***EDIT: Decided to Buy it! Review Below***
I am looking to find something besides my small, old, beat up 20" Ricardo hard-side luggage that I can use as a carry on and is as big as possible, but maybe not big enough to scare off the gate agents or flight attendants.
After getting stuck in the AMS power outage mess a few weeks ago, with my bag showing up 3 days later in ATL, I'd like to do everything in my power to not have to check a bag but still have a large capacity for my week long trips overseas or to cold climates where my clothing is a big bigger & heavier than normal. I am even fine with gate checking - if that means it will come back to the the jet way and not end up at the carousel (some tight connections coming up) .
I have been looking for a 20-22" with the largest volume capacity, and came across this - the Marlon Carry On:
https://www.marlontravel.co/
It looks pretty slick for maximizing space, and has nice features - but the online reviews are slim to none, so I was hoping someone on the forum might have experience or knowledge. Price listed as $299, on sale for $159.
I am torn between this and the "Away Bigger Carry-On"
******************************************
Update 5/11: So I decided to buy it! Here are my initial impressions, which I'll update as I get more usage out of it.
Purchasing/Shipping:
- The website https://www.marlontravel.co/ is extremely customer friendly and easy to use, it took me about a minute from opening the site to checking out and placing my order. Paid $159 (apparently 50% off)
- I then saw the backpack, which was already 50% off, was another $10 off if you bought it with the carry on, so I had to! I was in need of a good travel backpack after a good 6 months and 100,000 miles of travel on my "Amazon Basics" backpack that I live out of for work.
- I had a few questions after the checkout process, and the live chat responded after hours (10 pm est) within minutes, along with email replies. Very impressed with response time.
- Shipping was lightning quick - I ordered it the evening I started this post (5/9) and arrived to me 2 days later via UPS (looked to be dropped shipped from a distribution ctr in TN)
Initial Impressions:
- Overall it is a very clean looking suitcase. No labels or branding other than a subtle "M" on the wheels. Otherwise it is very plain.
- It is a bit more rigid than I initially expected, which is a welcome surprise. I was expecting something a bit more flimsy, but I attribute it's weight to whatever they use to reinforce the sides of the bag
- Rolls very smoothly with the big wheels, easy to pull over various floor types (wood, thick carpet, etc) with no wobble whatsoever
- LOTS of pockets, which is nice. Coming from my spinner hard shell Ricardo, it's a lot more pockets on the inside (and outside of course) than I am used to.
- Zippers are nice, seem to have some reinforcement on the edges - although one zipper has a little bit of a hang (the zipper to expand the bag) so hopefully no big deal and works itself out with use
- Soft touch handle is a really nice feature - we'll see how it holds up. The handle pops up with ease and has a nice positive click with reverse tension when pressing it all the way down to lock in place, using detents to lock into the different positions.
- Power bank is a very simple idea - looks like any power bank will fit into the slot and connect to the "outlet" at the top to provide a charge, which is convenient if you're like me and have at least 3 power banks on hand at all time.
- Compression feature - I guess this just prevents the need from having to sit or kneel on top of your bag to get it to squish down; a bit more of a convenience factor it seems, but I'll put it to the test shortly to see how much it helps.
Next up, packing time. I'll see just how much I can fit into this bag, compared to my old Ricardo 20" spinner. Whole idea was to gain a bit more space than that old bag, but still have a carry on, so excited to see what I can get out of it! (or in it should I say)
As I get miles on this bag, I'll continue to update this thread.
(photos below -
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/29744568-post4.html)