Jesus, luggage is soo damn expensive

[Uppsala9496]

I've gone the cheap route and the expensive route.

My cheap $20 roll aboard lasted about 2 years of heavy travel (I travel about 30,000 air miles a year on average).
I broke down and bought a nice $100 Wegner roll aboard about 2 years ago and it's like it is still brand new. The past 2 years have consisted of about 2 flights a month for business and about 4 big vacations.
Check out some of the luggage from ebags.com. They sell some quality (and some crap) stuff at a good price.

 

[Safeway]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: MmmSkyscraper
Cheap luggage = FAIL.

Seems like the people in this thread who have cheap luggage have no complaints. 😉 If you're a business traveler it might be worthwhile to spend the money on expensive luggage, but for the average person I really don't think it's necessary.

And no, my wheels haven't melted yet. :laugh:

Just hope you never get any dust or sand in the sleeve bearings, if that's what they are. The added friction will cause a meltdown! The Samsonite I have now use sealed bearings.

 

[tfinch2]

Duffel bags FTW

 

[MmmSkyscraper]

Originally posted by: mugs
Seems like the people in this thread who have cheap luggage have no complaints. 😉 If you're a business traveler it might be worthwhile to spend the money on expensive luggage, but for the average person I really don't think it's necessary.

And no, my wheels haven't melted yet. :laugh:

I borrowed a friend's luggage once. As I travelled so infrequently, I'd never bought any. I was really happy when the handle extension thing came off in my hand at Boston airport :| For the next trip I immediately bought a Samsonite. It's so effortless to move around, I can extend the handle and use 1 finger to push it around in front of me at full load. If $200 is considered expensive for luggage then I don't want to be cheap.

The only other time I had to endure sh1t luggage was when I swapped cases with a friend cos she couldn't control hers when we were walking around. The retard that "designed" that thing needs kicking in the face. Instead of at least 2 wheels with the weight spread evenly, it's much better to have 1 wheel in one corner and put a pathetic handle at the corner diagonally opposite, so it becomes a fun game of "balance the suitcase with the most horrible physics going on ever". I'd gladly buy her a decent case just so I could drive over that POS then set it on fire.

Oh yeah, wheels that melt = LOLZ. Where do I get one of those bad boys?

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Duffel bags FTW

California Pak Rolling Duffel

I paid $40 for one of these about 5 years ago. This thing has had the ever loving crap beat out of it. It's been on more planes both checked and unchecked than any other luggage I have plus it's been used for a similar number of lan parties and over night stays at friends and relatives.

Incredible piece of luggage for $40.

 

[John P]

If you're going to be travelling a lot invest in some higher quality stuff.

We travel very seldom so picked up a set of American Tourister from JCPenney.

 

[LS20]

I've done a lot of researching on luggage, and these are my opinions

There are literally thousands of luggage brands out there. Most of them are poor quality. If you can live with them - that's fine... whether it be Swiss Army or Samsonite or Travelers Choice or American Traveler or whatever.. if theyre in the same entry-level price range, the quality will be equivalent

If you want QUALITY luggage, invest in quality luggage. These are the pricey 350$-per-piece type. I cant recall some names .. but there are a few

for VALUE, the best bet are Costco's Kirkland brand luggage. Prices are about 120$ for a large rolling piece. They are overbuilt...real heavy duty YKK zippers, strong canvas, wide-set-apart wheels, smooth bearings, etc



Considering how heavy luggage is (50lb), and that they get tossed around by handlers, its easy to see why durabilty is needed. Yes, ive bought cheap luggage sets before and ive had plenty of rips and zippers fall out.
For my money, i wouldnt bother with a full "set". Get a large Kirkland piece for long duration travel and a smaller 22" carry-on for quicker trips

 

[aphex]

is jesus luggage better than athiest luggage? Maybe that could justify the price difference.

 

[scotth501]

My wife was a flight attendant and she was always issued TravelPro. She kept her last set after she quit in 2001 and it's still going strong. I've been using it since for my business travel and it's still like new. Hers was Crew3, but I saw at the Macy's sale that Crew6 is the current model. They've got some nice upgrades, but they are expensive. I noticed that the Crew6 also was one of the editors picks or something with Consumer Reports (April or May 2005 I believe, you might be able to find it online through your local library). If we buy another set, I think I'd go with those again. The FlightPro line looked OK, but I thought the WalkAbout Lite models weren't nearly as good -- but they're half the price of the Crew6 too.

 

[zoiks]

I recently bought the Delsey Helium lite 5 pc set for about 220 shipped.

 

[ColdFusion718]

When it comes to luggage, you will get what you paid for. My mom bought a cheap wheelie in China for $40 and it fell apart after 3 or 4 trips.

 

[skyking]

we have a big jansport that has backpack straps stowed in a pocket on the back. 90% of the time it is used by the handle like a suitcase, but in Mexico I get out the straps and shoulder it up. The sidewalks and footways are often quite rough, and the wheeled luggage becomes a liability.

 

[Muse]

If I wanted luggage I would go to Chinatown and shop around. That's where I've seen the best deals. Also some at a nearby flea market. Costco, maybe too. Myself, I don't travel that often and have yet to buy a roller. I lug (gym rat, and fairly buff).