lightweight and well made carry on travel suitcases for international travel

I see this is your first time on the forums. Yours is a commonly asked question. You can use the search window (under the hamburger if using a phone) to find previous threads. Filter for the travel forum, then for a recent date interval. Here's one from last year to get you started: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/packing/which-carry-on-bag-do-you-use

To get you started in your search, look at the Travel Store on this website. The Rolling Carry On is popular. I’ve used mine on several Europe trips. While it meets many airlines carry on requirements, look at the size and weight limits of the airline(s) you will fly on. https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/rolling-carry-on

I’d start with assuming the airline will be strict and plan to hit the size and weight restrictions of your chosen carrier.

I was concerned in 2022 as I was flying one leg on Air France which had a bag weight limit. I had a Rick Steves rollaboard that weighed 6# and decided to go lighter. I wound up with an Osprey Ozone that is 55 x 35 x 25 cm and weighs 4.5#.

Pro: light and well made

Con: monopole handle - doesn’t bother me because I don’t stack a bag but it’s a consideration for others. It also packs a bit weird, lol. It was also more than I wanted to pay but went with it!

I found that it’s better to look at the metric measurement because the inch measurement is often rounded up or down.

Start a comparison spreadsheet.

Good luck on your search!

The problem is that most of these bags are made for the European market.

In the US, the most common standard is 22 x 14 x 9. In Europe, where they use metric, you'll see 55 x 40 x 23 which is 21.7 x 15.7 x 9. But not all airlines. Some are even more strict. (20 cm instead of 23 cm.)

Two companies that make bags closer to European specs but are available in the US are Eagle Creek and Travelpro. Look at their "international" versions.

But you'll quickly see it's the weight that can get you.

Also bear in mind that some bag companies give dimensions that don't include handle and wheels. The airlines include handle and wheels.

Thanks everyone for the tips. I'm going to try the Convertible Carry-On that Rick Steves carries 4 months a year. I'm still looking for a personal item that's 40cm x 30 cm x 15cm for a trip to Iguazu. I'd like to find something rectangular of that size. We've always checked bags before so it will be a new way to travel.

If you've never traveled with a backpack as your main bag, I'm going to suggest you give it a test run before your trip.

Borrow one from someone, it doesn't have to be the exact one you'd use, fill it with about 18 pounds of stuff, and take a walk. If you can find hills and stairs, even better. Not a two minute walk but go for about 30 minutes.

Then see how you feel. If good, have a great time. If not, think about wheels.

It's better to find this out now rather than while traveling.

Good idea. I think it could be a challenge, especially on hot days.

The other day I was wandering around a mall in which I'd never been as I was waiting for the end of a children's birthday party. It's a mall that I thought was dying and to which I'd never been. I digress. What do I spy, but a large luggage store, so I wander in, repeating "I do not need more luggage". I was confused. They had all these bags of varying types...hard case, soft, backpacks and backpacks with wheels...that seemed smaller than our 21" bags and had signs saying 20". EASA was written on the tags of most of these bags. I did not have a tape measure and I don't trust company measurements so I enjoyed, but didn't confirm details as "I don't need a new bag". At some point that evening I researched to see what company EASA was. Well, ignorant as I apparently am, It is not a company but the European guidelines. So, these might really be bags fitting the European guidelines more accurately. Again, I didn't have a tape measure. The store was called "Luggage and Bags" (very creative name, LOL). I can't find it on the web, but maybe you can. Or if you live on the north shore of Massachusetts, let me know and I'll tell you which mall. I would really like to look at these bags in more detail, but "I don't need another bag" and I hate to leave the island. LOL. You might want to see if you can find one of these shops or EASA bags close to you.

So, maybe European sizing is coming to America?

For the personal item, go to Amazon and start looking. Mine set me back about $30.

It depends on which airline(s) you are traveling on. I will use something that meets the size guideline on my way to Europe and then purchase my ideal bag while on the ground in Europe. Many bags sold in the US do NOT fit into the sizer of European airlines. Also, US made bags tend to be heavier.

Airlines like RyanAir are very particular regarding the size of carryon luggage. Best thing to do is to bring a tape measure with you along with the dimensions of the luggage allowed for carryon/underseat/overhead. Also keep in mind what the airline ticket allows as well as the addons. Before heading to Spain last month I measured and verified that our domestic US/normal international airline acceptable rollon carryon bags were too big for RyanAir's carryon specifications. We decided to pay extra at the time of ticket purchase to have both of the carryon bags checked. While waiting in line to board our RyanAir flight, one of the staff made one of the passengers verify that her bag was within RA's standards--it clearly was too big. RA has a sliding fee for checked baggage, starting at a reasonable price with advanced ticketing, to ridiculous amounts at the gate. The passenger enlisted the help of a few strong men who broke all of the wheels off of her bag. When the passenger then demonstrated to the staff person that the bag did indeed fit, her fellow passengers broke into shouts and applause--essentially thumbing their collective noses to RAs restrictive policy. Apparent it was cheaper for her to buy a new bag than to pay the gate check in fee.

RyanAirs base airfare is ridiculously low, so paying for addons for seat assignment, overhead bag storage, or checked baggage isn't as painful as it could be. It actually was nice checking our carryon bags for the international flights as well--didn't have to schlep our bags to and from the gate.

Am assuming that the cost of checked bags for a few domestic Spain flights is a small fraction of the overall trip budget--I would suggest just hold your nose and when you buy the tickets pay to check the bags.

Thanks everyone for your helpful advice and the great Ryan Air story! We're going to pack everything we plan to take on our trip this weekend (after weighing the suitcase before adding anything) and then after to see how much our stuff weighs. We'll also try to only use things from our suitcase for a week to make sure that we've included everything, then we'll have a better idea of how much we would need our new suitcase to weigh (for specific airlines). We may also just have to pay a checked bag fee for our carry on in some situations.

I have an old American sized carry-on which weighs almost 8 lbs which I love. Packed it is typically 24 or so pounds which I'm allowed to carry on in the US and on some but not all airlines to Europe. My husband has a newer model of the same suitcase which weighs a bit less. When we went to Sicily in April on Luftansa which has an 18lb limit, we each carried on our packed slightly less than 18lbs RS Convertible Carry-Ons and checked our empty suitcases. When we arrived in Palermo, we each opened up our suitcases and put our packed RS backpacks inside, zipped them up, and off we went with wheels. When we got to each hotel we pulled out the backpacks, and put the suitcases aside until we moved on to our next stop. On the way home we checked everything. I did not love carrying my backpack on the way to Europe but I survived and I didn't have to stress about possibly losing my clothes/shoes for our trip.

Check out bags from Eastpak.

Another is the Osprey Daylite 40L.