Carry on suitcase recommendations

Some carriers, especially based in Asia, have carry on weight limits (e.g. 7kg). Some wheeled bags may consume much of that when empty.

But they may be less prone to asking to weigh the bag if it is a backpack.

I couldnā€™t decide, so went for both! I bought my D22 and I a High Sierra that is a two-wheeled roller, plus has hidden backpack straps (great for stairs or rough terrain), plus opens flat like a suitcase (not from up top like a backpack). I donā€™t know if they make it any more but I love that thing. We donā€™t fly a huge amount, but we took them on a 3 week trip to the UK about 5 yrs ago and have used them for many a road trip since.

The eBags Mother Lode is similar.

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Thatā€™s what I was going to share. I was shocked at how low the allowable carry-on weight was when we traveled to South Africa several times with stops in different countries. So plan ahead on international trips.

In Costa Rica they made us get on a scale ourselves! Thankfully weā€™re light! :rofl:

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We had to check our carry on bags when we flew from Dulles to Johannesburg. The airline weighed everything. All we took on board was our personal item.

Another fan of Away. I can get week into their carryon. I love their compression system and overall design. I also have their small carryon for weekends.

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Passenger weight can matter with small aircraft where passengers may have to be rearranged to get a reasonable weight distribution.

Note that in the Jet Blue 292 landing with failed nose landing gear incident, the flight was about a third full, so they had the passengers move themselves and the carryon baggage to the back of the aircraft before landing.

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Confession time.

I used to travel a lot (Iā€™ve racked up over 2 million miles, mostly to Europe) and I used to carry a bunch of Lufthansa ā€œcabin baggageā€ tags with me. If it looked like theyā€™d be weighing and that it might be a problem, Iā€™d slap one on.

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My kids have AWAY carryons.
Travel pro is in my area. They use to have warehouse sales, pre COVID. Last time, I had to make 3 trips home, cuz I buy for everyone.

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I bought a travel pro carry on bag early in the pandemic. The first time I flew, I decided to gate check my bag to my final destination and i was actually on the same plane with a short connection.

Bag was torn and ruined. Was so eager to get my bag and get home I didnā€™t see it until I put it in my car. Did not realize that I should have reported it. Have to get another bag :woman_facepalming:

Are you near a repair center? They have fixed wheels and zippers for me

Count me in as another Away fan. I have the Bigger CarryOn as do both of my kids. I think the smaller CarryOn would be better if you are looking at a lot of international travel.

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I have the Away Bigger CarryOn, and also the regular size suitcase. Iā€™m a chronic over-packer and have been amazed at how much I can fit into my carryon, especially using packing cubes.

My H travels a lot for work, including internationally pre-COVID. He loves his Briggs & Riley and TUMI carryons.

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The canvas is ripped, deep cuts down the back of the suitcase.

This is some of the damage

Our family has used many brands of luggage, including Tumi, Briggs & Riley, and Away. They are all on the higher end in terms of cost, so no surprise they are excellent.

Then a couple of years ago I needed a large hard side case on short notice, searched on Amazon, and found a highly rated brand called Coolife that was available for delivery the next day and happened to be inexpensive. After receiving I was shocked at how good it was, and bought two more of those since then. Havenā€™t bought a carry size as we donā€™t need it, but will consider it when the time comes.

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The Coolife brand has a good price point. I will definitely keep those in mind. DHā€™s company pays for his luggage so he has Eagle Creek and Tumi which he can replace every 5 years. We bought a couple of the Away carry ons last year when no one was traveling and they slashed their prices.
We travel about every other month for 4-5 days so always use carryon but honestly as long as I can get everything I want into it and it rolls I donā€™t care much what I use:). I also carry a tote and DH a backpack when we travel and I would say Iā€™m much pickier about that.

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I have this High Sierra with sturdy wheel and backpack straps and have been all over the world with it. The airline broke a zipper on my final trip last spring and a wheel was falling apart regardless, though still worked. They donā€™t make the same model and am trying to figure out a replacement.

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The eBags Mother Lode looks similar. I love that High Sierra bag. Really love the versatility of having both wheels and backpack straps because Iā€™d rather use wheels if I can, but Iā€™d rather backpack up flights of stairs. Itā€™s a good bag.

There are ads for luggage everywhere I look!

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Prior to buying the Briggs & Riley, we bought lots of different bags. The Delsey Helium from Macyā€™s on sale lasted over a decade before the wheel started crumbling on Hā€™s (mine is still in good shape and still used regularly by Dā€”itā€™s likely getting near 2 decades old).

I bought D two new bags from Costco she can choose among or a new one of her choice, if she prefers.

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