For infrequent flyers (like me)

[bratmomma]

Yes, I am guilty, cheap Walmart suitcase.

I wasn't trying to start a debate or anything, just didn't realize the airline policies and wanted to pass along my experience in case others had something similar happen.

Have a great day!

 

[dudspizza]

Yes, I am guilty, cheap Walmart suitcase.

I wasn't trying to start a debate or anything, just didn't realize the airline policies and wanted to pass along my experience in case others had something similar happen.

Have a great day!

and you didn't start anything....... This thread is an example of where in infrequent poster can really get the wrong idea (not you, OP, just in general). Many of the regular posters, me included, took the thread in another direction. Your suggestion to check your suitcase is a good one... always make sure you have the right suitcase and that there is no visible damage......

Some of us took it further to say that many suitcases are made cheap and don't last very long... I am very aware of that, but still end up buying the cheap stuff...... heck, couldn't resist the $59 luggage set with MICKEY on it! By the way Bavaria, it is black, so at least I got that right!

Nothing was meant to offend the OP, but some OP's could get offended by the tone..... in the end the debate was amongst friends who just like discussing this stuff... pathetic, I know, but for some stupid reason we like talking about this stuff...

Have a nice day...

Duds

 

[Lewisc]

Yes, I am guilty, cheap Walmart suitcase.

I wasn't trying to start a debate or anything, just didn't realize the airline policies and wanted to pass along my experience in case others had something similar happen.

Have a great day!

The airline wouldn't have done anything even if you had filed a claim before you left the airport. The fact that the outside of the bag had no damage indicates the issue was with the suitcase and not with the handling.

Return the suitcase to Walmart (with or without a receipt). You wouldn't have bought the suitcase, no matter the price, if Walmart had indicated the suitcase isn't designed to check with airlines.

You intended this thread to be a warning about making a claim prior to leaving the airport. It became a warning regarding cheap suitcases. It confirms some cheap luggage isn't even good enough for one flight.

 

[Tara]

I'm not sure I've ever seen a softside suitcase with a stiff plastic lining.

I buy name-brand luggage, but I don't pay a whole lot for it. I buy it at places like Tuesday Morning, TJMaxx and Marshall's. So far I've only had one really break; a wheel somehow separated into concentric rings, on a Ryanair flight between Dublin and Stansted. I was dealing with the baby and I didn't notice it b/c DH was wrangling the luggage to the car, and he didn't tell me the wheel was malfunctioning until we were well out of the airport. I got new wheels put on at a luggage repair shop for $20, and the bag is still going strong 6 years later.

I did have my Prince Lionheart carseat satchel get chewed up by bagroom equipment once -- that was on a FlyBE flight from Belfast to Leeds, and the airline insisted on giving me 50 pounds Sterling for the damage, even though the bag only cost $30 to begin with. I caught my connecting flight back to the US, bought a $5 vinyl repair kit at AutoZone, and I'm still using the satchel 10 years later.

I do make sure that the frame in my softside baggage is metal. It bends in, but it is easy to straighten back out if you put your foot on the inside and pull up.

I just replaced two of my pieces that had begun to really wear out, after I don't know how many flights. (Frayed fabric on the edges, zippers that were missing teeth, handles that tended to stick, etc.) We bought them both 19 years ago, the year we got married. One was a TravelPro, and the other was an Amelia Earhart.

So ... I'm here to tell you that it is possible to get a very long life out of luggage that didn't really cost a lot. I'm not in Bavaria's travel league, but I do fly rather a lot.

I've seen bags that had rigid plastic pieces to reinforce corners - never a full sheet of plastic along a side, but just a rounded piece in each corner.

The conversation about bag quality makes me think I ought to take a picture of my 8-9 year old Pathfinder bag...it is in the best shape considering it gets used all the time. I would give anything if I'd bought more than 1 and bought the bigger version of it! (Ironically the only reason I ended up with it is that my suitcase broke while making a connection in Pittsburgh and the Pathfinder seemed like a sturdy bag for a good deal - $99 on sale, IIRC.)

 

[tam626]

Never thought to check inside, thanks for the tip.

 

[NotUrsula]

Ya know, I should have said this in my earlier post, but got distracted by the "get what you pay for" tangent. ... Looking inside is still a good idea, but it's mostly not really about damages -- it is about pilferage.

I do open my bags and make sure that they have not been rifled through. TSA paper or not. If the zippers are not where I left them, then I check through very carefully to make sure that nothing is missing, because claims for theft also have to be submitted before leaving the airport.

Damage that results from improper baggage handling (or more likely, equipment malfunction) is almost always going to show on the outside of the bag somewhere -- as Bavaria said. Structural damage that is only on the inside could only have come from one of two sources: temperature extremes or crushing, and both of those are things that bags should be designed to withstand, so it results from a design flaw in the bag. Smashed wheels, mangled handles, rips -- those are compensable damages. (Note that missing zipper pulls are always considered wear and tear. The action of the pinch rollers that move bags up the conveyors often snaps them off.)

Speaking of damaged baggage, get Bavaria to tell you her goo story sometime; that's the nastiest damage story I've every heard, but it wasn't structural. Damage like that wouldn't show on the outside of a hardside bag if someone took the time to wipe it down before sending it to the carousel. Depending on the kind of luggage you have, that's a good example to think about.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Did I mention I have had this luggage since about 2002?

Funny... mine's about that old, too. Maybe even 2001 or 2000. Now, granted, the larger bag is in such perfect condition that the manufacturer's tag is still intact (gotta remember to use that darn thing some time )... but I've used the smaller one - maybe 24 inches? - two to four times a year. Admittedly, it's starting to show some wear - I'd be shocked if it didn't. The brand is Central Park, I got them at Macy's, and while I don't know the MSRP, I do know what I paid: $18 each. Even if the small one falls apart and I never use the large one - at 28", it'd probably incur oversize fees - I still got excellent value. With tax, the two pieces cost $39.90. Figure minimum seven years, average three trips a year, I paid less than $2 per use

 

[WillCAD]

It's also about how you pack those cheap suitcases.

My own is an American Tourister that I got from WalMart in about 2002 or so. It's a blue one with wheels, big enough to contain Bernie Lomax, and yes, it has the plastic lining around the sides to give it stiffness.

I've used the bag to fly on 11 trips (22 flights) and it's still intact. But one reason for that is that I always pack it full enough that the contents give additional support to the sides.

Stuff doesn't just break because luggage get thrown around. Stull also breaks because luggage is stacked on top of each other in the luggage compartment. This is why you should never pack anything fragile in your checked luggage, and why you should have luggage that's capable of surviving not only being tossed about, but having heavy stuff stacked on top of it.

If your suitcase is only half-full, then the plastic lining will be the only thing bearing all the weight of luggage piled on top of it, and will be more likely to break. But if you pack the suitcase full, the contents will bear the weight, and the sides will be more likely to survive.

A good test is, after you've packed your suitcase, sit on it. If it won't hold your weight without something inside breaking - including the suitcase itself - then it's not going to survive a flight. Likewise, if you can't tumble your packed suitcase down a flight of stairs, it's not tough enough or packed well enough to survive the airlines.