Luggage

[lenquixote66]

I am trying to find luggage with sturdy wheels. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

[mom says]

2 wheeled or spinners? The latter are notorious for snapping off when hauled get rough surfaces. I personally hate them, because we frequently do land vacations involving trains, and the spinners are a royal PITA on anything approaching a rough surfaces. I reserve the (ridiculously expensive) spinner suitcases that DH bought for me last year for trips involving only airport to hotel or ship trips. If you're wanting spinners, look for a brand with a lifetime (or at least extended) warranty on the wheels. 

 

For 2 wheelers, which I prefer, I don't think you can beat TravelPro.

Edited July 14, 2019 by mom says

[iancal]

The Eagle Creek carry on that we purchased has two inline wheels.  After six trips over many different surfaces I can reliably saw that it is far better than our 26" Travelpro that we no longer use.  What is better?   The telescoping handle, the wheels, the zippers.   We did not realize the difference when we purchased it.  We do now.

 

You need to be careful when buying luggage.  Many manufacturers produce several lines.  Include a lower end version that looks like the high end but is destined to be sold in those factory outlet stores and in dept. store 50-70 percent off sales.

 

If you have a luggage repair shop in your area, stop in and talk to them about what to buy.

Edited July 14, 2019 by iancal

[cruisemom42]

Agree with Eagle Creek. Their bags have some of the sturdiest wheels I've seen. I jokingly refer to them as my "off-roads" luggage. For example:

 

 

 

Osprey bags have similar wheels but that line tends to be more expensive.

 

 

[slidergirl]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

Agree with Eagle Creek. Their bags have some of the sturdiest wheels I've seen. I jokingly refer to them as my "off-roads" luggage. For example:

 

 

 

Osprey bags have similar wheels but that line tends to be more expensive.

 

 

I'll agree (surprise!).  I've got an Eagle Creek 22" Load Warrior when I want wheels on the "carry on".  I also have an Osprey Sojourn multi-bag (roller and backpack).  The Osprey was a warrior when it got dragged all over dirt and rocks on my Kenyan Safari.   Osprey is definitely more expensive, but the 3 Osprey travel bags I have (and 2 Osprey backpacks) take a licking and keep going on.  

I tried to put a photo of one of the wheels from my Sojourn.  the wheels are 3" in diameter and feel like good skateboard wheels..  The Sojourn is 10 years old and still rolling strong. 

 

I abhor 4 wheel spinners.   I drag luggage all the time at the hotel.  The 4 wheelers just don't do well on carpet - I usually end up dragging them as 2-wheelers and it works fine them and I can walk as fast as I need to with then.  I can't imagine using a 4-wheeler on cobblestones and dirt paths...

Edited July 14, 2019 by slidergirl

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 hours ago, mom says said:

2 wheeled or spinners? The latter are notorious for snapping off when hauled get rough surfaces. I personally hate them, because we frequently do land vacations involving trains, and the spinners are a royal PITA on anything approaching a rough surfaces. I reserve the (ridiculously expensive) spinner suitcases that DH bought for me last year for trips involving only airport to hotel or ship trips. If you're wanting spinners, look for a brand with a lifetime (or at least extended) warranty on the wheels. 

 

For 2 wheelers, which I prefer, I don't think you can beat TravelPro.

TravelPro

[lenquixote66]

8 hours ago, iancal said:

The Eagle Creek carry on that we purchased has two inline wheels.  After six trips over many different surfaces I can reliably saw that it is far better than our 26" Travelpro that we no longer use.  What is better?   The telescoping handle, the wheels, the zippers.   We did not realize the difference when we purchased it.  We do now.

 

You need to be careful when buying luggage.  Many manufacturers produce several lines.  Include a lower end version that looks like the high end but is destined to be sold in those factory outlet stores and in dept. store 50-70 percent off sales.

 

If you have a luggage repair shop in your area, stop in and talk to them about what to buy.

Thanks to all who replied. We live in a very small town but there is a luggage repair shop and we will go there. Thanks for the suggestion.

[SimplyMarvie]

I'm sort of obsessive about luggage -- think Tom Hanks in Joe Versus the Volcano levels of obsessive. Despite spending much of the last 8 years trying to find my own personal luggage nerd-vana, the closest I've been able to come with regards to wheeled luggage is the rolling duffles from either LL Bean or Eagle Creek. Literally everything else I've ever tried (and that's a lot, folks... luggage experiments are a line-item in our budget) has fallen apart, most of it catastrophically (failed wheels, failed zippers, failed grab handles that involved sharp bits of metal and my son's hand...) all of it within a year of purchase. While I am not your normal luggage user (who apparently just uses the luggage for car trips to grandma's house) neither are you all -- and I swear I'm not overly hard on the stuff either. The only things that take a beating, never break down, never tear, have self-repairing zippers and can literally get burned by fire and not fall apart are the rolling duffles. If you're looking for something that lasts, I highly recommend them. 

[Underwatr]

3 hours ago, SimplyMarvie said:

Literally everything else I've ever tried (and that's a lot, folks... luggage experiments are a line-item in our budget) has fallen apart, most of it catastrophically (failed wheels, failed zippers, failed grab handles that involved sharp bits of metal and my son's hand...) all of it within a year of purchase.

That's why I bought my most recent sets at Costco. If it fails "too soon" it's going back.

[geoherb]

I have a couple of pieces of Kenneth Cole luggage. One of the wheels broke in half on the flight home from Alaska in 2012. I contacted the company and they paid the repair bill to have the wheel replaced. It's survived another dozen cruises without any more problems.

[SRF]

I have some Delsey spinners, that the wheels have survived many trips and many thousands of miles internationally.

 

I agree with spinners on carpet.  So if my room is a long way from the elevators, I will call for a bellman.

 

Only real issue with a trip to Sicily.  One hotel booked online, said Yes for parking. But the parking was almost a km away on cobblestone streets.  NOT fun.  That site (and I did complain) now lists Parking and Parking Onsite as separate searchable items. 😄

 

[ducklite]

On 7/14/2019 at 12:25 PM, lenquixote66 said:

I am trying to find luggage with sturdy wheels. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

I have Tumi that is 17 years old with around a half million miles on it.  Wheels are still great. The only reason I'm retiring it is that I'm not 100% sure I trust the zippers any longer.  I"ll still use it for carry on when I'm sure I'll be able to do that.

[iancal]

I think that luggage choice comes down to how you travel, where you travel, and how much you pack along with you.   We have seen the bags piled up outside cabins on final night.  We cannot believe the amount of stuff that some people drag along.  But it is of no concern to us.  Everyone has to do their own thing.

 

Larger suitcases with spinners would be useless to us.  Our Eagle Creek 20"expanse wheeled duffle is perfect for us but would not be for many others.   We cannot imagine travelling with two or three large suitcases or suitbags.  Others could not imagine traveling with only our carry ons.

Edited July 16, 2019 by iancal

[slidergirl]

23 minutes ago, iancal said:

I think that luggage choice comes down to how you travel, where you travel, and how much you pack along with you.   We have seen the bags piled up outside cabins on final night.  We cannot believe the amount of stuff that some people drag along.  But it is of no concern to us.  Everyone has to do their own thing.

 

Larger suitcases with spinners would be useless to us.  Our Eagle Creek 20"expanse wheeled duffle is perfect for us but would not be for many others.   We cannot imagine travelling with two or three large suitcases or suitbags.  Others could not imagine traveling with only our carry ons.

Ah, I see you've been following another recent thread on hard-sided spinners 😉

 

As I said there - anyone who wants to "test drive" some different kinds of bags, I'll arrange to hire you for a day as one of my bellmen - you'll see and drag more types of bags than you want!!!

[iancal]

It would depend on the tips!

[SRF]

18 hours ago, iancal said:

It would depend on the tips!

 

A friend of mine was a bellman at a top hotel in Atlanta.  I was AMAZED how much he made.

[slidergirl]

22 hours ago, iancal said:

It would depend on the tips!

 

Come in the Winter, then.  Summer time brings in the Groupon/Expedia/"coming for a night to get away from the kids" crowd.   In the Winter, guests ask for change for a $20 as 4 $5 bills; in the Summer, the guests ask for change for a $20 as 20 $1 bills.  Last Wednesday, my one bellman drove a group of 10 downtown for dinner and later brought the same group back and did a bunch of room escorts - he got a total of $3 freakin' dollars for the entire night.   Now, in the Winter, it's not unusual to make $200 in a day in tips...

 

Me?  I'm a non-tipped position.  I still drag luggage when bellmen are busy or I'm taking luggage to store.  I am rarely tipped, but when I am, I give it to the bellmen on duty to share or put it in our party fund.