Originally Posted by
digimon
So I have studied this forum very carefully, but still can’t seem to find a convincing answer to my question on which Carry-On Wheeled Garment Bag would best fit my travel needs. I travel constantly 2-4 days a week. I normally pack 1 or 2 suits and 2 pair of slacks, 4 dress shirts plus whatever accessories I need (socks, underwear, toothbrush, etc…) My one pet peeve with traveling is getting to my hotel and having to iron my clothes. I also don't like the larger upright roller bags that seem like overkill. I need a bag that won’t wrinkle my clothes (Specially my suits). For this reason I was researching garment bags. At first I was looking into shoulder garment bags such as the Tumi Classic Garment Bag. But I can see this becoming a pain when walking through airports. A shoulder garment bag would probably get heavy and their carry-on dimensions are questionable at best. So I think I have decided on a roller garment carry-on bag. I have narrowed my search to the following three bags based on the research on this forum. So I need someone to convince me on which one I should pick. The three bags are as follow:
-Tumi Alpha 2 Carry-On Wheeled Garment Bag
http://www.tumi.com/p/carry-on-4-whe...t-bag-022038D2
-Briggs and Riley Baseline U174 Carry-On Wheeled Garment Bag
http://www.briggs-riley.com/shop/typ...ed-garment-bag
-Gate8 Trifold Garment Bag
http://www.gate8-luggage.com/trifold-cabin-bag
The pros/cons I see with each are as follow
Tumi Pros: Reputable brand, nice looking, perfect size, 4 wheels
Tumi Cons: Quality seems questionable based on reviews since they are now made in china/ The warranty is subpar/ Expensive/ Handle bar on inside does not allow for flat surface
Briggs & Riley Pros: Reputable brand/ Great quality/ Outside handle bars for flat surface/ Perfect size/ Lifetime warranty/ Cheaper than Tumi
Briggs & Riley Cons: 2 wheels make it difficult for isles/ Does not look as nice as Tumi/ Seems like it has less bags on the outside.
Gate8 Pros: Innovative concept/ Detachable laptop bag/ Cheapest of all the bags
Gate8 Cons: Quality seems questionable based on some reviews/ Trifold means more wrinkles/ 7 day return policy/ Non-reputable company
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Price is not really a concern. But I do want to stay under $800.
Thanks everyone.
Ed
Tumi, hands down. Year 1 the warranty is better than B&R, contains shipping and handling both ways. Tumi sold 67 bags for every one that B&R did. B&R had 3 times as many warranty claims for bags in 2014 as Tumi did. Years 2-5 Tumi's warranty is as good other than airline caused damage. That says nothing about quality. It just says that they pad the margins to cover those extra claims.
If the bag is really defective, it should show itself shortly after purchase.
B&R had to have almost 1/3 of all warranty repairs in 2014 shipped to B&R, local centers couldn't do it. This is on your dime, not B&R. B&R has a very limited number of repair shops compared to Tumi Stores. Not convenient.
Tumi has a better folding system, so less wrinkles.
Outside handles have been an issue for bag sizers, and they are more likely to break.
I'd rather have a bag that works, than one that gives me a warranty for when it breaks.
Tumi all the way.