American Tourister Sunside Hard Spin Case 68cm Black 3.7kg
Medium hardside suitcase.
Extra 4.2% off with Shopback/Cashrewards brings it down to $153.
CamelCamelCamel.
showing $7 for me or CC for free
I'm after a carry-on luggage. Peters has the 55cm model for $126. Is this a good buy or can I do better?
Very good
Any thoughts on the dearer Airconic? Seems more durable and lightweight?
too big for carry on isnt it?
The 55cm is within the carry-on size limit.
The 55cm suitcases are 40cm-wide, which is a bit over Jetstar & Scoot guidelines. How lenient are the airlines with this or will this be an issue as carry-on?
I grabbed a 55 + a 68.
But I assume if it wont fit into the size checker thing , which it wont as its a hard case then they wont allow it if they check.
Decided to get the 55cm Airconic for $162 (after discount, c&c). As carry-on, the 800g weight difference with the Sunside is significant.
How's the quality of this brand? Any feedback from anyone? THX
Quality case for the price. Regularly used this exact case for years until our rabbit chewed the wheels off.
@LeVagabond I saw in a recent other post that someone received new wheels from American Tourister for their 9-yo suitcase. Worth a try?
Soft wheels or metal teeth?
Owned by Samsonite.
Used to have a light weight spinner I got in the US around this price 10 years ago it was 10/10 pretty sturdy and they have good wheels on them. Had a cat that managed to piss into it so wrote it off
Had a cat that managed to piss into it so wrote it off
I lol'ed
I would of that over my cat who took a dump on my laptop keyboard :|
You got me beat there. What’s with cats. One also pissed all over my uni degree that hurt throwing that out
I have a carry on from about 12 years ago that's still rock solid. They are a good brand.
My American Tourister came with 10 year warranty. That gives me confidence in their quality standards.
BTW for the people who don't know, its a side brand owned by Samsonite. Like a cheap version. But I found this to be similar to Samsonite quality.
The warranty is pointless, unless it happens to spontaneously fall apart after the first month.
Can say that my set lasted about 6 years before the rubber came off most of the wheels and a large crack appeared on the bottom of one. This was with moderate use so I have no qualms with American Tourister, just consider that this is wear and tear/airline mistreatment so there's no chance I can claim under warranty.
Yes, I'm curious to know how many people successfully claim on those long warranties, for stuff like the rubber on the wheels coming off. My understanding is that most brands only replace if it's a manufacturing defect, so if it even smells like wear and tear, forget it.
@y2k: Really depends.. I had an antler hard case which had the handle come clean off. The bloke at the luggage assessment place said it was not a manufacturing defect and I'd have to pay $100 to fix it. Told them to shove it and escalated the whole situation. Eventually antler sent out a replacement. Suppose you have to fight for it sometimes.
@tightdesibanda: Suspect what separates some of the pricier brands (and why they charge more) is because they are more likely to honour the claim, whereas cheaper ones will fight it.
I bought 2 American Tourister suitcases like this one from Peters 10 years ago (almost to the day) and only in the last year are the rubber of the wheels breaking - replacing them soon, but a pretty good run for $160 odd
Can buy 4x replacement wheels on Aliexpress for about $44 shipped if you can be bothered replacing them. Easy job, zip open liner and undo wheels with screwdriver from inside. Best to remove first so you are buying the right ones - mine were 85A.
nice one! still tempted to replace the suitcase, its a bit battered too!
I just bought this and the Airconic($201, RRP $335) for my partner in the Myer sale a few days ago. Its worth noting that this model is a whole kg heavier than the Airconic, I didn't think the difference would be that noticeable but it really is.. I was able to tell which box was mine just by lifing the two of them - just something to keep in mind. A +1 for this one is there is a second zipper that goes around the whole back to reveal a small fabric expander(about an inch, dont ask me in maths what that does for actual internal space lol) which is a neat little feature, the Airconic has a waterproof zipper system as well.
Aside from that I see the two models to be roughly the same, although I do prefer the airconic design personally.
do you use the airconic for carry on?
The specs seem to show the measurements are within the jetstar limit.
I haven't yet, they only arrived yesterday(impressive shipping time I must say). I go to Japan soon and I am actually going with jetstar funnily enough, ill see how I go with carrying on cause that would be fantastic. I do have 20kg check in though so we shall see. If I remember I will report back.
Airconic is 55 cm but this one is 68cm? So this would expectedly be heavier?
i think she compared 67cm airconic which shows OOS on Amazon for $201
67cm airconic is 3.2kg so only half a kilo lighter though
@vawiyoci: 68cm sunside spinner is 3.6kg
67cm airconic is 2.7kg
Per the myer website and I whacked them on the scales last night and confirmed. The amazon website has all of them listed so I assume the weight quoted in the description is from the larger model in the lineup.
@doobey1231: Yep you're right, for some reason the main paragraph on the american tourister website itself said 3.2kg but re-reading it again it's for the larger 77cm one.
This is a comparison between the same sizes(67cm and 68cm).
I bought airconic suitcases as well (67cm and 77cm) and very happy with them. Super light but not flimsy either. Paid $149 for the 67cm one in 2021.
Where did you buy it from? Great price, cheaper than Amazon.
I bought it from bagworld. Looks like their current price is $234 unfortunately.
non expandable luggage will always be lighter than expandable luggage
Does anyone even buy luggage at RRP?
i do buy the KMART ones at RRP when I need to dispose of bodies
Just use some heavy duty garbage bags, and biodegradable if you can dump them in ocean.
68cm would be a bit too small for 2+ week trip right? I'm after something in the 72-77cm range.
depends what kind of trip you're going on.. I did 2 weeks in japan with only a duffel bag (7kg) but that's because I knew it was going to be warm so I was able to pack mostly light clothing.
68cm is not even enough for a weekend trip for the missus.
No if she is inside the case all weekend the 75cm might have more breathing room
dont be silly - if 68cm is better value missus will have to do with that instead
There’s an 81 cm on Amazon for $179 in black
Me and the better half did a month in Europe with two of these 55cm ones and a backpack each and avoided any need to check in. Just put the suitcases in the overhead and the backpacks under the seat. Makes it so much easier to travel and also walking around and on trains and up stairs. It is very doable.
Learn how to pack if you're worried about too much luggage. You only need 4x socks, 4x underwear, 3-4 t-shirts, 3x shorts, 1x jeans, 1x tracksuit pants. That's for ANY trip between 1 week to 6 months. If you're only going for a few nights then you can halve this amount. You should be able to fit everything into a carry on sized luggage bag. Google "one bag" and check the main sites for advice/tips like https://www.onebag.com/ and https://www.reddit.com/r/onebag/
Unfortunate name for a company
Should have renamed to Chinese Tourister?
Good price for good product.
I got very similar one for 170 a year ago.
I bought medium curio 2 for $197 yesterday from American Tourister website after comparing their models. Curio 2 offers slightly more volume compared to Sunside but is on pricier side (I got discount through my union membership). Got delivered this morning. Light, spacious enough, looks cool. Might be worth buying it direct to avoid warranty dramas.
Samsonite warranty goes through 3rd party. I bought a Curio 80cm and zip pull was gone after 1st use. Went to the warranty repairer and advised it was airlines fault.
Anyone purchased competitive direct-to-consumer brands & comment on their quality etc:
July - Aus based
Away - US based and pretty sure July modelled themselves on them
Carl Friedrik - isn't cheap ….
I looked into July but then luggage direct had a samsonite 75cm “hi fi” hard shell suitcase that weighs significantly less and surely must be pretty well built since it’s samsonite, so I went with that for $365 delivered. Which is cheaper than the July. I figured the warranty on samsonite must be pretty decent as well.
After going through 8 samsonites, Ive jumped onto July. Slightly heavier than my Samsonite ones but Samsonite kept breaking. Zips breaking, wheels cracking etc. probably from baggage handlers tbh but still not up to standard for me.
American tourister is the cheaper line of Samsonite so never tried it tbh.
For those of you with hard cases, how do you find having to open them like a clamshell (and thus take up twice the space as a soft case where all yoru stuff is only in on side of the suitcase)? I bought a now out of stock Frontec American Tourister for check in because it is front opening, and it seems every hotel I go to has those luggage stands that can't take a clamshell opened suitcase.
I just bought my first hard shell suitcase and I’m slightly worried but I thought I’d take the plunge. I’ll let you know in May when I’m back from my holiday haha.
Most have a zipped section but I still end up have it open up on the floor. Two of us means a lot of space taken..I usually close it up for the day so they can clean etc. I find hard cases harder to pack than soft cases as they're more flexible. Packing cubes always help though so it's easier to just grab a cube out
Yes, I've recently bought some packing cubes as I'm reading more and more about how they seem to make a big difference. I've never had them because I thought I was quite organised but after getting married nad having two kids, any organisation strategy that reduces faffing around a suitcase would be welcome.
That said, I've already just bought an American Tourister Frontec, which has a front opening rather than clamshell lid. It's also expandable and I'm seeing this on a lot of new hardcases.
I'm baffled by some of the other generalisations above too, such as that soft cases tend to be have two embedded wheels rather than four spinners. Duffle bag hybrid suitcases are soft and have two wheels, but they are a very specific use case. Most soft suitcase style cases I know have four wheels on their main models.
I also can't understand why you can't use a four wheeler the same way you do a two wheeler ie by tipping it diagonally and pulling it along. I've done this plenty of times and unless the two wheelers come with radically better wheels, I can't see why you wouldn't want the four wheel option esp in stations and airports that are always smooth floored.
Will this handle the wrath of an underpaid swissport handler?
The latest edition of Choice mag for carry on gave the gong to American Tourister
Linex 55cm and for under $100 the Mouv Hard Suitcase
May be owned by Samsonite but to me there is a difference in quality. I have the American Tourister and my wife has an older Samsonite. Both the same style of luggage and the Samsonite looks like it will easily outlast the American Tourister. We went the fabric light weight bags rather than the hardshells and the American Tourister is showing signs of wear all over it. I would pay the extra and get the Samsonite next time.
Another hard suitcase… avoid avoid avoid.
Edit: As I'll be asked. My reasons are:
Buy a 2 wheeled, soft suitcase. This is the way.
Agree with some points but not all.
4 wheeled can be pulled like a 2 wheeled but not the other way around. After having had 6x 2 wheeled (Samsonite and antler) and then moving to 4 wheeled…I will never ever go back to 2 wheeled.
Regardless of wheels, any cobble stone road in Europe is gonna be annoying. Get a uber or taxi. going up a gravel road up a hill or multiple steps..hope there are guys who can carry it up for you haha..
Agree about the expansion of soft cases. Packing cubes is the secret to not having to unpack everything. A cube for each thing means you pick the cube you want to get the item you want.
Wheels and zips are the most common areas to break. I would love to try the Rimowa clip system one day to see if that is any better.
Samsonite Secure and Magnum, and July trunk models also have clip system.
Myer is having a sale on the Antler Clifton. A bit more expensive but is polycarbonate compared to polypropylene (American Tourister).
I've got great Qantas bags but the wheels have only lasted a few trips. After Googling, I think I will attempt to fix them myself with a few little hacks and some rollerblade wheels.
Suitcases are always 50% off RRP
Also, $153 here
https://www.petersofkensington.com.au/Public/American-Touris…