Did you notice the smiley face?
I tried something new today (to test out space planning). I usually travel with my 2 wheel roller bag and a Laura ashley soft fabric duffel. Sometimes I put ( squish) the duffel at my feet on the plane and sometimes I take out my purse and headphones and put the duffel on top of my roller bag in the overhead compartment. I recently bought a Longchamps expandable tote (the newer ones have a shoulder strap, mine does not) and I am traveling with it instead of the duffel, and the roller bag (checked the bag full of cookies and toys). It will work fine for this trip, but not for our overseas trip.
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I have one of the expandable Longchamp bags, bought in Paris well more than 10 years ago. I fold it up, stuff in a suitcase, and it’s there if I need it for the trip home if I check a bag. It’s gotten shoved under the seat, squished overhead, tossed in the back of the car, and it still looks like new.
It’s a 50L black hole when expanded, so packing cubes help a lot.
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I am not sure HM litres this one is. It holds a lot, but I don’t think that much. I have another foldable duffle that opens up to 50 L. It may make the overseas trip as a “just in case “ addition.
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Nordstrom Rack has several Tumi bags on sale. Still not cheap.
And yes, if you are going to be dragging your bag down cobblestone streets, up and down stairs, through train stations, etc, you want pretty heavy-duty 2 wheeled models with the reinforcement on the bag. But if you’re a curb to plane traveler in smooth floored airports, spin away on 4 wheels!
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I bought a Tumi weekender on sale a while back. It’s great for planes. It fits more than a backpack and is easier to rummage around in, slides over the handle of my carry-on suitcase, is comfy over shoulder (as long as you don’t have to put a heavy laptop in, see post about monos pro further up) and to my great surprise fits very easily under the seat in front, with more room for feet than a backpack typically leaves. I usually travel with a smaller purse which fits inside it too if I am on an airline that’s strict about one personal item. I think the non sale price is something crazy like $575 though.
That little bracket looks like it would require a fair amount of athleticism to use whilst hoisting a heavy carryon in both hands with your foot awkwardly closely aligned to the edge of the bin.
I could see it being more helpful for peering into the back of the bin for a small backpack or purse that got pushed around, where you’d have both hands free to hold on to the edge of the bin.
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Some airports have stairs next to escalators. With a backpack carry-on, I often have the stairs to myself as everyone with roller bags crowds the escalator.
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You can find some great deals on Tumi on eBay, both new and used. And if you’re concerned about knockoffs you can always ask the seller for the serial number and check it with Tumi.
I definitely missed my 2-wheeler while hauling luggage over cobblestone streets in Europe. For huge airports with smooth floors, spinners are the best though.
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FYI. Briggs and Reilly make a Carry on spinner that has a COMPRESSION feature. Watch the video! Highly recommend! 22" Expandable Carry-On by Baseline | Briggs & Riley
That bag weighs 10 pounds EMPTY!! 
But it is a great idea.
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Mine – a different B&R-- has that compression feature. It’s pretty great.
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Don’t many/most soft sided carry ons have that expandable feature? My old trusty carryon (the telescope handle stopped working but that bag was a workhorse) had an expandable zipper all the way around, my travel pro has one too, but it only expands around the bottom half (or so).
My Travelpro has an expandable thing that goes around the whole bag. Maybe there are different models?
No, it’s not the zipper expander (like the one on my Travel Pro) that gives an extra inch or so of fabric height (which is also a nice feature!) It is something metal that is built into the walls of the suitcase. When it’s open, it allows you to make the sides higher as you pack. You then zip it closed and press down and the metal expander in the walls snaps closed and the suitcase becomes a few inches less high.
It is actually hard to explain but ingeniously simple when you see it. My guess is that it accounts for some of the extra weight because if it weren’t so solidly made, it’d bend, get stuck, break, etc.
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Yes I saw that nifty metal thingy, but my old workhorse, while it didn’t have that metal thing, expanded all the way around and then I just zipped it down when it was packed. 
I have a soft Away 4 wheeler and a Travelpro my mom gave me because she had two. I like Travelpro when I am using it alone, but if I need to stack another smaller carry on bag on top then Away is much better. Away is sturdier and won’t fall over with another bag on top. Sometimes we would put 3 yr old granddaughter on top of an Away carry on so she wouldn’t have to walk.
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Another Away fan here. I switched all of ours over. For carry on they do have 2 sizes so check which one fits your needs.
One of our B&R carry on bags is expandable. It really adds a lot of space & works differently from others - not a zipper.
Anyway…
We looked at a number of bags (so many!) and ended up going with the bigger flex carry on from Away. It moved well, the telescoping handle adjusted to a comfortable position for me. The compression feature is a plus. My daughter’s BF travels a lot for work and has the same bag & also recommended it.
Thanks to all for the advice. It really helped with the decision.
Now comes the fun part - packing. I leave on Tuesday and am nowhere near ready. 
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