I have always admired Tumi luggage from afar. So much so, apparently, that my wife bought me an awfully expensive wheeled briefcase for Christmas.

Now, I'm eyeing up a carry-on (20" expandable). I have an illness, I'm afraid.

Anyone else have Tumi? Any opinions of their suitcases? I love my wheeled briefcase.

(Also, I can't imagine ever owning a "good" bag of a size requiring baggage check considering the damage those bags receive. Anyone actually have a big Tumi bag that gets checked regularly?)

--Rich

I have a Tumi 22" wheeled carry-on. It's probably 5 years old or so; I don't use it every trip, but when I have brought it on a trip, it's been checked far more often than carried on. It's held up amazingly well. There are a couple of scuff marks on the outside from when I packed the plastic hook&strap thing that comes with it (used to hang a second bag onto the rollaboard) in an outside pocket, but that's it, otherwise looks brand new. On that basis, I'd suggest keeping anything hard out of the outside pockets, as the hard plastic hook bulging out the outside pocket was to blame for the scuffs (in conjunction with the baggage handlers, of course). Other than that, no problems, very durable after numerous checking experiences, including international. Maybe I've just been lucky, but this seems to be a case of actually getting good quality and durability for the premium that Tumi charges.

Tumi is excellent. Well worth the price.

I LOVE Tumi. I have a Tumi computer briefcase, rolling computer briefcase, 22" rollaboard, big rollaboard and garment bag. The stuff is tough, well-designed and, best of all, when it wears out, Tumi will fix it for a $25 fee.

Between my wife and I, we have about 10 pieces of Tumi luggage (she used to get a deal). We had a problem with one zipper once and Tumi fixed it and overnighted it back to us. I believe they have a 10 year no fault warranty.

My mother complained to me about how much I spent on luggage. Now that I travel every week she realizes it was one of the best investments I ever made.

They do have outlet stores if that helps.

You can expect discounts of 25% and up at the outlets, a lot of the time on the same items in department/luggage stores. Sometimes they only have large discounts on unpopular colors, but often they have black as well. One thing to note when buying at their outlets is that they "black out" the serial number that is embedded on every piece of luggage, compared with pieces purchased in regular stores where this number can be used to recover your luggage or briefcase if it is lost.

They exclude you from the tracer program though...

Tumi ROCKS. Well worth the money.

-Vincent

We have 8-10 pieces that range from 3-14 years old. Everything from briefcases to larger wheeled check on luggage. I�ve sent several pieces back for various repairs, and never been charged. I even sent an irregular piece (was not covered under the normal warranty) back once and they fixed it for free.

Is the warranty only 10 years now? It use to be lifetime.

Tumi doesn't charge for the repair, but they do charge $25 for the shipping back to you. I've never had to show a receipt for the luggage I've had repaired (as recently as a few weeks ago), so it would appear that the "free repair" policy is for life.

Got myself an expandable laptop briefcase last summer and although I don't fly much I use it a hell of a lot although it has done a number of trips with me since I got it.

Feels tough as old boots, is very functional and looks very smart to boot. ^

To be honest thought I can't see myself shelling out the best part of a $1000 for Tumi check on luggage. I use fairly cheap Samsonite hard cases that I'm not bothered about if the TSA decide to hack open. So far it has lasted a number of years and one of them is an old family piece, has done over a million BICH* miles and only suffers from a couple of grazes ^


*Bum In The Cargo Hold

Not a fan myself. Tumi luggage - generally - looks pretty hideous and is a bit too management consultant for my tastes. I have a Mandarina Duck laptop bag and rollercase which are functional, hard wearing, stylish and about half the price.

Plus you then don't look like an Android.

I don't think so.... I've signed up stuff purchased from their outlet and have received the tracer registration card.

And TUMI does rock. I don't know about their new T-tech line though... :-/

I have the T3 wheeled carry-on, which is very nice, lightweight, and definitely projects the banker/management consultant look. I can't say it's much different functionally than the no-name bag I got for $15 in HKG other than the look though.

People do recognize it as something a frequent flyer uses -- as opposed to, say, the trash bags and flowered duffles you see on WN pretty often.

The handle on mine popped off within a month of buying it. They readily agreed to repair it free, but the cost of shipping it to their depot (and the cost of finding an appropriate box to put it in) was on me. It came back promptly and has served me well since.

I stopped buying Tumi two years ago when they started having their luggage made in China rather than the US of A.