Don't forget eBay for bags!

I used to be the biggest Tumi snob - between the wife and I we probably had a dozen Tumi pieces.

After a while, you get sick of seeing them destroyed during check-in if you aren't carrying them on with you. I last saw my 26" get ripped by a bus driver somewhere in SA and said "no more".

Sooo... I still have a carry-on Tumi 22" that has held up well and I bought a 26" Briggs, which I think is inferior to the Tumi in materials, but still a good bag, but more importantly they warranty it for life against any kind of damage, even airline damage, and I've used them on it and they back it up.

I bought the 26" on eBay for cheap (compared to new), seems like it was about $200 new, in black.

Another thing I've found is that more and more the international airlines are becoming tough about the weight of your carry-on bag. The Tumi bags (and probably most of the top-shelf stuff) are really heavy, even empty. Something like those light Travelpro series bags are having more and more of an appeal. Once this Tumi expires, I'll probably go that route.

Anyway, back to my response - check out eBay, I've found mid-line stuff on their (Travelpro, etc) really cheap and shipping isn't bad, and no tax, either. Much, much cheaper than I found anywhere online. All items were new and in-box, probably overstock, liquidation, etc. Probably a lot of margin in that stuff to begin with.

--Doug