Review Of And Recommendations For Luggage Brands
#16
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 1
slate article
great shopping assessment from slate last week, about this same topic:
http://slate.msn.com/id/2101605
http://slate.msn.com/id/2101605
#17
Community Director Emerita
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Anywhere warm
Posts: 33,682
Welcome to FT, formulawerks. That's a great article. His description of his luggage tests cracked me up - especially simulation of the two airline aisle widths in his home - yet that is what we face on the road.
#18
Moderator: Luxury Hotels and FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Palo Alto, California,USA
Posts: 17,837
The single biggest problem with Briggs&Riley, at least the last time I checked, is that they use rivets instead of screws to assemble their bags.
The strongest warranty in the world doesn't help much if your bag breaks outside the U.S.; you will have to go to a local repair shop or trash the bag if you want to make it home. Luggage held together with screws can be repaired by local repair shops all over the world; with rivets, who knows.
Having had top-of-the-line bags which needed repair in locales as diverse as Stockholm and Tokyo, I am not going to ever take a B&R bag on a long trip. Too bad, as I very much like everything else about their design.
The strongest warranty in the world doesn't help much if your bag breaks outside the U.S.; you will have to go to a local repair shop or trash the bag if you want to make it home. Luggage held together with screws can be repaired by local repair shops all over the world; with rivets, who knows.
Having had top-of-the-line bags which needed repair in locales as diverse as Stockholm and Tokyo, I am not going to ever take a B&R bag on a long trip. Too bad, as I very much like everything else about their design.
#19
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Ashland, OR USA
Posts: 261
Does anyone have any experience with either Travelpro Walkabout Lite or Travelpro TPro Xtreme Lightweight? My family is headed to Europe for 3 weeks in the summer and I'd like to have our clothing be the weight factor rather than the suitcases! I don't travel super often so I don't need super durable luggage -- I feel like weight balanced with quality is what I need. Any other recommendations? Thanks.
#20
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 2,086
Briggs and Riley is good. However, we are very meticulous in packing and those bars are a pain as we fold everything. Hartman is very good for carryons, even with the bars. Our personal favorite is ANDIAMO: they have a piece of cloth stretched tightly over the bars so the bottom is flat. The wheels are also very good. However they are around 500-600 dollars for a bag.
#22
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Ontario, Canada
Programs: Westjet Platinum, Fairmont Platinum RIP, Accor Gold, Marriott Lifetime Silver, HH Diamond
Posts: 1,296
I have been very delighted with my TravelPro Platinum 3, which is a predecessor to their current Platinum4SE . The Progrip handle is a real backsaver!
#23
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Usually on a ship looking for oil and gas; Uruguay, Malaysia, Turkey, Nigeria, Libya, Egypt, Norway, Scotland, India, Congo & Angola, next project who knows? Agreed to CC rules
Programs: AC Altitude E75K/*G, AS MVP, AF/KLM Petroleum Club, BA Blue
Posts: 1,184
B&R Fan and Eagle Creek Fan Too
I swear by my B&R bags.
I have two: a 22 inch expandable and tri-fold suit carrier. It's rare that I have a business trip or solo holiday trip that I can't accomodate with one or both of these two bags. Sometimes outbound with the 22in as carryon and returning with an expanded bag full of a tradeshow's worth of handouts, samples and goodies. Unzipped and no longer carry-on sized it works well for the homebound run. The tri-fold suiter works for most 1-2 night trips. ^ ^
I also love the Eagle Creek line of travel packing tools. They are a perfect match to B&R bags.
Now when I travel with my wife and/or kids, completely different story.
mpc1
PS: Merry Christmas to all
I have two: a 22 inch expandable and tri-fold suit carrier. It's rare that I have a business trip or solo holiday trip that I can't accomodate with one or both of these two bags. Sometimes outbound with the 22in as carryon and returning with an expanded bag full of a tradeshow's worth of handouts, samples and goodies. Unzipped and no longer carry-on sized it works well for the homebound run. The tri-fold suiter works for most 1-2 night trips. ^ ^
I also love the Eagle Creek line of travel packing tools. They are a perfect match to B&R bags.
Now when I travel with my wife and/or kids, completely different story.
mpc1
PS: Merry Christmas to all
#24
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Arlington, MA USA
Programs: AA LifetimeGold, WN A-ListPreferred, B6 Mosaic, ChoicePrivileges Diamond, BestWestern Diamond Select
Posts: 416
I have a 22" TravelPro TPro (the predecessor of TPro Xtreme, and very similar). I am very satisfied with the bag. As far as I can tell, it is the lightest on the market (about 7.5 lbs). It is very roomy, and has a handle on the bottom to help hoist it into the overhead. I have already used it about 20 times, and it shows no signs of wear at all.
Originally Posted by lynowens
Does anyone have any experience with either Travelpro Walkabout Lite or Travelpro TPro Xtreme Lightweight? My family is headed to Europe for 3 weeks in the summer and I'd like to have our clothing be the weight factor rather than the suitcases! I don't travel super often so I don't need super durable luggage -- I feel like weight balanced with quality is what I need. Any other recommendations? Thanks.
#25
Moderator: Delta SkyMiles, Luxury Hotels, TravelBuzz! and Italy
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 26,516
I love my B&R's...in fact, I love just about everything about them...including the great green color. Much easier to identify than the usual and conventional black.