I purchased the 22 inch Tumi at Costco and took it on a trip only to find out that it is too deep to fit into the overhead -- so I brought it back and looked at a lot of others. What I have found is that none of the hang tags refer to the actual dimensions of the bag and that the airlines are not standard anywhere so what one might accept another won't. I started taking a tape measure with me to try to figure out the real dimensions. I also started out thinking as long as I was 45 inches or less, that would be ok. It's not -- companies like Delta and American take that 45 inch measurement and set maximums for length; depth, and width as well. Which concerns me about the 16 inch wide vs the 14 inch wide.
I have never had to measure a bag or been told it had to be checked and I would like to avoid that in the future.
Tumi's bag turned out to be 11.5-12 inches in depth unexpanded and empty. That is not unusual as many manufacturers do not include the additional pockets when measuring. B&R appears not to add in the wheel frame -- which adds about an inch to the depth. I prefer the flat packing of the B&R. It also appears to me that most of the cases with the wheels internal intrude 2-2.5 inches into the suitcase. And although I can pack undies and shoes there, it requires me to always unpack to get my clothes for the day. I am not going to use a suiter and all of my travel is leisure. That said, I did like the zip suiter with the removable piece == I found that I could pace 2 pairs of jeans, 4 pairs of shorts a skirt and a pair of capris on that side and my shirts and shoes on the other side. In fact I put a pair of heels, a pair of sneakers, two lightweight jackets, two lightweight cardigans, three summer sweaters; pj's a camisole, 3 pairs of flat sandles and 5 t shirts into the suitcase without a problem ( way more than I would usually take - I wanted to know how much it would hold). On the Transcend series, I can put my gore tex jacket into the front mesh pocket -- but it will not fit that way in the overhead -- still for walking around it is nice to have a place to put it -- and if I put it in a ditty bag that can be slipped over the clips so I cannot lose it. I liked the possibility of having my tops and bottoms separate.
The Transcend has "shoe pockets" on the suiter side but if they do not fit my sneakers I can't imagine them fitting a man's. That said, it is a good place to put undies and socks an be able to get at them without having to unpack.
I do like the widebody because I think it is easier to fold shirts but I am concerned that it will not fit into the boxes that are 14 inches wide at the airport. And my husband points out that it will be more difficult to go down the aisles on the airplane.
I brought home the widebody to play with and really liked but wanted it in green, not red. Thought I had found that at another store -- only to find that it was mistagged when I got it home. It is the 21 inch carryon that is 14 inches wide. So I have played with that as well. Both of them appear to me to be a good bet -- so the question is which one is less likely to be forced to be checked?
I might be concerned about the external wheels but they have such a good warranty -- I would expect that it would be just fine. I like the small pocket in back where I can stash my phone and wallet and wet items before going through security.
I cannot travel with only one carryon -- I have used a dayback for toiletries, husband's shaver, books, hair dryer, curling iron, glasses and sunglasses etc. But with just that I expect to be able to travel for 2-3 weeks on vacation.
I did want the expansion for items I might purchase when away -- not quite as worried on the return than I would be getting to my destination without any clothes.
So I am still deciding and all feedback about the widebody vs the 21 inch is appreciated.