Antler Carry on luggage

Antler is a very good brand. I have a carry-on that has being going for years and the whole family take it for their individual weekend trips away so it's seen a lot of use.

The old adage remains true......you get what you pay for.

Thanks JC. It looks like a really good option. I’m looking at several- Travel Pro Maxlite 5 21”, Samsonite, and just saw this one. I wish I had looked into purchasing something when we were in Scotland recently.

I was intrigued by the title “Antler.” I thought this was going to be a crazy deer/camouflage Midwest kind of thing. I was a little disappointed to learn Antler is a luggage brand name.

You could purchase this while in the UK and not pay the import tariff by making it your new suitcase.

I have an Antler suitcase (bought during a sale at a department store in Sydney with a very large luggage selection) and I chose it via the somewhat unscientific method of picking each option up with one hand then settling on the lightest that rolled well, had no weird bulges or unnecessary features, and didn't look like it would fall apart when sneezed on. Two years on it's holding up very well - including being checked on regional flights where anything with wheels has to go in the hold. Its wheels and esp. handle are even a smidge more solid than the Samsonite it's alternating with. (The Samsonite is two-wheeled and slightly smaller - different use case.)

The Samsonite Airea is being discontinued and being replaced with the Samsonite Re-Lite.

I believe it is still not available in the US but Selfridge's in the UK has a US shopping portal.

I bought my Airea from them years ago and for, I believe, $40, they shipped it to the US. It only took a few days.

Antler is a good brand and popular in the UK. Which model are you looking at? The Soft Stripe?

Yes, the Soft Stripe is the one that I am checking out. I like the navy color the best. They have an online site that looks like is available to US residents. I read somewhere that last year they did have a significant sale before Christmas. I like the TravelPro brand, too. I saw the Re-lite in Macy’s I think it was. I didn’t realize it was the replacement to the Airea.

Edit: It wasn’t the Re-Lite I saw in Macy’s, it was the Air-Lift.

The Air -Lift is larger and heavier than the Re-Lite. In fact, it's 23.5" which may get you dinged at a European airline bag sizer.

Neither the Airea nor the Re-Lite is available from Samsonite USA.

I was having problems with the telescoping handle of my Airea so I looked at the Re-Lite while in Europe a few weeks ago. Very similar to each other.

Luckily, one of my hotels had WD-40 and a few squirts of that and the handle was working just fine.

Wow, the Antler carry-on looks great and is really light. If we didn't already have new luggage (TravelPro Maxlite 21 inch spinner), I'd be very tempted to purchase.

It does look very nice, doesn’t it? I’m going to have a hard time choosing between the TravelPro and this one. It’s probably going to depend on the price for the Antler. Unless they offer a sale on it - I’m going to be looking on Black Friday- I think I most likely will go with the TravelPro. I really like both.

The Airea is available in Europe directly from Samsonite. I'm buying a replacement next week.

Frank II, I just need to hop on a plane for a weekend getaway to the UK and purchase one! lol

I’m sorry about Sam. :) I haven’t had a suitcase that I was that fond of. Can’t say the same about my old “Sue”, my first Subaru Outback. Like you said about Sam, so many memories attached to that old clunker!

That bag does look pretty good. It’s very hard to find bags in the 4lb range. I have a 2 wheel bag that’s 4lb, 3oz. Every time I get tempted to look at spinners the weight difference discourages me. The price is a bit of a challenge though but you might just think how many years you will use it….?

I recently bought the Antler Lightest Expandable Carry-on Luggage in Indigo Blue - Soft Stripe (the one I think the OP is considering getting) and took it on a 2-week-plus trip to Southeast Asia. I'm really pleased with it. It was the lightest carry-on I could find that fit within carry-on dimensions for most international airlines that also maximized packing space within those dimensions. And its 4.19-pound weight allowed me, on some legs of the trip, to keep within the 7kg weight limit of the airlines I was flying on. On the occasions I went over that weight limit, and checked the bag, the bag held up well. It's sturdy, rolls smoothly, and didn't have a tendency to topple over. (I was able to find a discount code for 20% off for it at retailmenot.com, in case that's helpful info.)

I had also considered the TravelPro Maxlite 5 Compact Carry-on Spinner but from reading reviews and looking at photos, it didn't look like that one would maximize packing space within the dimensions, since the case tapers toward the top. And a lot of reviews mentioned its tendency to topple over. It's also a bit heavier than the Antler.

C’mon Black Friday Sale! Be a good one, Antler! :)