Possible New Rollaboard

A significant number of us like the Travelpro MaxLite, available at Amazon.

Your choices are unlimited these days.

Ask yourself what is important to you....number of wheels, weight, size, hard or soft shell, etc? Then narrow it down to bags that meet those requirements.

I would also suggest heading to one of the bigger discount stores like Ross, Marshalls, TJ Maxx because they usually have a lot of luggage for sale. While you may not buy one of them, you can get an idea of what new types of bags have become available in the last 20 years.

I love my TravelPro Maxlite 5 spinner. I've been using TravelPro luggage since the 90's when my brother told me about them (he's a retired Delta pilot) and have always been happy with them. They are very reasonably priced, look good, and are very durable. When I bought the Maxlite 5, I gave my Maxlite 4 to my daughter. It's almost 10 years old and still going strong.

What a marvelous position to be in! I'm a two wheel, soft sided fan. I've had many brands through the decades, and still have an Eagle Creek, which I use domestically (well once on flight and once in car) because I feel I have to...sometimes. My tried and true and dare I say favorite, well used, is the Rick Steves wheeled bag. I keep trying to hate it so I can move on, but I have to admit it works best for me. I particularly like the outside pockets as they are actually functional. The RSbag I have now is 9 years old and looks like new. Sigh. It's been checked more than carried on, but still it keeps going and looking great. Wish I could say the same for me... LOL

I am also considering the Travelpro Maxlite but I have a connecting flight from United to Brussels Air
Can anyone advise which carry on size is acceptable? The 20 inch or the 21 inch. I notice in the product description 20 inch is described as an international carry on
I ask as I am concerned about the overall dimension requirement
Thanks

@margiepatella, there is no universal, international standard for what "carryon" size is. Every airline can be different. And in general, European airlines have smaller maximum dimensions as well as weight requirements. And to make things worse, manufacturers dont always include the wheels and handles when they are reporting dimensions, which the airlines do count. So you are right to be wary of this.

Look at the specific airlines you will be flying for their restrictions. And generally, the smaller sizes are more likely to work. Fitting in sideways if you can get away with it, is taking space away from other passengers.

After comparing a whole bunch of brand sizes and reading up comments here, I just got the Maxlite International rollaboard as it fit most airline dimensions. Its shorter and wider than usually allowed for US- based airlines but domestic flights don’t see to be as particular, and if you add up all sides, it’s comparable to the US 22” bag. It doesn’t feel as heavy duty as their crew bags (I have one from a former pilot that’s probably 20 years old) but that’s the trade off for the lighter weight.

I've said this elsewhere, but one of the unadvertised advantages of traveling business class is that one almost never needs to pay much attention to the size of one's carry-on luggage.

Seems like the consensus favors Travelpro. We'll see how well my current Eagle Creek survives a long summer of travel. BTW, my wife just bought a pair of Travelpro bags, so I'll be able to experience them firsthand. (I'll of course be the guy who has to wrangle them.)

Love Briggs and Riley for durability and lifetime warranty but I never use my B-R rollaboard anymore because it’s so heavy (8 lbs!). I use either my IT soft sided 2-wheeler (discontinued, 4.5 lb) or my Eddie Bauer semi-soft sided 2-wheeler (5.5 lb).

The Travelpro Maxlite is first on my list when I need to replace my rollaboard.

Good luck with your decision and purchase!

ETA: agree with comment about Business Class

I recently checked eagle creek and Tom Bihn. Wow - luggage prices have skyrocketed. Consider what you want the bag to endure. Most of us are not going on safaris with warthogs gouging our bags. Look for moderately priced bags. Look at dimensions and weight of bag compared to airline allowances. Then, go from there. If you can wait - Thanksgiving week is a good time to snag luggage deals. Have fun shopping.

"Warthogs gouging our bags" - LOL! Brightened my morning!

I would buy the 20" Maxlite for use on a European airline. If Brussels Air allows larger, you can expand the Maxlite.

I've got the Osprey Ozone and like it a lot. I was looking in mid-2022 for the lightest rollaboard bag I could find that fit Air France's dimensions. I wound up going with the Ozone because it was the lightest at the time although way more than I thought I wanted to pay for a bag. It has a "T" handle so is no good if you want to stack a bag on top of it. It's 4.5# and weighs exactly that on my digital scale. Another forum member warned me that it packs weird and it does but I'm used to that now and don't even notice. To begin with there seemed to be holes that would appear after I'd packed my stuff, lol.

It's been checked a few times since I flew 3 flights on Loganair in Scotland last year and it managed fine. I may check it coming back home in the Fall. It has not encountered warthogs, grizzlies or gators!

Packed up I'm coming in around 16-18# which is fine for me to lift overhead.

I have an old RS 20" roller but it weights 6# which was more than I wanted. I have a TravelPro 22" which was a little bigger than AF allowed plus the handle does not extend the way it should which is a PIA. I've taken the Osprey on 3 international trips and 2 to Yellowstone and am happy. I used packing cubes to arrange the inside.

Pam, I like the looks of that Osprey a lot; thanks! Would need to investigate other ways to schlep my C-PAP machine, though. Currently it fits beautifully atop the Eagle Creek with the velcroed luggage strap my ResMed case provides.

Pam,
I can help you test your bag against gators, black bears, and raccoons (trash pandas).
Trash Panda Motto: Live every day like it’s Trash Day!

I love my Briggs and Riley. The handle mechanism on the outside makes it easy to pack.

I stalked the Amazon warehouse site for a good deal on return to keep the price down

Carol,
Amazon warehouse site? I didn’t know about this. Is this how Amazon clears out returned items? Sounds like a great way to get premium luggage at a discount. Are the items rated by condition? I don’t mind minor flaws for something like luggage that’s going to get dinged-up anyway.

Yes, Amazon warehouse does seem to be where they clear out slightly used objects, maybe returns and stuff. It’s hard to find and I tried to figure out how to get a link and I couldn’t do it, but if you just type Amazon warehouse into a browser, it will pop up on the Amazon site.

The other thing I’ve noticed is sometimes when I’m looking at something it will show you that they have that item for a lower price and that’s where it is

I have purchased two pieces of luggage from that, and both of them were in perfect condition.

Thanks Carol. I have used the feature on regular Amazon where new or used items at a lower price are sold alongside the item I am viewing.

@jphbucks - The Osprey does have the add-a-bag attachment on the top but my personal item has. Longer strap and touched the floor which was a no. Your CPaP might be shorter. Do you have an REI nearby? They may have these bags so you could look and try.

@Sun-baked, lol!! My brother and I ARE 🐊 Gators and there are few in Idaho! Thank you for offering, haha. We’ve got deer, turkey, coyote and possibly a random cougar in the neighborhood but no raccoons!

Pam - there has got to be raccoons in Idaho! I’m half tempted to try a luggage experiment at the local state park. Set up a trail cam - take an old suitcase - place an opened jar of peanut butter inside - padlock it - paracord the case to a tree. Then, see what happens. Testing against gators may be illegal in Florida for safety reasons.

I have the Osprey Ozone that Pam mentioned as well as the Osprey Daylite Wheeled Duffel. The Daylite Wheeled Duffel has removable backpack straps and weighs just a smidge less than five pounds but otherwise is quite similar to the Ozone. But, the Daylite has a regular handle that can accommodate a trolley sleeve, instead of the monopole that is on the Ozone. It is currently $200 on Amazon as well as the Osprey site (I got mine over the summer when a discontinued pattern was on clearance).

I'm a big fan of both Briggs & Riley, and Eagle Creek. When it comes to luggage, I've learned its best to buy once, cry once. It's money well spent and gives you peace-of-mind.

B+R while steep in price, I've found to be incredibly reliable and their warranty is the best in the entire travel industry; Baseline is their most popular collection.
Eagle Creek changed ownership a few years ago and the new owner is very much interested in returning the company back to its original roots. Like B+R, Eagle Creek's warranty was pretty ironclad, and its Tarmac rollers were the most copied design when it came to soft-sides for about a decade.

Osprey is very good, Thule is another that's gotten rave reviews.

For hard sides which are hugely popular right now, Away has gotten a lot of press. My sister got a Mono's spinner which she really likes and is a competitor to Away. Beis is another brand which competes with the former two brands.

Well, the old (15+ years) Eagle Creek Tarmac gave up the ghost during this summer's long travels over cobblestones and other rough, rustic surfaces. Now taking a hard look at the Yeti 2-wheeled rollaboard. Looks about as sturdy as I could hope for.

How did the wife's Travelpro bags do?

The Travelpro soft-sided spinner of my wife's still looks brand-new, even though we checked it going and coming and ran it over lots of cobblestones and other rough surfaces. It's the Elite ($$$) model, which she found on sale at Costco within the past year or so. Definitely a good purchase, though it's pretty heavy.

I thought her backpack was also a Travelpro, but it isn't. Cheap and flimsy, no name, but very lightweight. We actually saw several other travelers using the same backpack.

Now taking a hard look at the Yeti 2-wheeled rollaboard. Looks about as sturdy as I could hope for.

Well, it's a Yeti, so I'd be willing to bet that it's sturdy. I do love their products. I just received the French Press as a gift and it's my new favorite thing. :-)

I am with Wray on this. I tell everyone my Rick Steves 2 wheel rollaboard is a magic bag, like Hermione's little beaded bag. I pack it light going over but that thing will expand to hold more than you could imagine. I try to avoid expanding it while actually traveling, knowing that once I open that zipper, I better be ready to get in my taxi to the airport because I may not be able to lift it anymore. Mine is 11 years old and still going strong. Bought one for my husband a couple of years ago when he aged out of wearing the backpack style one.

I just added a review for the RS two wheeler. First time I flew with it and it’s a winner for me, too.

Adding a comment about my Osprey Ozone. I am currently in France. Last week I got caught in a drenching rain walking from a small town train station to my hotel. When I left that morning I’d just shoved my jammies into the top pocket I usually use for liquids. Didn’t realize how wet the bag had gotten and when readying for the night realized they were wet. I’ll need to spray some Nikwax on the bag for some water repellency.

The contents in the main part of the bag did not get wet, just the top section directly in the downpour.