Is it impossible to get a solid carry on under $100?
 

Title says it all, reading & shopping around I am completely baffled by the prices of carry ons, seems to me these are becoming more & more some sort of fashion statement...

So my mission is clear, I need a new carry on; I don't care what the brand is & what it looks like (well, to some degree...), what I'm looking for:
- Lowest weight at this price point
- Durability
- Ideally I prefer 2 wheels as opposed to 4 as long as they are solid. 4 wheels seems more complicated & more fragile to me.
- A couple front pockets would be nice.
- A long enough handle for a 6 foot 2 adult.
- Big enough for workweek trips (4-5 days)

I live in France so shopping as far as the EU zone if the price is right (online retail stores).

Thanks to all for your advice :)

If you would forget the wheels, this one has been "battle proven" by years of real world experience...

https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/classic-backpack

No offense but you won't get anything good for that price. You'll find plenty of carry-ons at that price point, mostly made in China, but that's about it.

Thanks :) Sadly I need wheels (bad back...)

To answer your question?

No. It's not possible.

You can have built well, or you can have cheap. Either way, you're going to pay a price.

Yes you can -- at least in the US market. Take a look at Costco periodically. I got a sensational bag for $99 which is no longer available. It was a Kirkland bag (their house brand). I have used it for hundreds of thousands of miles of flying. At the moment, they have the following on offer: https://www.costco.com/Kirkland-Sign....11760915.html. It was well-built and inexpensive but not cheap.

Costco often offers vendors offer the right to sell their own products on Costco shelves if they also provide a Kirkland brand product. I don't know if that happened here. It talked with a Samsonite exec who told me that my bag was likely a Samsonite-made bag. I gather that Samsonite is now such a large player in the market that it is well down the cost-curve and hence can sell high quality, lighter bags at lower price points.

Well, $99.99 is under $100! :)

Are those dimensions honest?

https://www.amazon.com/Samsonite-554.../dp/B00I2KNDKO

I bought this a while ago on a whim for a packing light trip. Thought I would be returning it, but I love it. I can cram a ton of stuff in it. It looks small but holds a ton of stuff. Lots of pockets and also a detachable hanging toiletries bag etc.

I have taken this bag around the world on multiple trips.

Owner of Kirkland Signature 22" roller here for a # of years.
No, they are not accurate as far as exterior measurements (those are interior #'s given) Height, floor to tallest point/handle/top of case is 22.75" and depth is closer to 10" even when it's not stuffed "full" - expanded, it's even taller & no way GA will let you board with it, as it will not fit 90% of the OHB. It would also be so heavy as packed that lifting it can be a challenge.

Lately, I've only taken in on JetBlue flights as they do allow up to 24" as carry-on legal and I've gotten it onto KE's A380's OHB. It is very deep and can pack everything needed for a week to 10 days worth of items ... with thick/winterwear, unzip the expansion as needed. Amazing to use this without packing cubes, just roll & fit - it keep swallowing up. It's mainly use for car/road trips year-round and on cruise-vacations; and, as a checked bag flying TPAC, gotten a few scratches on the corners & bumpers, but otherwise, it's almost like new.

At about $120 shipped if order online - it's a best buy. eBag's private label brand prices had risen quite a bit in the last 2 years - otherwise, the TLS 21" or 22" rollers are great - lighter at around 8.5 lbs & sturdy. I use that more than these days and sometimes take the 22" Motherlode convertible backpack instead.

OP being in Frances & flying Euro carriers with tighter rules on size & weight for carry-ons, I am not sure if the Americas have anything that match his/her requirements as noted + cost of shipping. Maybe on a run over here, pick one up while in-town or get a friend to bring one over.

Costo in Asia supposingly has a smaller sized variant of the above Kirkland Signature carry-on roller/spinner ? in the 18" to 19" or 20" size - haven't seen or read any FT'ers reporting on & uploading pic/links.

I was afraid of that. So many bags only seem to come in the oversize versions these days. I've flown more international flights in my life than domestic.

BUY the kirkland signatue roller bag. the soft sided kevlar one is only sold on costco.com (not in stores--which sell a lesser quality, smaller version with 4 spinner wheels) It fits in every sizer I have tried, and we have logged over 150k miles on 16 airlines worldwide in the 8 months since we got this new model. Extremely well built, comes with a bag of spare zipper pulls, and the 2 wheels are replacable using an allen wrenh (wheels are standard rollerblade size).

This new model is advertised as 21.5 and it is almost exactly 'true to size"

The ones sold more than 12-18 months ago were sold as 22" but oversized and as noted above don't fit in all the sizers. We had used one of those for 7 years and over 1500 flights before the handle rail broke. We emailed costco just asking where we could have it repaired, and they had us bring it to any store for a full refund Store gave us an immediate refund (and it's pretty easy to find a costco, with stores in many countries.

Thanks & good to know. Is that newer 21.5 roller lighter in weight vs. the older one (which is what I have) ... there's a long thread but mostly on the older model, and it is solid & built to last. Now, I need a good reason to return it to Costo to get it repaired/exchanged for the new roller, not the spinner (don't like those.)

For visuals to those thinking of buying one of these: I've managed to put 4 of our carry-on bags together, the monster is the old Kirkland Signature 22 roller as sold years ago - as pictured below, next to eBags' TLS expandable 22" roller, and the 22" TLS Motherlode convertible backpack/carry-on. We also have a smaller eBag hardside 22" carry-on (discontinued model) that is similar size-wise compared to the TLS expandable 22" roller - interior is smaller, closer to 20.5" inside, expandable and it fits ALL the mainline OHB (not CRJ's - has to be gate-checked) ... these should give good comparison on heights, width and depths.

BTW, the Kirkland, expanded (unzipped) - tightly packed, can easily tip the counter agent's scale at 49.5 lbs, especially when gadgets and heavier items are checked ... usually only on a flight returning home.

Thanks all for your recommendations, much appreciated. Yes, living in Europe, airlines are more strict I think. Size matters more than weight as this is most often checked so I need a "stealth" option :)

Here in Europe many airlines are much more weight and size conscious then in the US. Getting a good quality back pack or messenger at $100 is no problem but getting a good roller at that price is challenging.

As for recommending a bag I have to think some more about it. is the $100 limit absolutely fixed, can you not go up a little?