doob wrote: Wed Jan 29, 2025 2:28 pm
Did not see anyone mention this, so wanted to chime in. The Travelpro "Crew" line made for airline professionals is of an entirely different grade, build, and just overall quality. They are also far less fancy, but built to last and more functional. You can often get them online from retailers that sell to airline crews, but are willing to sell to the general public as well. My wife and I live to travel and easily take 6-7 long haul international trips each year. Our Travelpros (crew grade) have lasted for more than 20 years and are still going strong.
After Travelpros are Briggs & Riley and Tumi, but the latter both are in a different price category altogether.
Oh, and we swear by carry-on only (have not checked in for 20+ years, except for gate check-ins due to very small aircraft, etc.), so cannot speak for checked-in luggage.
My wife used to be in the checked-in category as well. But after she saw the flexibility carry-on-only accords, including a) unofficial priority by customer reps when rebooking during IRROPS; b) of course no lost luggage issues; c) ability to walk off airports when others are still waiting for their luggage; d) on several occasions change destination on the fly at the airport because we missed our connection (did I say we live to travel?).
Oh, and one more thought - get rollaboards (two wheels) instead of spinners (four wheels); there is a reason (or a long list of them) you will generally not see flight crew and other pro travelers carry spinners and Travelpro's crew line also generally does not carry spinners.
gips wrote: Tue Jan 28, 2025 2:11 pm
snip
ps my wife is set on checked rather than carryon. what's the line from brother where art thou? something like "I've spoken my piece and counter to three".
Re: carry-on versus checked. If convenient, I'll go with carry-on, but many times this doesn't work for us. I am usually packing hiking boots, regular shoes, various layers of clothing for outdoor stuff, including rain jackets and pants, maybe some camera gear (the cameras themselves will be carry-on, not so for things like a tripod), etc etc. Depending on access to laundry facilities, I might take more changes of clothing than I really want to (and yes I can do the "wash in the sink thing"). Often I'm thinking ... I could fit all this into a carry-on. But ... I can take stuff that will make the actual trip easier if I check a larger bag. Plus it is nice taking things like pocket knives, etc for some trips which cannot be carry-on.
The need for multiple pairs of shoes (and I'm not a size 7 ...) is one of my main pain points when packing. That and camera gear.
If taking minimal camera gear I can often stuff everything into a carry-on. Even then, I have to be careful, since if I put $$ camera gear in the carry-on and get gate checked, that is bad.
All that said, if carry-on works, it absolutely makes certain things faster and low stress. I have a small rolling backpack for weekend type trips and we have larger backpack only (no wheels) carry-ons as well. The latter maximize capacity, since the wheels do take up interior space.