Fraser

I've had a Tumi over the shoulder bag for a few years now and a few hundred thousand miles later I'm looking for a companion for it. I've had a look round and with BAA seeing sense (more UK originating travel in the near future) I think a 22" rollaboard is just the ticket.
http://www.tumi.com/products/index.c...LAID=128933914

Just a few miles form where I live is a Nordstrom and a luggage store next door, both stocking Tumi. Both at MSRP. Up in Leesburg (a good 3hrs away) I've got an outlet.

I've taken a quick breeze around the internet and quite a few sites I've been to just point back to the Tumi site.

Anyone else been in a similar situation with purchasing Tumi?
Have you succeeded in getting stores to battle it out on price or are Tumi pretty protective of their price?
As for the outlet I'm almost risking a trip up there on the back of them having the piece in stock. Aren't Tumi outlets seconds anyway?

Thanks for your help
Fraser

P.S. Great idea for a forum! Didn't realise this was here until I did a search.

Dianne47

The only Tumi items I own are kind of a set I bought at the Cabazon outlet Tumi store near Palm Springs. I purchased a wallet, tiny zip-top purselet for lipsticks, a documents case, and a shopping/tote bag. They were on clearance, so a really good deal at about 70% off the retail price.

You could phone the outlet and ask what they currently have that's on clearance. If I had to drive 3 hours and really wanted Tumi items, I would phone once a week! Always walk around luggage or handbag outlet stores very slowly, twice, and pick up items you think you might even be slightly interested in. Carry them around til you make up your mind. This is especially a necesssary tactic at Coach outlet shops.

I'm sure there are plenty of Tumi mavens here who can tell you exactly what times of year are "right" for clearance shopping. I doubt there's much room for negotiating in a regular store, but it never hurts to ask.

pred02

Many people here reported that their 22" Tumi had to be checked in at LHR. I would double check on that, perhaps 20" International carry on is the way to go. I am looking into it for UK originating travel, however the 14lbs (out of 22lbs limit) might also be a problem so I am assessing other solutions.

I live about an hour away from a Tumi outlet store in Kittery, ME. I also been to the Woodbury Common Store near NYC. First of all, the Kittery store always has a better selection that the NYC store. And a better discount.

They never wanted to discuss - give away their discount over the phone, but 25% off for the popular stuff, 40% for less popular stuff, and 70% is last item clerence (though mostly accessories and funky stuff).

But one thing I noticed is that usually the lines of luggage that are on a discount are not their flagship products (i.e. Gen 4 line) but rather the more stylish T3 and Ducati lines. Also, usually the funky colors get the markdown.

So the outlet store is a hit or a miss. I do remember one time seeing the Gen 4 carryon, but only the 20 inch version (most people want the 22"). There is tons of Tumi sales on eBay, though through regular retailers (Yahoo Shopping, Froogle) I never found any major discounts online.

Hope this helps.

Kibison

I got mine from Ebags so I would not have to pay sales tax or shipping plus I got a bunch of AA miles I can use on BA.

ijkh

I got a 10% "floor model" discount" from Macy's on my lovely new Tumi which was already a closeout price.

Fraser

Thanks for the info people.^ I was concerned about the limited stock at the outlet and the fact I'd be driving 100miles+ to save only a few bucks after gas and time.

Didn't realise that Macy's carried Tumi. Also Kibison when I went to ebags I was redirected to Tumi's own site. Maybe that's a new thing...

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I did double check on the BAA website and it seemed the Tumi 22" was at limit in one direction but have some room in the others.

Do you happen to have a link to those posts? I tried Google but it brought up old 2006 information.

Savage25

I get a discount through my MBA program. 30% off on anything from the current Tumi.com ordered through the school

Fraser

Nice ^ Was it to see if any students would take advantage and set up their own ebay store?

Kibison

Ebags changed but Tumi is now a merchant on Aadvantage Shopping. 5 miles per dollar spent.

dodgeflyer

Can you get the VAT back on your purchase if you can show proof of a UK address? Worth considering as well if the store offers this.

Fly4SCUBA

Macy's will let you use some of their coupons on Tumi. I got 20% off last year.

iwebslinger

I am Tumi feen. I own 7 pieces of Tumi luggage. That includes the cherry red 22 expandable one that I just got for my wife.

Outlet vs retailers.

I agree with the post that the outlet does not carry all of the nice G4 line. If you find it you will be lucky. But the biggest problem is that outlet Tumi bags do not carry the warranty nor are they available for the tracer program. Most bags at the outlet will have a black marker through the tracer number. I just called Woodbury and they just reiterated that policy to me.

I have purchased my bags at only two different places. Ebay or Nordstroms. I bought the bags on ebay because they were the discountinued G3 line - my wife wanted the cherry red and the fact that most G4 expandables are using the expansion mechanism(was told by service department that they are having lots of problems with this) instead of the zipper. G3s with the zipper were lighter. So ebay and I got some great deals. I bought G4s at Nordstroms because on top of the Tumi warranty there is the Nordstrom customer satisfaction. Here is a thread I started a while ago.


Traveling in Europe with 22 vs 20

I don't travel that much to europe but from what I have heard European planes are tighter in the carry on restrictions. Also the overhead is smaller in comparison to US planes. My 22 inch will sometimes have trouble fitting in the overhead. I have to be careful to tuck the Tumi tag under the handle. The G3s where worse because the rounded handle would bulge and it would cause trouble. I always make sure I close the hatch on the overhead otherwise FAs sometimes only try once and then want to gate check. That is in F on the airbuses. The boeings seems to be better. I would suggest going with the 20" international traveler. Added benefit is that it will have the zipper expansion.

ScottC

I'll second Macy's. I used to get it "tax free" at AMS, but Macy's often has some amazing sales. Try and get friendly with a sales clerk and ask them to call when it's on sale. 2 years ago was when we made our last major Tumi purchase, and got a whole set of the G4 stuff for almost 40% off. Tumi is usually excluded from their coupons, but every now and then you'll get a good coupon and it'll go through.

Fraser

Thanks for the info ^ I've decided I'm going to go for the 20" if anything. I'm going back to Nordstrom tomorrow (it is the nearest) and have a look at the 20" which I didn't last time around.

Scott, thanks for the Macy's tip. My MIL is a coupon fiend so I might have to prize her Macy's one off her^

cawhite

If there's a particular item you're looking for, call the store you're thinking of shopping and ask if they have that particular item in stock (and if they have many of the item).

Not all items sold at Tumi outlets are "seconds." The outlet store I like sells not many seconds, but rather almost all first-run items. They do carry quite a bit of last season's or discontinued items, and current lines.
Just as an fyi, the 22" rollaboard is 22" for the bag compartment alone and doesn't take the wheel extention into consideration.
Since the inventory at the Tumi outlet stores is hit or miss, it helps to go into the store with not only a good idea of what one wants, but what features one is willing to compromise (if necessary) in order to get the outlet store pricing. An example of what I found at my favorite Tumi outlet when I was looking for a Gen4 or Gen3 rollaboard is they had the expandable Gen4 rollaboard line (with suiter), but only in the brown color. They had non-expandable/non-suiter Gen4 rollaboards in black. They also had expandable Gen3 rollaboards (with suiters) in black.
This varies and IMO shouldn't be made as a blanket statement (not just above, but similar statements have also been made in other threads). Items can be purchased at outlet stores with a full warranty. I have two pieces purchased at an outlet store and I've talked with not only the outlet store in question, but also Tumi's customer service, about this. I was assured the warranty would be honored (if needed) as the items purchased were not considered "seconds" or otherwise in a condition that would void the warranty (such as the item being sold with a noted defect). It's definitely something to be cautious of, though.