Buying New Luggage any suggestions?

Looking to buy new luggage. So many brands and prices? Anyone like one brand over the other? Are there any you've had problems with and would not recommend?

So far I like Samsonite 3000.

If your looking at soft-side, the only suggestion I'd give you is to get the expandable ones.. They come in real handy, when you have to find space for all those souvenirs you picked up along the way and have to pack somewhere in order to bring them home... Bombero

Personally, I prefer hard-sided luggage. You do lose out on the expandability (is that a word?), but I feel more comfortable knowing that even if the porter thinks my $2 tip is not enuff and pitched my luggage 10 ft down a flight of stairs, it will come out alright. :)

Fila, some people on the Roll Call thread for Inspiration 8/29 are trying to organize a meet & mingle. Check it out and add your thoughts, if interested.

After seeing how airline/cruise staff handled my nice new and expensive luggage, I've decided that inexpensive is the way to go. As long as it has retractable handles and good wheels, I won't care. When it's beaten up, I'll get new ones again.

One tip - DO NOT BUY BLACK! On disembarkation that luggage area is a sea of black luggage.

Beth

I would recommend Victorinox, hands down. When I was deciding on which luggage brand to chooseand put on my wedding registry at Bloomingdale's, the woman suggested Victorinox by Swiss Army. I did and I really like the line alot! VERY good quality, sturdy, engineering is great, and so sleek and modern looking!!! I also suggest doing price shopping online. You can find great deals, sometimes half the price of what they are charging in the dept. stores. Good luck.

TravelPro.. Look at the airline pilots and flight attendents.. Most use TravelPro...

Anything but BLACK!:eek:

Never heard of Victorinox or TravelPro. I'll just have to check them out. Thanks a ton.

Ha, glad to see others have strong opinions about black luggage. When I was checking out the Samsonite pieces I was considering they only had it in Black or a Medium Blue (that I presume would turn Black after some use). I like Red or Green. I do have a way to make my current Black pieces stand out from others.

Say what do you put in those outside pouchs? They don't seem large enough for a lap top or a magazine? Just curious what it's used for?

Dannzzigg, I'll get over to our Roll Call and check out the info.

Boy, great question! We invested in Travel Pro hardside luggage 3 years ago and what a mistake that was! Both suitcases are cracked, split and wheels have been knocked off. I will never buy hardsided luggage again! Plus, you cannot lock them if you are flying in the US. My DW still likes to use them, however because they have the 4 wheels and she can push them along beside her. But, hardsided luggage is generally heavier than soft-sided luggage, a factor to consider if you fly overseas-typically a 50lb limit these days with most airlines. When your suitcase, empty, weighs 20 pounds, it can limit how much you can pack.

I have since purchased good quality soft sided luggage and it is much more durable than the hardsided stuff, lighter and lockable, using cable ties that TSA can cut, if necessary. I agree with the poster above about choosing a suitcase that is expandable-boy has that come in handy on more than one cruise! Just one more opinion from the peanut gallery and hope you find it useful.

If you can afford it, get Hartmann. It is the best luggage in the world. They many different styles and colors. It is VERY expensive, but it lasts. At least, from my experiences it has.

Love my Samsonite. I have no complaints about it holding up and will replace it with another set of Samsonite.

The number one thing to remember is weight and size. With restrictions by the airlines now, you can`t carry more than 50lb domestic and 70 lbs International. The size restrictions are 62ins. length, and girth combined. This really eliminates the 30in. size. Other than that, I changed from black to red, and it seems everyone else did! so now I`ve gone to a cadet blue....jean :cool:

Best place to shop for luggage is www.ebags.com

When you get there, I would recommend the following:

1) don't look for a bag larger than 26". The problem with the bigger bags is that after you fill them, they will most likely exceed the weight limits and you will have to pay extra

2) soft-side luggage should be fine and will also reduce the weight of the bag. If you buy good quality, you shouldn't have any problems

3) ebags has all brands, but we generally purchase either Samsonite or Skyway. We've been pleased with all our bags and they provide feedback from other buyers to give you a good feel for the bags value

Good luck.

I had brought some nice big retractable handle, with wheels, soft-sided suitcases from China town (name brand rip offs). Well they were as good as the price & last a couple of trips before the wheels began to fall off!

We purchased some Samsonite luggage & love it! So I would definitely recommend Samsonite. My samsonite luggage is like a Khaki green color & I really like it as it's unusual. I also do have a huge round lime green luggage tag on it too though, to help identify it quickly.

I know Kohls did have 60% off Samsonite luggage in all their stores earlier this week, not sure if that sale is still on - might want to run in quick!

~Sharon~

Looking to buy new luggage. So many brands and prices? Anyone like one brand over the other? Are there any you've had problems with and would not recommend?

 

So far I like Samsonite 3000.

Just make sure it is wheeled as most cruiselines now offer the early self assist debarktation. I have bought Samsonite before. It lasted around 5 years for me. If you use your luggage alot it will still need to be replaced about every 5 or 6 years. We bought some Atlantic a couple of years ago and have used it alot already and it still looks new-so I think that is as good a quality luggage as Samsonite. I know there is luggage much more expensive then these brands and hopefully it will last much longer-don't know about that as I can't see paying $400 for a hangup bag,etc.

Ok, I was thinking about getting 2 - 30 inch pieces. So that ISNT a good idea? I didn't realize that there is a 62 inch restriction. Now I have to rethink this purchase. Geez, I have to go measure my dive bags now!

Hartmann, another brand I'll have to look into.

I definitely want wheels on all the pieces. Some even have side rollers. I liked the action on those bags.

I'll check ebags and Kohls today.

psst what are those front zippered pockets used for? Socks, underware?

We did alot of research after going through a couple sets of luggage in short order. The suggestions that have been given are excellent choices except for price. Samsonite is not nearly as expensive but I am convinced that they have several grades. One of the sets we went through was Samsonite. We had to have two of the pieces repaired under warranty and none of it lasted.

One of the brands our research showed was an excellent buy was Atlantic. We purchased a full set plus additional pieces when the 30 inchers became victims of size and weight restrictions. We have been very pleased with the Atlantic brand. Good, solid luggage at affordable prices.

Ok stupid question probably but how do you measure luggage? Samsonite's measurements for it's 30 inch are 30.5" x 21" x 10" = 62

Is that the correct way to measure for airline standards?

Anyone know of a sure fire way to weigh packed luggage?

Fila-yes, you have the correct method of measuring your luggage.

As far as weighing packed luggage, we do it one of 2 ways: step on a scale, note your weight, get off. Then, while holding your suitcase, get back on scale and note the difference. Or, if your scale can do this: put the empty suitase on the scale and note the weight. Then, after you have packed it, put it back on the scale. The latter method can be awkward depending on the size of the suitcase and the size of your scale. Perhaps someone else has a more clever or better method.

I purchased the Sharper Image line of soft side luggage, while on sale and have found it to very tough, durable and versatile.

Hope this helps.

Another vote for Atlantic, We purchased a rolling Garment from Atlantic and it is Very good quality luggage and durable, With ALOT of room check them out, But they also do have sevreral grades.

Check out consumer reports to see the ratings of different brands then go to places such as T.J. Maxx or Marshalls. I found great luggage at great prices. Shop early beacuse they may not have what you want the first time you shop.

Check out consumer reports to see the ratings of different brands then go to places such as T.J. Maxx or Marshalls. I found great luggage at great prices. Shop early beacuse they may not have what you want the first time you shop.

Ok, just got back from the mall. Several different varities and prices of the Atlantic. I did like the style that had the little Sea Horse charm on them. Gosh I have looked at so many brands today, they have all blurred in my mind.

Checked out the Victorinox and Hartmann, briefly online. Very very nice but very very $$$

Still have some web searching to do. Maybe I can find an awesome deal somewhere.

By the way, most of the stores where I live are B stores. They don't really have much of a selection. Our Kohls is not very impressive.

I'll have to save my shopping till I go back to Las Vegas. They have A+ malls!

Ok stupid question probably but how do you measure luggage? Samsonite's measurements for it's 30 inch are 30.5" x 21" x 10" = 62

 

Is that the correct way to measure for airline standards?

 

Anyone know of a sure fire way to weigh packed luggage?

Hubby is a Delta empolyee- when he asked at work- that was how he was told to measure. We have a rolling duffel we were concerned was too big but it was within the restrictions exactly 62 inches.

I was lucky and was able to get two TravelPro suitecases at a great price. They are 26" and 29" softsided in teal. I was looking for light weight and something with good quality wheels. I would have preferred two 26" but since the store was going out of buisines, I bought the last they had in stock. On the plus side, I can store one inside the other.