Originally Posted by
aktchi
Another vote for B&R. I personally like their classic Baseline style. There's a new, somewhat funkier or "youthful" one called Transcend, but that's not my taste. Taste aside, I also think Baseline is better quality.
If you plan to use a 22" and never check it in, I trust that most of your flying is domestic. Even so, you'd only want the non-expandable version. In B&R jargon, those are called Superlight. They also happen to be on sale right now, although color options are getting thinner.
A casual search shows the 22" to be selling for about $249, but the search was casual, so look around.
If you'd take an occasional international flight, the 22" is too big. I would at least go down one notch in size to 20". Again, Baseline Superlight. Those are selling for around $200.
If "chocolate" color would do, Ebags has the 20" for approx $160. I wouldn't hold out for a better deal. (The 18" is available in black or chocolate, a few dollars cheaper.)
aktchi -
Need your recommendation. I just found the 22" Superlight at a discount price of $160 and picked one up. I picked it up vs. the 20" as it was bigger and has the suiter. Now looking at your post, I'm wondering if I made the right choice. I do like a suiter as it does a nice job of keeping shirts and pants. But now I'm worried about being able to take as a carry on. I usually fly domestic and when I go international I end up checking most of the time anyways. What's your recommendation? Do I lose a lot of space going down to the 20 and is it worth it?