We were at a Costco store looking for a carry-on and check-in luggage for our domestic flight travel in about 2 months.
It seems the sizes for many kinds of luggage are different from each other and we suspect some of the luggage may be too large for a domestic flight. So we are looking into this matter right now and try to educate ourselves on this topic.
Also, in your opinion, will you buy such luggage at places like TJ Max instead of Costco? We are looking for some medium or somewhat lower priced luggage because we rarely travel.
My wife stopped at a Walmart store a few days ago and she thinks the luggage there seems to be too low in its quality (according to our standard.) How about the one at Target? Is it a little better there? The price range we are looking for may be about $150 to $200 (like a pair of carry-on and check-in luggage at Costco retail store, priced at $159 for their most expensive pairs. The $149 one seems to be made of some kind of plastic exclusively – it seems not very “traditional” and durable in my guess.) We also prefer luggage with larger wheels (do not care if it has 2 wheels or 4 wheels.)
The problem for buying it from a Costco retail store is that there are very few choices (and most of them seem to be a slightly too large but we have not measured it.)
The last time I have a very long distance travel (but still on a domestic flight) was many (5?) years ago. So I am not very seasoned about this matter.
Any advices are welcomed. Thanks in advance. If this matters: We now live in the Bay Area in California and I am not very familiar with what stores here which may sell not high priced luggage. Thanks in advance.
I bought my Travelpro carryon at TJ Maxx for about 1/3 of the cost at Macy’s. It really doesn’t matter where you buy these bags. The airlines treat exoensive bags from the department stores as poorly as they treat inexpensive ones from consignment shops.
You should check Target which carries the full Swiss Gear line…decent, and not too costly.
We actually prefer buying carry-on one separately from check-in one, even if it could cost a little bit more. The ones at Costco are sold in a pair of carry-on/check-in.
About 10 years ago, we bought our luggage at a department store like JCPenny and probably Target because we did not know better. After we had found out places like TJMaxx and its similar ones, we went to such discount stores. As I remember, it takes some patience because, when you are there, they may not carry the kind that you like at that time. It may take multiple trips over a month to score one you may like.
I bought a very large suitcase (but within permissible specifications) at TJ Maxx for approximately $90. I’ve used it a few times and have loaned it to friends. The only danger is packing it so full that it and the contents exceed the weight limits.
My wife just said shopping luggage at Ross on Tuesday (when there is a senior discount) may be good. She knows how to drive there by herself so I do not need to go there with her on Tuesday. Somehow she said she still has some unused gift card for TJMaxx (when did she get it? If she really had bought it, it could be many years ago. I am not sure whether she really has it, or whether she could find it even if she has it. She loves buying gift cards for herself and used them later for an apparent reason. I am aware that she still has many gift (cash?) cards for the grocery store (Sprouts) as well as auto shop (PepBoys). We were at a PepBoys not a long time ago and at the check-out time, the retailer who helped us said he had never seen any customer who pulls out so many of their gift cards. – She acquired many PepBoys gift cards using her Discover card credits (she bought some also, I think.) a long time ago when our 1999 Forester needed $$$ engine job (but not an urgent repair job.) So she started to get those gift cards over half a year. (This is just a tangent here for the fun of it.)
Last time I bought luggage I bought it at Macy;s on sale with extra 20% discount as Macy’s shopper. The only reason I bought that luggage was younger d was leaving for semester abroad and I checked United’s website 48 hours before she left and yes indeed the dimensions of the checked luggage were different than what she had been planning to take.It is however a great piece of luggage. Also good to have extra pieces.
For luggage used by offsprings, it should be better, because they may use it more frequently. In our family, the parents generally use cheaper stuff. LOL.
Delsey is a solid, fairly priced brand that is carried by many chain stores. You can also look online for these – many luggage stores have outlets and/or online deals (which makes sense if you think about it – in few locations will they sell enough in a retail location to make it cost effective.)
For check in bags, we’ve had great luck with the big rolling duffels from LL Bean – they’re light, durable, and they have wheels, so even really full, they’re still manageable. And because they’re duffels, they also work for trips that require sleeping backs, ski helmets, etc…
With the carry-ons, the OP is right to be careful about size. It differs depending on where you’re flying and many of the bags that are sold as carry-ons will not be accepted as such by the airlines.
Also, the last time I went in to get a bag repaired (–needed a new pull for a zipper–), I was told that the bags with 4 wheels come back for repairs much more frequently than the ones with two wheels. It seems that because of the way they protrude, they encounter more harm in the hands of handlers! Just a thought if you want a bag that rolls (which is always my preference!)
I’ve bought luggage at Macy’s with significant sale and discount, but my go-to place is www.ebags.com. You can get brand-name luggage there at great discounts. I’ve bought luggage, duffel bags, North Face backpacks, laptop bags, all kinds of stuff. They don’t necessarily have the latest styles and their color selection may be limited, but the price and quality are great.
As said above, sizes do vary by airline for what is a carry-on as well as what is an under-seat bag (my favorite bag now is my under-seat Samsonite wheeled bag - I take a lot of one or two day trips and it’s perfect!).
Poppycock. Who told you that your kids needed better luggage than you? And what do you call better? Should your kid have Tumi, while you have brand X?
Like I said…brand X gets tossed around just as much as Tumi.
Plus, the cost of the luggage doesn’t necessarily correlate with the quality. I know plenty of folks who have purchased luggage at Costco…who are frequent travelers, and they really like it.
My daughter has Swiss Gear. Her carryon was purchased on sale at Target for under $100. She has a 24 inch suitcase as well…also purchased on sale at Target for under $100. And my daughter is a frequent traveler.
I have a Travelpro carryon that I got at TJMaxx. I think it was $75 or so. I love it. It’s light weight and holds a good amount…and meets all of the size guidelines…it’s a smaller size carryon.
My husband was a frequent flyer business traveler who always used carryon luggage. He used…and still uses, an American Tourister carryon that he bought at KMart. It has to be at least 15 years old now.
I saw a lot of inexpensive but reasonably sturdy-looking options at TJ Maxx last month. But check the legal dimensions with the airline(s) before you go shopping, and be sure to take a tape measure. Remember, those handy wheels do count when calculating the total inches.
If you travel infrequently, there’s no point to expensive luggage. Don’t make this more difficult than it has to be. Anything from TJMaxx will be fine for infrequent travel purposes.
I have a Hartmann roll aboard and a Travelpro roll aboard, but I traveled enough that it mattered.
We love ebags for carry on luggage – we now all have the motherload convertible backpacks – they are lightweight and we can pack everything we need for weeks long trips without checking luggage. They are the perfect size and without overpacking have made it in to the smaller “sizers” of overseas discount airlines since they are soft sided. They have sales all the time and are reasonably priced. We also have a pair of the wheeled carryon but we only use the backpacks now. We have taken them on many trips and they are great.
We have bought luggage at Penneys, Macy’s, Ross and Costco. Generally we tire of the bag before it breaks or we are unable to use it. We all pack lightly and are able to use just a roller board that we either bring on the plane or check, as well as a personal item. This is for trips from a weekend to 5 weeks, a few hours away or overseas. We have all found that for us, less is more and we pack more thoughtfully and carefully when we have smaller pieces of luggage (plus it fits in any car trunk).
We have Delsey Helium which we used for many years and now have Briggs & Riley, which we got on clearance price at Costco. If you are traveling wholly within the US on bigger planes they tend to be pretty relaxed about precise dimensions for carry ons (have seen some very large ones). International – especially eithin Europe tend to be much stricter on dimensions and gave lower weight limits.
Another good thing about the smaller bags is its really hard to fill it so it weighs more than 30-40 pounds, which us well under US weight limits.
A couple years ago we looked around and ended up just buying D a set at Costco. I don’t recall the price but I’m pretty sure it was around $150. There’s at least 2 pieces - a roller board with 4-wheels (I.e. a spinner) and a larger check-in size bag (also a spinner). There might be a 3 piece but I can’t recall. Anyway they’re surprisingly nice quality and I’m happy we got them.
There’s a little bit of a gray area with roller boards. D’s roller board seems to be pushing the size limit but she’s never had problem with it. In the unlikely event your roller board ever doesn’t fit, it’s not a huge hassle to just let the flight attendants check it for you.
When I was younger (I.e. single and with a lot of disposable income) I used to care about luggage. My 25+ year old Tumi stuff still looks fantastic. But honestly now I’m over the whole expensive luggage thing. Just buy something that doesn’t appear to be made of super-thin and cheap materials and you’ll be fine. There’s no need to spend big bucks on luggage these days as there’s a lot of reasonably priced stuff that’s good quality.
Not gardenstate, but yea, I’ve had my Hartmann repaired (wheel fell off) and just recently had my son’s Victorinox repaired (handle ripped). These were $20-30 repairs; of course worth it!