<p>I travel alot – and often take my family with me. We have a zillion suitcases. But for a straightforward rectangular carry-on, I got my family bags from Costco. These have a carrier for a suit, which you may or may not need, and can be removed. These are rugged and well-built. Not the lightest but not the heaviest. I have had very good luck with TravelPro rolling suiter over the years and have a Tumi carry-on suiter that fits the sizer at Heathrow – great bag and light but very expensive. However, I’m in London 10 times a year or so and don’t like to check my bag with clothes in it, especially if I am flying from London to continental Europe.</p>
<p>For a trip to Japan, I got my daughter a rolling backpack with a zip-off daypack. I think the brand is High Sierra.</p>
<p>If you don’t need to carry a suit, ebags.com has a rolling carry-on called motherlode that looks pretty good. I don’t know the weight.</p>
<p>HImom, I really like having a rolling bag. More weight, less space as onebag.com says. However, I put my briefcase on it and I am carrying no weight (except on stairs and putting the bags overhead in the plane). That’s how I make the tradeoff.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone for all of your thoughts. I’m more confused than ever. I am a huge Costco fan & may end up going that route. We will have to see. Still welcoming additional suggestions.</p>
<p>Keep watching the Macy’s ads. Last year I got a travelpro lite that was on sale for 50% off and I was also able save an additional 20% using a coupon. I watched the ads for about 6 weeks. I noticed that they change from week to week what brand they have the biggest savings on.
We also have two of the carry on bags from Costco. The price is good and the bags sturdy.
My son wanted one of the bags that spin. He is the ADD kid who loves riding the shopping carts and also the luggage carts at the airport. He loves his spinning bag because he can play with it, have it jump curbs etc. It is a samsonite and it is funny looking. Lightweight but I don’t think it holds as much. Also got it at Macy’s for a great price on sale plus coupon.</p>
<p>I have been using our Lands’ End carry on for at least 10 years. It has been wonderful, we have used it overseas and cross country. Last summer I bought a nice samsonite set from Costco. I took that sets carry on, I thought it had the same multi-directional wheels that the rest of the set had. It didn’t, that was it’s last trip with me First thing, H missed the neat key clip for the car keys. The lands end was better overall. It was made before Sears took over, so I can’t vouch for the quality today. I did notice that lands end has free shipping now. </p>
<p>Re wheels. Few months back we went to Canada from CA. Both flights wanted to “check in”. At the gate all carry ons that had wheels. Even if they were teeny tiny. I carried mine by my side & kinda hid the wheels-I had some important stuff and it wouldn’t fit in my tiny purse. I am positive the flight attendant just looked the other way when I boarded</p>
<p>I will once again plug my Costco suitcase (Kirkland brand) even though I’m probably moving on to Eagle Creek. The one I’ve used the past 8 years or so has been perfect and pretty much bullet proof. I just want and need something lighter. This one will fit in the overhead of most planes, but I can unzip it to add another couple of inches of depth if it’s been one of those souvenir/shopping type vacations (but then I have to check it).</p>
<p>While I’d love to be able to haul my bag around without wheels, that is a big NO NO for me and my quirky shoulder and arm issues. Another reason I’m working to lighten the load. I guess I’m off to REI. Now I need to figure out what color!</p>