Originally Posted by
FoJ4life
I am on the market for a new carry-on. I get deathly terrified when airlines are staring down bags as we are boarding through the jet bridge. What are travelers' thoughts when it comes to these two products: Tumi Alpha 2 INTERNATIONAL EXPANDABLE 4 WHEELED CARRY-ON vs. Briggs & Riley DOMESTIC CARRY-ON EXPANDABLE SPINNER baseline, U122CXSP. I have been loyal to Tumi for quite some time but am thinking that Briggs & Riley has Tumi on this one.
Thoughts?
You're going to get a lot of emotionally charged opinions on this one, there are fans of each brand and they're (we're) pretty passionate.
Having owned both brands for many years, the answer is pretty simple actually: Pick the one you like best. Neither is worse than the other, however there is one nuance that directly talks to your fear of a gate agent thinking your bag is too big:
B&R puts its telescoping handle on the outside of the bag as opposed to Tumi who puts it on the inside. As a result, the B&R looks thinner as it lacks an inch or so of case surrounding the handle. Both have the same packing capacity, so no worries there, but the Tumi will look chubbier to a passing eye.
BJ