Luggage
 

Hello ,
My youngest daughter has several trips planned this fall and always borrows our luggage which I'm ok with. I would like to purchase a couple pieces of nice luggage for her as a gift for all the kind things she has done for us over the years. I have several questions especially for the savvy travelers here. Where is a good retail outlet to buy from? Should I buy from a retail outlet or online? Here's the tough part: what brand would I want to buy? I don't want junk or a cheaply made product. I would like to buy a brand that she could build on as I would first want to buy an overnite/two nite and a up to a 5-7 nite size. I should mention she's not a overpacker. She brings only what's needed. Thanks in advance.

Mike

We buy luggage with the understanding that it might only last one trip. That being said, this set we bought on Amazon has made 3 international and several domestic trips without any damage. Amazon.com

Samantha Brown brand luggage on HSN. Samantha is a world traveler (has travel shows on PBS) and created this brand with her knowledge of what an experienced traveler needs.

We recommend and had a great shopping experience with online store, Luggage Pro. Chose highly rated Travel Pro Magna Spinner series. We really like Travel Pro and maybe Amazon undercuts Luggage Pro prices now. I think there is a Platinum Spinner series now.

luggage
 

IFLY luggage can be bought online

Traveled for a living for years. I used a lightweight in the 6 pound range, hard side for checking, and a lightweight carryon if I didn’t need to check. Also look for the new under the seat luggage that you can pack couple days worth of items. I use America tour, online or amazon

Buy something with recessed wheels. We find they often get caught up in others luggage and break apart.

I used to travel a lot for work. 200,000 air miles a year. The bag that lasted forever for me was from ebags.com. Today I would get one with 4 wheels on the bottom vs 2. Mine only had 2 as that was before the 4 wheel option was invented. I still have it and use it when traveling. It has been manhandled by the best and everything still works perfect.

If you buy a carry-on bag, make sure you go to the airline websites and calculate the maximum size allowed. You can also get a small bag that is designed to fit under the airline seat.

When I travelled a lot, I always bought Samsonite soft sided luggage. To me, it doesn't make sense to buy expensive luggage unless you want to impress people.

Give her the luggage she has been borrowing and buy yourself something you like.

What a great idea! We have had great experience with Samsonite though every bag eventually needs to be replaced(The airlines eventually win!). In any case quality counts! A couple of suggestions -
1) Don't get black bags. Over half of the bags going down a carousel are black so having a colored bag makes it easier.
2) I would suggest both a carry on (follow the advice in post #9) and a larger bag. Some companies have 4 sizes with the largest size being very big. Given the cost of being overweight, the largest bag is often not practical.
3) I found in my business travel that the carry on bag was my trusted companion. If you ever have to show up in a meeting in Japan wearing the clothes you wore on the plane, you will never check a bag on a business trip. I learned to pack very compactly counting the number of times I had one night hotel stays in a row. After that day, you send clothes to the laundry.
4) Finally, newer generation bags have lithium batteries for recharging electronic devices. Think carefully about regulations concerning lithium batteries on airplanes before moving forward.

Hope this helps!

We buy as much from Costco as possible as you can return things for any reason within a year. So if the luggage breaks within a year, return it for a full refund. Currently, Costco has Ricardo 3-piece luggage on sale ($50 off) for $140. We each bought a set. Access Denied

Ricardo Half Dome 3-piece Hardside Spinner Set
Item 1400563
★★★★★
★★★★★ 4.7 out of 5 stars. Read reviews for Ricardo Half Dome 3-piece Hardside Spinner Set
4.7
(77)

Well those posts have narrowed it down a lot :)

According to the Costco website, there is not a one year time limit on returns. There is a 90 day limit on electronics and appliances, but for things like lugguge and other items, there us no time limit.

I like that suggestion.

We've had good luck with Samsonite and American Tourister Luggage over the years...they all get pretty banged up though

We try to purchase something other than black...as that makes it just a little easier to identify our luggage when traveling

Usually we've purchased matched set at retail stores like Macy when they've had a sale going on