** ((f))

For check through I'd buy the cheapest, cruddiest thing that will do the job. They lose it or wreck it anyway.

For me it is more about the configuration of the inside of the suitcase. I don't like "suiters" or a bunch of doo-dahs cluttering up the inside. Also look for maneuverability. Drag the suitcase all around the store to test them out.

My Tumi is so heavy that I invariably am over the weight limit and have to stuff some things into DH's luggage when we travel- and my bag is never full to capacity. I've also noticed that the seams on both our Tumis are tearing.

I just bought a mid-sized victorinox on Luggagepros.com and love it for short trips.

I agree with the others that a light weight but sturdy piece is key.

We use my partner's 21" Tumi a lot and love it. He's had it for at least 15 heavy use years and it is been extremely durable and seems well made. We had to replace one wheel and the retravtable handle can be fussy. If we need two bags we use my old Lark 21". It is sort of clunky, and the inside isn't the most effecient in terms of space usage, but I love it and it could survive an atomic bomb blast. Well made.

If I had to buy new stuff I'd spend the money and buy new Tumi bags.