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Your luggage can significantly impact your trip, regardless of your destination or frequency of travel. It aids in planning, packing, and staying organized while you’re away, and even determines your ability to bring back souvenirs.
The market offers a wide variety of checked suitcases, including both hard-side and soft-side options, each equipped with different organizational features. With so many choices available during this flourishing era of luggage, it can be challenging to navigate through them.
To identify the standout brands, Travel Station conducted a series of tests and simulations, evaluating various luggage brands’ capacity, maneuverability, durability, and design. After a thorough assessment, our top recommendations are Travelpro and American Tourister. These reasonably priced brands offer a diverse selection of carriers that consistently received high scores across all categories during our testing.
Samsonite
Samsonite undeniably offers excellent value for money, regardless of your budget considerations. With a century of experience in the industry, they have established themselves as a top provider of high-quality, well-constructed luggage that is both durable and functional, catering to the convenience of travelers.
Whether you prefer hard-side or soft-side luggage, Samsonite’s offerings have generally received positive reviews, particularly their wheels, which are widely regarded as the industry standard in terms of quality.
Samsonite boasts a wide range of collections that incorporate additional features such as battery packs, Bluetooth trackers, and integrated weighing scales. These features set Samsonite apart from other manufacturers, thanks to their significant market share and volume.
One popular choice for checked luggage is the Samsonite Freeform 28-inch Spinner. It showcases a sturdy and stylish polypropylene hard side, providing durability and a premium appearance. The interior is thoughtfully designed with dividers, multiple pockets, and a compression strap, allowing for organized storage of clothes and belongings. Additionally, it includes a built-in ID tag, which proves useful for tracking lost luggage and recovering belongings.
As a reputable brand, Samsonite offers extensive warranty and return policies. Furthermore, their partnerships with prominent retailers like Macy’s and Amazon ensure convenient accessibility for customers.
Tumi
TUMI, a well-known luxury travel and lifestyle brand, is dedicated to delivering high-end offerings to the travel market. It has garnered a reputation as a symbol of status among travelers. Despite being acquired by Samsonite in 2016, TUMI remains committed to providing top-quality products and excellent customer service. TUMI stands out as one of the finest luggage brands, offering luxurious suitcases.
TUMI’s extensive catalog encompasses a wide range of options, including traditional luggage, backpacks, and duffels, available in various materials, colors, and finishes. From abrasion-proof ballistic nylon to different types of hard-sided bags and even premium leather, TUMI offers versatility. TUMI luggage is renowned for its durability and longevity, with bags that are cherished for their long-lasting performance.
Furthermore, TUMI luggage is thoughtfully and meticulously designed, incorporating exceptional external storage and internal organization features. This ensures a tidy and easily accessible arrangement of belongings.
In addition, TUMI’s lineup includes the innovative ‘Add-a-bag’ system, allowing for easy attachment of additional bags to the main luggage. This makes it convenient to carry all your items using a single larger roller.
The hallmark of TUMI’s luxury experience lies in its impeccable customer service support. TUMI provides on-site repairs, luggage registration, and tracking services for lost luggage. Their lifetime warranty ensures that any issues with your luggage are covered and supported, offering peace of mind to customers.
Travelpro
For frequent flyers, it’s important to have luggage that not only looks good but also delivers durability, practicality, and versatility. Travelpro prioritizes these principles in their luggage designs, catering to the needs of practical and frequent travelers worldwide. It is recognized as one of the top luggage brands, particularly for soft-sided suitcases.
Looking for expandable storage? The Travelpro Platinum Elite Spinner offers ample space. Need external compartments? They are designed to accommodate items like a parka, scarf, passport, and other essentials for quick access. Concerned about durability? Travelpro constructs its soft-sided luggage using abrasion-resistant nylon, ensuring that your bag will withstand numerous flights and more.
Flight crews have developed a cult following for Travelpro luggage for good reason. The brand’s practical and robust travel luggage resonates well with frequent flyers who seek a reliable companion to simplify their journeys. Travelpro luggage features sturdy and durable wheels that even auto-align for effortless mobility. Additionally, cushioned handles provide comfort, even when the bag is heavy.
Travelpro offers a wide selection of both hard and soft-sided luggage in various colors, allowing you to maintain a professional appearance while adding a touch of personal style. Moreover, Travelpro stands behind its products with a “Worry-Free” lifetime warranty, providing frequent flyers with the peace of mind they desire when using their preferred luggage. It’s worth noting that Travelpro was founded by an airline pilot, and the design, durability, and utility of their luggage reflect this heritage.
Delsey
Delsey is a highly popular luggage brand known for producing visually appealing and durable travel gear. With its French heritage, Delsey draws design inspiration from France, earning a reputation for being a stylish option with renowned French quality. When it comes to finding a suitcase with style, Delsey is considered one of the top luggage brands.
Delsey utilizes polycarbonate, a stronger and more resilient material than ABS or polypropylene, for many of its hard-sided luggage options. This makes it an excellent choice for travelers seeking sturdy and durable luggage. However, it’s important to note that certain lines in the Delsey luggage catalog, such as the Delsey Lagos collection, are made with ABS.
On the other hand, Delsey tends to employ polyester instead of nylon for their soft-sided luggage. While this may result in a less durable bag that may not withstand long-term or continuous use, we generally recommend opting for Delsey’s hard-sided offerings.
Delsey’s mid-price range offers several convenient features for travelers. Their luggage includes organizers that facilitate packing and finding items easily. Additionally, padded laptop compartments ensure the safety of your electronics. Delsey prioritizes the security of your valuables with their proprietary ‘SECURITECH 2’ zipper system, which makes it twice as difficult for thieves to break into your bag via the zippers, providing added security against quick grabs.
For those in need of storage capabilities, Delsey provides good sorting systems in their mid-tier price range. However, it’s worth noting that their lower-end offerings may have fewer pockets and compression straps, offering functional use but lacking the feature-rich experience of some competitors. Overall, Delsey’s luggage stands out for its exceptional aesthetics, making it a tough competitor for brands like Travelpro and Samsonite.
American Tourister
American Tourister, a favorite among practical travelers, is an ideal choice for casual getaways when you don’t require an overly luxurious or bulky bag. With a wide range of colors, shapes, and sizes, American Tourister is readily available at major retail stores such as Target and Walmart. It is highly regarded as one of the top wheeled luggage brands.
The standout feature of American Tourister luggage lies in its spinner wheels. It is rare to find quality spinner luggage with four full spinner wheels at the competitive price point offered by American Tourister. These durable wheels enable smooth and seamless movement, while also being resistant to scratches and long-lasting. Families, take note! They can withstand the rigors of long trips with children while remaining affordable, so you won’t have to overspend.
While American Tourister may not offer the bulky and hard-sided construction found in some other options, its affordability allows it to exceed expectations and serve as a reliable companion for your journey. Additionally, American Tourister provides a surprisingly robust and solid warranty, a rarity among competitors in this price range. This makes it an excellent cost-saving choice, especially considering the option for easy replacement of any components of your luggage.
Briggs & Riley
Briggs & Riley, a renowned American travel ware brand, consistently stands out for its commitment to innovation, performance, and the travel experience. While they offer soft-sided bags, their true expertise lies in hard-sided luggage, making Briggs & Riley one of the top brands for hard-shell suitcases.
Among their impressive hard-side luggage collection, the Torq Luggage stands as one of the best products available. It comes in six different sizes, including two carry-ons (21″ and 22″) and four checked bags (27″, 28″, 30″, and 32″).
The Torq Bag is widely acclaimed for its scratch-resistant outer case, a classic handle system made from aircraft-grade aluminum, and the iconic Outside handle design. Notably, Briggs & Riley has engineered their handle to be smooth and wrinkle-free, ensuring an optimal interior space. Despite its sturdiness, the Torq Bag remains remarkably lightweight, thanks to its three-layered Makrolon polycarbonate material.
On the other hand, their Baseline Collection features a unique expansion-compression technology that allows the luggage to expand and provide 25% more packing space when open, effortlessly returning to its original size when closed.
The interior of their luggage includes a zippered compartment and garment bags, while the exterior offers multiple pockets for convenient storage. The double self-aligning spinner wheels further enhance mobility, making those long walks between terminals far less arduous.
While many brands on the 2023 list of the best luggage brands offer complex shell options, Briggs & Riley stands out as the cream of the crop.
LEVEL8
LEVEL8 elevates your carry-on luggage game with its range of hard-side options. Among its popular offerings, the hard shell carry-ons stand out, available in both Makrolon polycarbonate and aluminum exteriors. LEVEL8 is renowned as one of the top brands for carry-on size suitcases.
Opting for luggage made from polycarbonate brings several advantages, such as durability and scratch resistance, making it ideal for carrying electronic valuables and delicate items. However, it may be slightly less flexible compared to soft-side luggage.
With a focus on sleek simplicity, LEVEL8 strives to provide a hassle-free experience by offering only the essential features you need. Their luggage options include built-in batteries for convenient charging during airplane boarding waits. Inside the luggage, you’ll find dividers to keep your belongings organized and intact, along with custom packing cubes.
The packing cubes can be labeled by attaching your preferred velcro label, making it effortless to identify the contents of each cube. Maneuvering through the airport is a breeze with the self-aligning spinner wheels, which glide smoothly across surfaces and are built to withstand wear and tear. These spinner wheels feature a rubber rim to protect floor surfaces from scratches, and the overall rigid construction of the case ensures the safety of your belongings, whether in the overhead bin or on the luggage carousel.
