Rick's Large Bags Not On This Site?

Maybe Rick has sold the use of his name to TravelSmith, but only sells bags of which he approves on his own site. Note that he endorses carryon and the 24" and 26" bags are far too big for that.

The larger "Rick Steves" bags are sold at many online retailers. Kiva makes all of his bags and he liceneses his name for use on the bags.

There are many people who like many of his travel ideas but don't buy into the carry-on rule only.

Some people follow him like he's a guru and wouldn't do anything different than he says and others pick and choose from the amazing amount of advice he offers.

Barbara – had to jump in on this one. I just purchased Rick’s 24” from Luggage.com. I used it for the first time last week – it's 8 lbs empty, packed it was 30.8 lbs, on the return trip 37 lbs. The material is soft and you can really stuff alot into the suitcase. I couldn’t believe it was so heavy - I often had my old suitcase (25 1/2” Eddie Bauer) up to 49 pounds (I didn't pick it up much, just rolled it around). I’m thinking about ordering the 21” and trying (even harder) to pack less. They expand another 2" if you need it. Seems to be good quality. Anyway, you might want to reconsider the 21".

Donna, you have a loooooooong way to go before joining the packing lite crowd. But keep trying and learning.

"Some people ... wouldn't do anything different than [Rick] says ..." Well, that certainly is not I. For instance, I have stayed in 22 towns in Germany; only 2 are in Rick's books. In those two towns, I did stay in RS recommended accommodation, but I only found that out after the fact. I found the hotels on my own. Last fall I toured the Romantic Road using just public transportation. Rick implies you need a car. I didn't follow his advice, and saved a lot of money in the process.

Unlike some people, I learn from my experiences, and two near disasters in the last century taught me that checking luggage is like playing Russian Roulette (with a one shot revolver). However, it wasn't until I discovered Rick and read read his advice that I realized that you CAN travel with just a carryon, and I have embraced the policy ever since. It saved my butt a few years ago when my flight out of Denver to an eastern city was delayed because of weather. The airline met us (13) at the gate and took us by van to the waiting international flight. There was no time for checked luggage to have made the connection, but my carryon was safe in my lap. Five hours after arriving in Frankfurt, I was in a small town in the Alps, four hours away by train. I'm sure my luggage would have caught up to me eventually, but since that was the last (only) flight out of the eastern city that day for Germany, who knows when.

In addition, it is just a lot easier to carry around a 13# convertible bag, up hotel stairways and over cobblestone streets, than it is a 49# roll-aboard.

"...others pick and choose from the ... advice he offers." And that is why I carry on. It is the best advice he's ever offered.

Incidently, I know of a case, just this week, where someone picked up the wrong bag at baggage claim and went out with it (security doesn't always catch that). The mistake was discovered after an hour, but the suitcase could have ended up hours away in another country.

Just because Rick sells a 26" bag, that doesn't mean it has to be used to go to Europe. I would guess that he sells the smaller one on this site because this is a European travel site where people must fly to their destinations. Maybe people like the quality and features of his bags and would also like more options for other occasions. For example, when my husband and I, along with the golden retriever, go to the ocean for weekend trips in our Mini Cooper, we throw all of our stuff into huge duffle bag, which fits much better in the trunk than 2 carry-ons.

I had a well used RS 21"(+/-) suitcase come down with a disabled handle. I took it up to RS Headquarters in Edmonds, WA and they ended up replacing it with a new one since I was leaving again in less than a week. When they gave me the replacement bag, they gave me a slip (like a receipt) and told me to make sure I keep it so that they would know that they were responsible for any warranty work. They also said that numerous other places were now selling RS items and that those places would be responsible for any problems - not RS in Edmonds.