Can someone please nominate their favourite luggage sets? Does not need to be super-cheap. Priority is light weight, durable, practical and reliable.
Had been looking at various websites and it gets a little overwhelming. Dont think I can buy online without looking at the real stuff, or at least get some feedback from someone who has used it. There had been some group buy vouchers but I just cannot do it.
Our current ones are very good quality, the body itself is still very good, but the zipper and the handles are going to give way, and the compartment is not that roomy because of some structures inside. The worst part is the heavy weight. In today's travel world, the luggage allowance is so low even on international flights that we'd only get 23 kg, so a 4kg luggage is probably far too heavy.
Luggage set- durable but light
Comments
4 kg far too heavy? I think you should take a look at what weights that little. I don't think you'll find much.
I recommend the samsonite B-lite range. Comes with the international warranty and samsonite are known for durability. I have the second smallest one and the largest one. When I fill the largest one, not expanded, it's been weighing in at 23-24 kg. my small one is the right size for cabin carryon. Spinners are a must have for me as you can just push it around on flat surfaces instead of carrying the weight on the handle. My friend also bought b-lite and it survived her tour of europe, canada, USA. Mine is still holding strong from round the world trip. I did a lot of research and my priorities were lightweight and spinners.
I have a couple of large American Express spinner cases that I bought seperately in Asia. They are made by or owned by Samsonite. I love them! More than 4 kg though, which is what OP thinks is too heavy as it is.
Thanks everyone for the insight. Will have a look.
3 piece "hard" luggage set here for $149
http://www.groupon.com.au/deals/national-deal/Milleni/716442…Totally agree with 'savadamoney' re Samsonite. Durable, practical and reliable… no one beats Samsonite. I have a 20+ year old Samsonite, it has gone to 4 years of boarding school with me, many many holidays, work trips, now travel with my young family, average 2 or 3 overseas trips per year for the last 20+ years…. and it's still going strong. And I bought another Samsonite set a couple of years ago, can't remember the range name, but r similar to the B-lite with spinners. They are great, very good quality zips, nice compartments inside… Samsonite may be more expensive than others, but worth the money.
Samsonite is about 7x more expensive than others, its a bag FFS.
A bag that will last 7x longer than the cheapies.
Bought a cheapie carry-on that weights 3-3.5kg (did not think about weight when we saw the sale…) and after 9 months of use flying a return trip on average once every month has had a wheel starting to crack and the handle coming loose.
Not necessarily and I am speaking from experience here as well.
I had samsonite and it finally succumbed to the endless abuse of airline baggage handlers in 3 years (it had damage on trip one) whereas my cheapo stuff lasts on average 18mths (I fly 2 or 3 times a month with work)
I have new shiney baggage every 18mts. and I still have several years of purchases before I catch up to the price of that ratty looking samsonite.I should add that we dont travel that much like some of you here. We only travel for leisure.
Domestic maybe only a few times a year (and only need the luggage rarely) and international no more than two times a year.
Does it mean that we can get the lighter/cheaper ones?Be sure to get a matte finish if you get a hard shell that will be checked in. The shiny ones look nice in the shops but will look crap after the second trip.
On websites like bagworld they show luggage weight and capacity/volume. You can then decide if you think the premium paid for samsonite, antler, etc justifies any weight savings. For me, the cabin roller weight is most critical so you havent lost most of your carryon allowance in the case alone. For check-in, a kg here or there may not be noticeable when its 23kg allowance. I don't travel all that often either but like to shop on holidays so I want to know I can squeeze every kg out of my allowances.
Samsonite B-Lite. It's not too pricey through bagworld or myers when they have their sale. When you only have 7kg for carry-on weight is important (especially if you travel domestically and can't be bothered checking in luggage). If you've got a bit more cash the Antler liquis looks to be pretty good too.
IIRC the American Tourister Prismo 55cm is one of the largest at 48L and fairly light at 2.5KG for the carry on bags. Slightly lighter than the Samsonite B-Lite, can "hold more" and cheaper too.
Yes, that's my main point. With allowance 7kg, it is crazy to have a bag of 3kg. I wonder whether I should wrap them in a bedsheet…
I would but my electronic equipment doesn't like to look like a hobo :P
Titan X2 Flash 75cm spinner, around 4kg. Been on 30+ flights and going strong. Bought this a few years back when they were made in China, only cost $190 at the time. Current version sells for around $350 cause now made in Germany.
I've recently upgrade to Samsonite Firelite 75cm spinner, 2.95kg. Light as, great zipper. $480.
Thanks for the tip-off. Will keep an eye out for sales of those items mentioned.
Not too long to weekend.
Stay with known brands. We've always used Antler or Qantas (made by Antler apparently) with great results. Needed some extra capacity from the US and bought what looked good quality mid priced brand that turned out to be utter rubbish both split open on the way home and were useless. The cotton used just wasn't up to the job and they just fell apart.
I have heard good reports about Ricardo too.
Highly recommend this deal:
http://www.luggagedirect.com.au/suitcases-1/hardcase-luggage…Three hardcase bags for $199. I have a similar set from the same company (International Traveller) and found it to be great quality. I've done 24 flights (16 international) with the larger bag just this year and it doesn't have any damager or wear except for a couple of scuffs. Fabric suitcases generally only last 2-3 trips maximum before getting badly damaged.
At 3.4KG for the cabin bag that's heavy!
The big one is 6KG and that takes a fair chunk of your 20-25kg baggage allowance! The medium size one is even a bigger offender for its size…I thought it compared ok to other more expensive hard case brands considering the large capacity.
IT: 6.1kg for 151 litres
Titan X2: 3.9kg for 109 litres
Victorinox: 4.4kg for 90 litres
Samsonite: 4.35kg for 131 litres
Antler: 3.8kg for 104 litres
Is 4.8kg heavy for a check in bag?
Looking at this bag http://www.luggagestore.com.au/samsonite/4193-expandable-78c…
Can get it for $200.
I'll mostly be travelling by train in Europe, only taking two flights which are 20kg limits.
Do u think that is too heavy?
I've got one of these in the mail (Osprey Porter 46):
http://luggage.theluggageprofessionals.com.au/search?cnt=&as…
It's basically the maximum dimensions for carry on with air asia and jetstar, $110.46 and 1.43kg with some pretty decent reviews around.
For me, I wanted a light bag that could be used for carry on only trips but also had the capacity to be weighed down and checked, reviews seems to indicate it is what I'm looking for.
Specs here: http://www.ospreypacks.com/user_manuals/S12_Tprt-Prtr_OM.pdfCatch of the day have samsonite luggage today.
With the ridiculous weight restrictions for carry on of 7kg, it makes a lot of sense to get the lightest one you can.
So for my last trip to Asia, I decided to put away my heavy rollaboard and get a soft wheeless bag. I did my research and ended up with a Tom Bihn Tri Star http://www.tombihn.com/travel_bags/TB0940.html
It only weighs 1.5kg and is made of 1050d ballistic nylon so it will definitely last.
I fit about a weeks worth of clothes in there using bundle packing plus my iPad and camera and the total weight was about 6kg.
Heys. Canadian. Brilliant.
We bought rimowa from germany trip. It made from polycarbonate so pretty light weight and strong.
My wife was given a Samsonite cabin bag as a present. First time we took it on a trip, the wheels were wearing out unevenly after 2 weeks! Got back to Adelaide and took bag to the dealer. Guess what? The first words that came out of this dealer's mouth was that we've been abusing the bag, claiming that the wheels would never do that!!! I got so annoyed I told her in no uncertain terms that no the bag has not been abused and we are careful people. Luckily she agreed to have the wheels replaced. So from now on, I would never ever buy a Samsonite no matter what their advertising says and what people say. They're just over-priced ordinary products, that's all.
Take a look at Paklite hydrogen on the Paklite website. You'll need to shop around though. Avoid anything too light (under 3kg for a 61cm)as they won't take the wear and tear. Spinners weigh more (0.5 kg) cause of the extra 2 wheels.