Suit Cases

[cinderella97]

We are in need of new suit cases. Does anyone have a favorite brand? Thanks!

 

[adisneyaunt]

I have a wonderful embroidered castle Disney one I bought at POR resort when I couldn't fit all the holiday shopping I did ...lol
I use it each Disney visit!!

Seriously though,
I purchased luggage at Costco and have used it several trips, including an overseas trip. It has done quite well. It's the hard shell type ( but lightweight) and has the great wheels that roll every which way.
Sorry not able to grab name of it presently.
I'm sure if it's an option for you, it'd be In the Costco near you. It's a fairly recent purchase b
The ONLY thing I dislike is the hard type has No outside pocket and I'm the type to shove maps/stubs etc in the pocket if it was there. Regardless, love the hard shell type!

 

[cinderella97]

Thank you! we are going on a Disney Cruise. I have often wondered about the hard cases, because I like the pockets on the soft ones, for that same reason

 

[havaneselover]

Love Delsey. Really good value. I have no issue not having an outside pocket though. Packing cubes are great for cruises. Highly recommend buying from ebags--oodles of options and great prices.

 

[cepmom]

I love the eBags Mother Lode bags
http://www.ebags.com/product/ebags/mother-lode-tls-junior-25-wheeled-duffel/125548?productid=1325228

 

[scdak]

I love my Traveler's Choice Sedona set I bought from ebags 5 years ago! I loved mine so much the next year I bought a set for my best friend and many trips by land, sea and air since then they are going strong! That's the longest I have ever used the same set of luggage - prior to these purchases I had been replacing luggage sets (soft sided) from JC Penney almost yearly! This luggage is hardsided , super light weight (7, 8, 9 lbs for the small, medium, large), roll great on any surface, have TSA approved locks and come in bright colors plus boring colors! Ours are bright blue and bright yellow and really stand out at airports. Now they are rolling billboards for all our trips since we buy stickers from all our adventures and put them on the suitcases

Few cons : no outside pocket and at first I missed it but now I don't notice it missing! They do get scuff marks on them esp from airlines but supposedly can be cleaned with Softscrub?........never tried, didn't care about the marks to be honest and now they are covered with stickers anyway. They are VERY free rolling so you can't let go of them on a slope but I just stick my shoe in front it a wheel if I have to stop on a slope for any reason.

PROS : I have never gone over in wt limits when flying since they are so lightweight to begin with. Easy to roll or pull, easy to lift even fully loaded due to handles on the end and side. Nice locks. Expandable a few inches although I rarely expand them. Most importantly to me is the airlines have NOT destroyed them and I have seen what they do them! I travel every month with my smallest one and have never had any problems with them damaging it!

My blue ones were made by Coleman (camping supplies) but by the time I bought the yellow set they were made by Travelers Choice but they are identical to my blues ones!

 

[tvguy]

Love Delsey. Really good value. I have no issue not having an outside pocket though. Packing cubes are great for cruises. Highly recommend buying from ebags--oodles of options and great prices.

I agree, Delsey luggage is amazing. We bought our hard sided Delsey luggage 33 years ago and still going strong after somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 flights and 8 cruises.

 

[Dashzap]

I go to TJMaxx and try lifting a few bags. I don't like to spend a lot on luggage because I throw it out if it gets grubby.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

I have the Samsonite hard side (but they are thinner plastic not the heavy ones). I travel through snow often and I've found the hard side holds up much better. When I had the cloth/fabric bags they'd sometimes be so wet getting off baggage claim. Sometimes feel greasy from the rollers.

With the hard side the water almost repels off it. But mine is pretty scuffed up which I don't think you get with the soft side.

 

[Starwind]

we love our eBags brand hardside suitcases from eBags.com . Lifetime warranty, and they have endured travel well for a number of years, including all 4 of our DCL crusies. We have quite a few different eBags products and are quite happy with their products.

That said, part of the factor is what size you are looking at. Also, hardside or softside.

For example, the eBags EXO 2.0 hardside bags (http://www.ebags.com/search/b/ebags/bc/exo-20-hardside) in the 24" size (the checked bag size; 24" box; 27" actual with wheels and handle) are deliberately designed that size so it is hard to go over the usual 50 lb limit. I can attest to its effectiveness, at least for us: the highest we have hit was 42 lb, but are otherwise always under 40 (usually 32-37). We each have two.

Now, I have bigger suitcases -- I have a really nice REI softside one but don't usually use it for travel now that we have the eBags ones. Although it took some adjusting, I do like the EXO size: I can navigate with it easily (it has 4 spinner wheels); it rolls well over most surfaces (carpets take a little practice, but I found if you apply just a bit of downward pressure it rolls fine... each time we go over carpet there is a bit of adjusting to get it right for that carpet ;-) ). In fact, I can navigate, myself, with: two 24" (pullhandles back to back, held in one hand) each with a carryon bag slid over the pullhandle and have a free hand for another bag or whatever. are they perfect ? No, there is a couple things I would tweak if I were to design a 3.0; but those are "nice to have" things that I can live without.

Even if you don't purchase from them, I recommend the eBag site for helping inform your choices: they carry MANY brands, as well as their own eBags brand. Suitcases, purses, travel accessories, backpacks; a whole bunch of similar types of products. They generally have EXCELLENT information about each bag, plenty of reviews, and pictures and sometimes video that let you get a really good idea of what the bag looks like and its different features. often they have more info that the manufacturer website will.

SW

 

[AquamarineSteph]

I've had good luck with Samsonite/American Tourister, but not everybody likes soft sided luggage.

 

[mjmgsssp]

I love Samantha Brown luggage from HSN. It's designed for making travel easier with compartments where u need them, in the size you need them. It comes in fashionable colors, is durable, and best for the budget because you can buy it with flex pay and spread it out over several months with no interest. Several people I work with have bought sets after seeing my pieces.

 

[pjlla]

Great topic, as I was just about to post a question about durable luggage yesterday! Thanks for the insight and links!.....P

 

[hoffman1]

I got a Delsey a few years back based on the great reviews. It has been ok - not great. I have taken it on a handful of flights but I mostly travel by car or motorcoach (I am the director of a bank travel club). It is really showing the wear around the edges. It is also more difficult to maneuver because it does not have the spinner wheels (it has the wheels kind of built into the bottom of the suitcase--that was a selling point to me when I purchased it because I was afraid the spinner wheels could get knocked off. Lesson learned-I would much rather have the spinner wheels).
We have a huge soft-sided Samsonite that we bought 21 years ago at an outlet. It has held up great! And I like that has net dividers that create a kind of shelving. When you arrive at your destination, you just leave it standing upright and unzip the side. No unpacking or digging around in a suitcase. The downside to it is so heavy and large that I can not use it when flying.
We also have 3 other hard shell suitcases with spinner wheels. One is a Mickey pattern we bought at WDW. I don't think the quality of those are as good as our Delsey or Samsonite but I find myself choosing them over and over because of the convenience of the spinner wheels.

 

[Marionnette]

I have 2 sets of Atlantic luggage that have held up extremely well...4 trips thru Europe, multiple cruises and too many flights to even count. I bought them in 1996 and other than the normal wear that you might expect (one broken zipper pull, some minor fraying on the corners), they are in phenomenal shape. Not a single broken wheel, which is amazing given the number of miles that they have logged.

 

[gwynne]

I love the eBags Mother Lode bags
http://www.ebags.com/product/ebags/mother-lode-tls-junior-25-wheeled-duffel/125548?productid=1325228

I just purchased that exact luggage (in eggplant) last week. I really like it and the ebags lifetime warranty is impressive to me, too.

 

[cepmom]

I just purchased that exact luggage (in eggplant) last week. I really like it and the ebags lifetime warranty is impressive to me, too.

I just ordered 2 more a month ago, got eggplant too lol! Now we have 4 all together.

Several years ago we had the other Mother Lode bag (I forget the actual name but the one that doesn't have the straps to secure the top and bottom together) The zipper started to break so I called them up and even though the bag at that time was several years old, they gave me a credit to buy a new one!! Awesome customer service!!

 

[jenniy122]

I like Heys and Desley. As someone mentioned look at TJMaxx. I've gotten all my luggage there for extremely reasonable prices, a 30" hardsided case for under $70.

 

[pklein09]

After having soft-sided luggage get soaked on two separate occasions, one domestic and one international, I will only do hard-sided luggage. We purchased Samsonite Silhouette Sphere. It's on the higher end of their luggage, but we like that both sides zipper shut so everything stays in place when you open it.
http://shop.samsonite.com/luggage/s...&prefv1=Samsonite+Silhouette+Sphere+2&start=4

 

[tzeitel]

I like the eBags Mother Lode, and I just got a hybrid (half soft, half hard) Burton. The Burton is amazing, you can tell it is a quality product and they also have a lifetime warranty. My favorite is a Jansport but those are discontinued although you can find some still around. I just make sure that they are light and on the 24" range - I do not want to have room to overpack.