TangerineTravels

I usually bring a carryon when I fly and typically only check it when it's cheaper to do so or when I'm forced to check it. My current bag isn't holding up very well after about 50 flights this past year. One wheel is locking up, the telescoping handle is whack, and the thread from the carry handle is coming loose.

I'm looking for a quality bag, under $300, that's going to last a long time - Let's say 50 flights per year for 10-20 years so 500-1,000 flights. Does anything like this exist?

rickg523

I've got an Eagle Creek Gear Warrior. 22x14x9, 39 liters capacity. Two-wheeled. I travel often to rural Europe and don't trust spinners and they're vulnerable casters. This bag has 3.5" wheels with a hard rubber tread which I've used on dirt roads with no problems. Materials throughout are rugged.
It looks closer to a backpacker's gear than businessman's kit.
Lists at $250.

TangerineTravels

And what has that been like for you?

rickg523

Sorry. Reread my post. Phone decided to hiccup as I was writing

TangerineTravels

Oh okay, thanks. It sounds pretty durable. I neglected to mention that the 4-wheel spinner style would be preferred.

rickg523

Very durable. After having two spinners fail on cobbled streets, I gave up on them.
I think you can find very durable boxes and zippers on spinners, but those caster stems....

freecia

I also own the Eagle Creek Gear Warrior. The small elastic strap keepers are wearing out and I've also patched a few areas with some Tenacious Tape due to wear & tear. There's a bit of sugru on it after one of the side bumpers got caught in an escalator. It is otherwise doing well as a carry-on mostly and not checking it if it can be helped. Eagle Creek sells replacement parts including wheels https://www.eaglecreek.com/shop/spare-parts

There are plenty here who swear by Briggs & Riley for road warrior travel. Part of the price is for the warranty and repair network Briggs and Riley warranty not so great. Some people have been using theirs for 15 years with zipper repairs.

skooby

I have had an Eminent PC Spinner for 7 years with almost weekly use. Absolutely no signs of any issues, super lightweight and rolls like a dream

Eminent's products are very well engineered and awesome price. I picked this up for ~$100

Hard to find in US but very available across Asia

Tesla1856

What are you currently using ?

My first idea would be something from Luggage works.

https://luggageworks.com/browse-prod...ve-22-bag.html

But forever ? not sure other than a B&R with the life time warranty but thats over 300.

guv1976

One of the on-line luggage retailers had a promotion several years ago offering 35 AAdvantage miles per dollar spent. Valuing AA miles at a conservative 1.5˘ per mile, that worked out to a discount of 52.5%. That's when I bought my B&R roll-aboard.

Edited to add: For those who are curious, here's a link to a description of the old (2013) 35 miles/dollar luggage promotion:

https://thepointsguy.com/2013/10/ama...age-eshopping/

nmpls

I like that the two complaints were a bag that was unrepairable and discontinued, replaced with a similar new bag for free with a small delay and cosmetic damage.

mctaste

wife and i love our b&r but havent had to make a warranty claim.

however, nothing is going to last forever, particularly something under $300.

Fyd

I'd recommend to bite the bullet and spend more. I had a Tumi for more than15y of heavy travels like yours. With a number of trips like that, it's less than a buck per trip....
It was still working as new and I gave it away - it was a 22+ inch case and I didn't want to get into trouble with the luggage police...

ecaarch

The OP is looking for a bag under $300 that will last forever and has spinners. Reality check - you can have anything that you want, but you can't have everything that you want. In particular, spinners and lasting forever are almost inherently contradictory criteria.

I tried numerous options through the years, and finally realized that you do indeed get what you pay for. I haven't found any bag built as durably as B&R. They aren't cheap, but if durability is the criteria, B&R is the way to go.

I also haven't needed to make a warranty claim on my B&R bags, but I have been with MegaTopLover when he took a B&R bag in for repair. There was no hassle, no issue - totally straightforward.

If OP is willing to consider duffle-type bags, B&R has some VERY VERY well constructed duffle bags in the $220-$260 range.

Falconkidding

My Luggageworks stealth is holding up good. It gets tossed around and beat up on 3 or 400 planes a year. Tossed into vans, plane cargo holds slammed into curbs etc and mines not even showing wear after a yrs use. Wheels and parts can be replaced in minutes if they wear out. Theres a reason crew uses at least 75% LW