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The Best Luggage Of 2024, Tried And Tested For Months By Our Editors

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No matter the trip, the best luggage should check three boxes: durability, functionality and style. With that in mind, we researched the myriad types of suitcases out there and asked our team of seasoned frequent-flyers—including Forbes Vetted senior travel editor Astrid Taran —to share their personal recommendations. Based on their extensive firsthand testing, we determined that the Monos Carry-On Pro is the best luggage overall and the Away The Bigger Carry-On is the best hardside luggage. We also found other top-notch options for specific travel needs, whether you want a sleek carry-on or an affordable spinner for more casual trips.

The best luggage for any trip should offer ease, durability, maneuverability and style.

Investing in well-made luggage is a smart move since it fulfills your travel needs for years to come. To round out your travel gear, check out our guides to the best hardside luggage , the best softside luggage and the best carry-on luggage .

• Best Luggage Overall: Monos Carry-On Pro
• Best Affordable Luggage: Samsonite Freeform Carry-On Spinner
• Best Carry-On Luggage: Carl Friedrik The Carry-On
• Best Hardside Luggage: Away The Bigger Carry-On
• Best Softside Luggage: Briggs & Riley Baseline Essential 22-inch Carry-On
• Best Checked Luggage: Calpak Ambeur Large
• Best Luxury Luggage: Rimowa Original Cabin Plus
• Best Luggage For International Travel: Travelpro Platinum Elite Carry-On Spinner
• Best Stylish Luggage: Paravel Aviator Carry-On Plus
• Best Luggage Set: July Classic Family Luggage Set

Best Luggage Overall

Monos: thoughtfully designed and built to last, monos carry-on pro.

Dimensions:  22 × 14 × 9 inches |  Weight:  7.8 pounds |  TSA-approved lock:  Yes |  Warranty:  100-day return policy and limited lifetime warranty

• Good packing space and durable carry-on design
• Stylish aesthetic and smooth wheels
• Short-to-moderate length trips (about 3 to 4 days)
• You need ample packing space for extended trips

Thanks to its unbreakable polycarbonate shell and versatile design, Monos’ Carry-On Pro earned the top spot on our list. Forbes Vetted updates writer  Francesca Sales thoroughly tested this pick on recent trips and highly recommends it. “It’s very easy to maneuver,” she says. “The spinning wheels are smooth, both when I’m rolling it upright or wheeling it via the handle. I also like that it has the tiniest bit of heft to it—it feels sturdier than other suitcases I’ve used.” Senior updates editor Karen Tietjen has also been using this suitcase and agrees, adding that the design is a stand-out. “Traveling with an attractive suitcase just makes the journey better,” she says.

The Carry-On Pro features TSA-approved locks, quiet wheels, vegan leather accents and a built-in front compartment for easy access to your essentials. The suitcase easily fits into the overhead bin, and this particular model features a front pocket that can hold a 15-inch laptop. For longer trips, the Check-In Medium offers more space without feeling too bulky.

Expert tip: The telescoping handles can get stuck at certain heights if the suitcase is packed too tightly, so this may not be the best option for overpackers. "But I still reach for my Monos before my other suitcases just because of how good the rest of the features are,” says Sales.

Best Affordable Luggage

Samsonite: excellent basic for less than $200, samsonite freeform carry-on spinner.

Dimensions: 21.25 × 15.25 × 10 inches | Weight: 6.5 pounds | TSA-approved lock: Yes | Warranty: Limited 10-year global warranty

• Casual travelers who want a basic carry-on at an affordable price
• Modern design in fun colors
• You travel a lot; the polypropylene shell isn’t as impact-resistant as polycarbonate

If you want an affordable suitcase that gets the job done well, Samsonite’s Freeform Carry-On is a solid choice. The brand has been producing high-quality suitcases since 1910, and its spinner is compact but expandable by one inch when you need more packing room. Forbes Vetted senior deals editor Kara Cuzzone has traveled with the Freeform Carry-On on countless trips and highly recommends it. “I took this suitcase with me on short weekend trips as well as longer flights,” says Cuzzone. “As an overpacker, I found the expandable panel very convenient for squeezing in extra clothes.”

This pick has interior pockets as well as a divider to keep everything in place, and its four smooth wheels make it easy to tote around. Other notable features include a push-button handle that pulls out and retracts as needed, and a built-in ID tag to prevent theft. If you need other sizes, our guide to the Best Samsonite Luggage includes larger checked bags as well as weekender bags.

Expert tip: This suitcase’s polypropylene shell is lightweight and wallet-friendly, but not as impact-resistant as polycarbonate or aluminum.

Best Carry-On Luggage

Carl friedrik: compact and well designed.

Carl Friedrik

Carl Friedrik The Carry-On

Dimensions:  21.6 × 14.5 × 9 inches  | Weight:  8.6 pounds  | TSA-approved lock: Yes | Warranty:  Lifetime warranty

• Sophisticated style and design, minus the Rimowa price tag
• Travelers who like the ease of not having to check bags but want enough space for the essentials
• Mid-length trips (about 5 to 7 days)
• You prefer a traditional zip-around suitcase; this pick opens and shuts with a lock

For those who travel frequently and want to skip the checked baggage area, Carl Friedrik’s carry-on has quickly gained a loyal following thanks to its sleek aesthetic and Italian leather trimmings (several of the brand’s bags have been featured on “Succession.”) This pick has 360-degree silent spinner wheels, two zippered interior pockets and is sized to fit in the overhead bin of domestic and European cabins.

Inside, there’s a set of compression straps and a pad for maximizing packing space. Forbes Vetted’s senior travel editor  Astrid Taran has used this Carry-On for several recent trips and highly recommends it for both its style—“I got a lot of compliments as I rolled it through the airport,” she says—and build—“the ribbed texture means any scuffing will be hard to spot.” Just note that instead of a traditional zip-around design, the Carry-On opens and closes with a lock that, as Taran notes, “is incredibly easy to use.”

Expert tip: One side of the bag’s interior only has a compression strap in place of a zippered pocket, which is not ideal if you need space for many loose items.

Best Hardside Luggage

Away: well-priced, reliable favorite, away the bigger carry-on.

Dimensions:  22.7 x 14.7 x 9.6 inches |  Weight:  7.4 pounds |  TSA-approved lock:  Yes |  Warranty:  100-day return policy and limited lifetime warranty

• Long-lasting hardside luggage at an affordable price
• Lightweight design
• You like to stand out—this popular suitcase is carried by many travelers (in which case, you might opt for a bright color or use a luggage tag)

Away’s polycarbonate shell suitcases are lightweight, highly functional and relatively well-priced. The brand’s Bigger Carry-On can easily be tucked in an overhead bin while still offering enough interior packing space. Taran has used the Bigger Carry-On on dozens of trips to Europe, Mexico and beyond.

“This is a true utility suitcase,” she says. “It’s sturdy enough to get tossed around, has a comfortable grip handle and can be stuffed it to the absolute brim without the zippers breaking. Shockingly, for as many times as I’ve used it, it only has a few barely visible scratches.” Taran also appreciates the brand’s accessible price point. “For friends who are just beginning to build out their luggage collection, I always recommend starting with an Away bag. It’s very hard to find this level of quality for less than $300 these days.” This suitcase also has quiet, easy-to-use wheels, an underside grab handle and a laundry bag for storing dirty clothes while on the road.

Expert tip: If you need a little more room, we recommend the Carry-On Flex , which unzips to create an extra 2.25 inches of space. Away also provides personalized monogramming, which is handy for identifying your luggage on the carousel.

Best Softside Luggage

Briggs & riley: top-quality with a lifetime warranty.

Briggs & Riley

Briggs & Riley Baseline Essential 22-inch Carry-On

Dimensions:  22 × 14 × 9 inches |  Weight:  9.7 pounds | TSA-approved lock:  Yes |  Warranty:  Lifetime warranty

• High-mileage travelers who prefer flexible softside luggage over hardside
• Generous warranty that covers any damage
• You’re on a budget—this is one of the pricier suitcases out there

A top pick in our Best Carry-On Luggage story, Briggs & Riley is known for its durability, reliability and accommodating lifetime warranty. Forbes Vetted’s branded content editor Luke Fater tested the brand’s Baseline Essential 22-inch Carry-On and considers it “the suitcase of my dreams.” Fater says, “I used it on a plane, train and bus, and the spinner rolled like butter. It has no signs of fraying in the stitching or zippers, either. The ballistic nylon material seems super-resistant to wear and tear.”

With a spring-loaded handle, flat interior and built-in compartment configuration, this suitcase is carefully thought out to make using it as seamless as possible. While this pick is definitely an investment, its compressive technology, built-in garment folder and shock-absorbent wheels warrant the luxury price tag.

Expert tip: Briggs & Riley’s lifetime warranty is one of the best on the market, covering repairs for any sort of damage free of charge for as long as you own the bag.

Best Checked Luggage

Calpak: large and spacious at an affordable price, calpak ambeur large.

Dimensions:  30 x 19 x 12 inches   |  Weight:  10.3 pounds   |  TSA-approved lock: Yes | Warranty: 5-year limited warranty

• Ample packing space and non-bulky design that doesn’t cost a fortune
• Traveling with liquids (such as larger sizes of skincare) or items that require checking
• Lengthier trips (more than 7 days)

 Skip if:

• You need exterior pockets on your suitcase

Forbes Vetted executive strategy editor Lindsay Boyers has traveled extensively with the Calpak Ambeur Large and counts it among her favorite checked bags. “I have several large pieces of luggage and I find myself reaching for this suitcase most often,” she says. “It’s super lightweight and so roomy, and as a chronic over-packer, I never have an issue fitting everything I need.” Despite its spacious size—it has a packing capacity of 77 liters—Boyers hasn’t found it heavy or bulky. “It has a compact design and wheels effortlessly, so I never feel like I’m lugging an enormous bag through the airport.”

Clocking in at under $300, the Ambeur Large is a relatively affordable suitcase with high-quality features: It expands up to two inches for extra packing room, for example, and has easy-to-maneuver dual spinner wheels. There are also four zippered interior compartments (although no exterior pockets), plus a cross compression strap to make sure belongings remain in place, even when transported over bumpy cobblestone streets.

Expert tip: Consider your color choice carefully—Boyers recommends a shade other than black. “I do wish I got it in a different color,” she says. “The black that I have seems to scuff fairly easily.”

Best Luxury Luggage

Rimowa: timeless classic you can't go wrong with, rimowa original cabin plus.

Dimensions:  21.7 × 15.8 × 9.1 inches |  Weight:  9.5 pounds |  TSA-approved lock:  Yes |  Warranty:  Lifetime warranty

• Sleek aluminum suitcase that’s stylish and built to last
• Easy-to-maneuver, lightweight luggage
• Mid-length to longer trips (about 5 to 7 days or more)
• You’re on a budget—Rimowa luggage is pricey
• You’re not careful since aluminum is prone to denting

German luggage brand Rimowa is a calling card in the world of luxury luggage. Durable and lightweight, its bags are known globally for their craftsmanship and innovation, and its classic Original Cabin is stylishly recognizable in any airport. It has a high-end anodized aluminum exterior and a lifetime guarantee that covers any damage, meaning this is a suitcase you’ll keep for life.

Forbes Vetted’s executive director of business development and partnerships, Alexis Caldwell, swears by Rimowa’s Original Cabin Plus, having used it on both short and long trips, and particularly appreciates the built-in compression. “I can squeeze so much into it that I’ve never needed a larger suitcase, even on multiple three-week trips to various destinations,” she says. Caldwell is also a fan of the ball-bearing mounted wheels, which provide a seriously smooth glide. “My luggage literally floats through the airport,” she says.

Expert tip: Those looking for something lighter (and easier on the wallet) should check out the Essential Lite Cabin , which features a polycarbonate shell and T-bar telescopic handle, and claimed the top spot on our list of the Best Lightweight Luggage .

Best Luggage For International Travel

Travelpro: sized for international airline cabins, travelpro platinum elite carry-on spinner.

Dimensions:  21 × 14 × 9 inches   |  Weight:  7.8 pounds   |  TSA-approved lock : Yes   |  Warranty:  5-year limited warranty; covers cost of repair for damage by an airline if registered within first 120 days of purchase

• Those who travel abroad but don’t want to check their bags
• Sturdiness and a compact design
• You prefer a modern aesthetic—this pick has a more traditional look

Named our top overall winner for the Best Luggage For International Travel , Travelpro’s carry-on spinner is the perfect size for international airline cabins, meaning you’ll never need to worry about your bag being snagged for a gate check. The softside suitcase is smartly outfitted with compression straps, accessory pockets and a water-resistant toiletry bag. It also has eight self-aligning spinner wheels and a contoured-grip rubber handle with four adjustable heights.

Forbes Vetted’s editorial director, Brinda Ayer , tested this bag and praised its functionality. “It’s very simple to maneuver around, even on concrete,” she says. “For a softside bag, it’s pretty sturdy. I haven’t had any tearing or scuffing yet, even after a few trips, and the handle has a comfortable grip.” Ayer does note that its style may not be appeal to those who want a high-design Monos or Away. “It’s not super sleek or minimalist like other trendy luggage brands out there,” she says, but for an excellent, all-around basic, it scores high marks.

Expert tip: If you prefer extra durability, this suitcase also comes in a hardside version .

Best Stylish Luggage

Paravel: accessible luxury and eco-friendly, paravel aviator carry-on plus.

Dimensions:  22.7 x 14.7 x 9.6 inches |  Weight:  8.5 pounds |  TSA-approved lock:  Yes |  Warranty:  10-year limited warranty

• Stylish, durable luggage made from sustainable materials
• Smooth wheels and a comfortable handle grip
• You need a lot of built-in interior pockets

Paravel has quickly risen in popularity due to its timeless aesthetics and commitment to creating the first truly carbon-neutral suitcases. The brand recycles post-consumer plastic bottles and aluminum to produce proprietary its materials, like Negative Nylon, which has garnered Paravel a loyal following among eco-conscious travelers. Our top pick, the Aviator Carry-On Plus, is chic, sturdy and comes with a compression board and a laundry bag for dirty clothing.

Taran traveled with the Paravel Aviator Carry-On Plus on a recent trip and was impressed by its style and maneuverability. “Simply put, this is one of the best-looking bags I’ve traveled with,” she says. “While some of these design-forward bags can feel pretty flimsy, this one is very sturdy. The wheels are extremely smooth and never get snagged in airport carpets, and the faux leather wrap around the handle is super comfortable.”

Expert tip: For longer trips, the Aviator comes in a larger, checked size .

Best Luggage Set

July: great for families and frequent travelers, july classic family luggage set.

Dimensions:  21.5 x 15 x 8.5 inches (Carry-On), 26 x 18.75 x 11 inches (Checked), 30.25 x 19.75 x 12.5 inches (Checked Plus) |  Weight: 7.4 pounds (Carry-On), 8.3 pounds (Checked), 10.5 pounds (Checked Plus) | Warranty:  Lifetime warranty

• Families and those who travel frequently
• Lightweight pieces you can easily transport
• Multiple trips with a variety of different lengths
• You prefer heftier luggage for rugged travel

Luggage sets are smart if you’re a family or hit the road a lot, since you’ll spend less up front than buying each piece separately. Australian brand July’s Classic Family Set won as the top overall pick in our Best Luggage Sets round-up and includes the Carry-On , Checked and Checked Plus suitcases. The variety of sizes can accommodate everything from weekend getaways to medium-length vacations to serious long-haul travel. The entire set is outfitted with smooth-rolling wheels, retractable handles, laundry bags and TSA locks.

Taran is a big fan of July, having used the Carry-On and Checked bags on several trips. She notes that the brand’s designs are lightweight and stylish. “Their aesthetics really stand out from the rest of the pack, and their bags are super well-made. The wheels, in particular, are incredibly smooth. They provide a buttery glide, no matter how much stuff I’m carrying.”

Expert tip: For longer trips, Taran likes July’s Checked Trunk , which won for the best overall pick in our Best Trunk Luggage round-up. “Trunks can be clunky and bulky, but July’s are slim and look great,” she says. “I have used my trunk several times and love how lightweight and smooth it rolls through the airport, despite being packed to the brim.”

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• The Forbes Vetted travel team has researched, written and published dozens of luggage stories , covering not only the best suitcases, but the best weekender bags , totes , duffel bags , carry-on backpacks and more.
• This story was written by Forbes Vetted’s senior travel editor, Astrid Taran , a 7-year industry veteran who’s visited over 35 countries and traveled with all types of bags, totes and suitcases—including many on this list—on planes, trains, buses and boats.

Our senior travel editor rolled the Away Bigger Carry-On with ease through the St. Moritz railway ... [+] station in Switzerland.

• All of the picks on this list have been tested by Forbes Vetted editors and staffers, including senior updates editor Karen Tietjen , senior deals editor Kara Cuzzone , editorial director Brinda Ayer , executive strategy editor Lindsay Boyers and more.
• This story is regularly checked to ensure that all prices and information are as current as possible. During its latest March 2024 update, Taran re-evaluated all selections and added in new selections that were recently tested by our editors, such as Carl Friedrik The Carry-On and the Calpak Ambeur Large .

How We Chose The Best Luggage

• We relied on expert advice, independent reviews, research and personal experience to make all of our recommendations. For this tested story, we asked Forbes Vetted editors and staffers to test multiple suitcases, then give us their opinions on the pieces of luggage they felt truly stood apart from the pack.
• We took into consideration the factors that separate one piece of luggage from the rest. This includes not only common variables such as size, weight, build quality and features, but also how you intend to use the luggage, what kind of trip you have booked and what you’ll be carrying.

The Paravel Aviator Carry-On Plus traveled stylishly and smoothly through the Denver airport.

• We’ve taken the time to compare luggage options, examining their features to determine which pieces are well-suited for travel and which ones you can do without.

What to Consider When Buying Luggage

The best luggage for you depends on the type of trip you’re packing for and how long that trip will be. Here are some things to consider when you’re researching.

The size of the luggage you buy will vary with the type of trip you take. For trips one week or shorter, we recommend a carry-on suitcase, but if you plan to bring items that cannot be carried on, a larger checked suitcase is a great investment. The size of your suitcase will need to comply with airline rules, so make sure to check the guidelines of whichever airline you usually fly. If it varies, it may be smarter to go with a smaller option that’s likely to work across the board. Some airlines have different size rules for domestic versus international flights, so make sure to research them before you purchase.

Extra Features

Many suitcases are designed with added features that make traveling more convenient. For extra security, look for a carry-on with a built-in TSA-approved lock. These are usually combination locks that TSA agents can open with a master key so they don’t have to damage your luggage if it must be inspected. If you have the tendency to overpack, find a piece with an expandable zippered panel for extra room—these suitcases can also be helpful if you plan on bringing souvenirs home.

A bright color will make your bag stand out at the airport carousel, but keep in mind that lighter shades can be more likely to show scuffs and spots. If black feels too generic, opt for another dark shade—the Away The Bigger Carry-On comes in several deep hues. If you prefer more neutral colors, investing in a colorful luggage tag can provide the best of both worlds.

Our executive strategy editor filled the Calpak Ambeur Large to the brim and still found it easy to ... [+] transport.

Which Suitcase Brand Is Best?

The luggage landscape has drastically evolved in recent years. As a result, we find ourselves with more brands to choose from than ever before, which makes it all the more difficult when the time comes to invest in new luggage. There are also a variety of great suitcases that work for different budgets. Our best overall pick is the Monos Carry-On Pro , but for travelers on a budget, we recommend Samsonite and Travelpro , which are trusted brands favored by pilots and flight attendants, but there are some great newcomers out there as well, like Monos , Away and July .

What’s Better: Softside Or Hardside Luggage?

While luggage carousels around the world are still overflowing with softside luggage, hardside luggage has quickly been gaining popularity. When deciding which type of bag you need, consider what you’re carrying and where you’re going. Soft-sided bags are great because they flex and compress, making them a suitable option for the overhead bin or the storage space on a bus, though the material wears over time and might rip. Hardside luggage, on the other hand, protects fragile contents that could break or become damaged in transit, but the material could scratch or scuff easily. What’s right for you is simply a matter of personal preference.

More Travel Stories To Shop:

• Best Luggage Tags
• Best TSA-Approved Luggage Locks
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The Best Luggage Brands to Buy in 2024

These are the top-tested suitcases for all of your travel needs.

We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.

Our top picks

Best Overall Luggage

Best Value Luggage

American tourister.

Best Carry-On Luggage

Best Luggage for International Travel

Briggs & riley.

Best Under-$100 Luggage

Amazon basics.

Best Luggage for Frequent Flyers

Best Viral Luggage

Best Luggage for Flight Crews

Best Printed Luggage

Best Fashion Luggage

Each piece of luggage is evaluated by experts in the Lab as well as consumer testers on the go. In the Lab, we look at factors like durability, ease of use and more. We also pack each suitcase with a standard load to see how much it can hold and how easy the compartments are to access. Consumer testers come into the Lab to use the luggage in an obstacle course, where they weigh in on handle comfort, wheel performance, maneuverability and more. Finally, we send luggage out with travelers into the real world for firsthand feedback.

You can learn more about how we test luggage and what to consider as you shop — including how to decide between hardside and softside luggage — but first, here's everything you need to know about our top-tested luggage brands.

Samsonite earns our top spot for the best luggage brand because it has a wide assortment for every preference — from business travelers to vacationers — and has continuously proven to be high quality as we've tested it over the years.

In particular, it stands out for its durability and ease-of-use features: There's been no struggling to open and close the cases, and packing them has been a breeze , thanks to the functional compartments that maximize space. It's certainly not inexpensive, but as direct-to-consumer luggage brand prices have skyrocketed, Samsonite's have remained fairly consistent.

Both hardside and softside styles from the brand have excelled in our tests. We've also been impressed by each of the sizes, including carry-ons, checked bags and underseat luggage. Some of our favorite models include the Freeform hardside (pictured here), the Solyte DLX softside and the Stryde Glyder , which is a checked case that's wide instead of tall so it's less likely to tip over.

A consumer tester rolling the Samsonite Freeform carry-on through an obstacle course at the Good Housekeeping Institute.

If you're on a budget or you don’t use luggage regularly — i.e., it doesn’t need to be the most durable and you don’t need all the bells and whistles — American Tourister offers competitive pricing and an excellent variety to choose from . There are a lot of options if you prefer bright colors and fun prints, plus there are cases for the entire family, including a Disney collection . Between the designs and versatile offerings, the models are fun, functional and especially ideal for vacationers.

Just note that while luxury hardside cases are usually made of polycarbonate, American Tourister typically uses ABS plastic, which is more affordable but more prone to scratches. Still, it gets high ratings from online reviewers who note that the bags are surprisingly spacious. Another perk: The brand offers luggage sets for an even better value, especially if you need to purchase multiple pieces. Pictured here is the Pop Max Softside set , which at $150 for a set of three, is less than other single cases.

Away is one of the most popular luggage brands on the market, and our testing shows it actually lives up to its hype. Though the brand has a wide range of offerings, we especially love the hardside carry-on.

It's made of 100% polycarbonate that proved to be durable and lightweight in our evaluations — even lighter than some fabric bags we’ve tested. It was also surprisingly spacious and held a full packing load in our review. The company offers a 100-day return policy on unused items; it also offers a lifetime limited warranty on its suitcases that covers any "functional damage."

Besides the main Carry-On model , it comes in variations like a Bigger Carry-On (which the brand says can hold 20% more) and a Carry-On Flex (which has an expandable zipper). We also love the brand's Everywhere Bag , which is a stylish and surprisingly spacious weekender.

READ OUR FULL REVIEW: We Tested Away's Trendy Carry-On to See If It's Worth The Price

An inside view of Away's The Carry On.

Briggs & Riley

Briggs & Riley bags are pricey — a carry-on can cost over $600 — but they come with a lifetime guarantee that will cover all repairs if the luggage ever gets broken or damaged. They also come with innovative features, such as the brand's signature compression packing system. Bags that have this feature expand to let you pack and then compress down after they're filled. In fact, one of our testers said she packed a week's worth of summer clothes for two people into a compact carry-on, and it easily fit into an airline's overhead bin.

The suitcases also use top-notch construction and timeless designs in a range of styles, including hardside, softside, carry-ons and checked bags. The Baseline Global Carry-On Spinner (pictured here in the 21-inch version) has been a selected as GH Family Travel Award winner for the past two years after travel testers gave it perfect scores across the board. Its nylon fabric also aced our Lab's abrasion tests.

The interior compartment of Briggs & Riley's Baseline Carry-On, including its easy-to-use expansion button.

It’s hard to find good luggage for under $100, but Amazon’s luggage does not disappoint. There are softside and hardside styles to choose from, plus garment bags , duffels and more. Amazon also boasts extensive testing to make sure their products will hold up, and though the luggage might not the absolute best quality out there, the price can’t be beat.

We were impressed with its hardside 20-inch spinner carry-on (pictured here) when we tested it on our Lab. Our analysts found it to be exceptionally easy to pack, though the ABS material wasn't as scratch-resistant as other models in our tests. Still, consumer testers liked the maneuverability and wheel performance. This style also comes in two other sizes (24 and 28 inches) and can be purchased as a two- or three-piece set.

This luxury brand is on the pricey side but has timeless designs — from hardside to tweed fabric — that never go out of style. In fact, the brand’s marketing and aesthetics are focused heavily on its heritage. It has been a top performer in our tests, thanks to its spacious interior that's easy to pack and its wheels and handles that make it smooth and comfortable to maneuver.

The hardside cases have earned high scores in our tests — especially standing out for being scratch-resistant, lightweight and spacious — but we also love the softside Legend collection (pictured here), which is made of durable tweed fabric and leather trim.

This fashionable yet functional travel brand was founded by actress Shay Mitchell and incorporates smart features designed to make traveling easier. It also has a stunning aesthetic, including monochromatic color schemes in which the handles and hardware match the case.

Pictured here is the Carry-On Roller, its best-selling case that comes in a range of neutral and fun hues. It was spacious for packing and easy to maneuver in our tests, and though it did scuff during use, it resisted dents well during our Lab's drop tests. Another popular style is its Mini Weekender , which can be used as a personal item that fits underneath the airplane seat in front of you.

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The Béis carry-on and compact weekender bag being used as a travel set.

This company was founded by a pilot, and it makes luggage specifically for airline personnel who travel for a living. Still, it's just as functional for business and leisure travelers.

The brand primarily sells softside luggage, though it does have some hardside options available. There’s excellent attention to detail that makes frequent flying easier, like cushioning around the handles for comfort, self-aligning wheels that let you roll the luggage in any direction and abrasion-resistant nylon fabric.

The Platinum Elite softside luggage (pictured here) stood out in our Lab tests. Not only was it durable, but it was also spacious enough to hold our entire load with room to spare. The downside was that it was heavier than others, but it's a fair tradeoff for the top-of-the-line features.

This brand increases the fun factor and makes it easier to spot your luggage in a sea of solid colors. There are adorable animal sets for kids' luggage , animal prints for adults and more. There are also options for licensed teams and art (like Britto, shown here), making your suitcase a playful yet functional accessory.

When it comes to materials, most Heys suitcases are hardside and made of polycarbonate and ABS composite. This means it's mostly ABS plastic but has a polycarbonate coating on the outside for added protection. The brand wasn't the most durable in our tests, it but earned high ease-of-use scores.

Style is certainly important when it comes to luggage — it's an accessory, after all — but you don't want to sacrifice quality and functionality. Calpak's cases are both well-made and have unique designs. Though its assortment is tailored with fewer models than some of the big brands, Calpak still has a wide range of materials to choose from, including sleek hardside polycarbonate, printed ABS/polycarbonate blends and ripstop polyester.

Calpak's Ambeur carry-on (pictured here) was one of our testers' favorites; they especially loved the easy-to-use telescopic handle and metallic color. We also found it to be easy to pack and though it wasn't as scratch-resistant as some others we tested (which is expected for ABS composites), it still withstood dents and damage from our durability drop test.

Rolling TUMI luggage through the airport is like a status symbol; the brand is highly recognized for its upscale products for both business and leisure travelers.

In addition to its suitcases , it makes accessories like briefcases and backpacks and has components that make traveling easier, like an anti-slip strap on carrying bags and an extra hook on rolling bags so you can wheel multiple items at once. On top of that, the brand stands out for its unique service offerings, like repairs and luggage registration to help you find lost bags.

We especially love Tumi's Alpha collection (pictured here is the Alpha carry-on ) with its durable materials and removable garment sleeve. One GH analyst who has been using a backpack in this collection appreciates that it fits more than you'd expect and has a versatile design for travel, work and beyond.

If you’re going away for weeks or just have lots to pack, L.L.Bean’s duffels are roomy enough to stuff in everything you need. There are options with or without wheels and lots of sizes to choose from (the Adventure Rolling Duffel , shown here, is incredibly durable and one of our go-to picks for vacations with kids).

The flexible shape of the duffel also allows it to store easily under your bed, so it’s perfect for college students or anyone tight on storage space. It’s also made of sturdy, water-resistant nylon fabric that's made to last no matter where your travels take you — in fact, one of our experts says it's lasted for years without signs of wear. She does note that it's a little more cumbersome to pull than four-wheel spinner luggage and it's spaciousness makes it easy to go over the 50-pound weight limit for airlines, but says it's perfect for packing for two kids.

Monos says its design philosophy is "less is more," — meaning the bags are made to be simple and timeless to avoid passing trends and high quality so they can stand the test of time. Most of its hardside bags are entirely polycarbonate, though some combine polycarbonate and aluminum for increased durability. They also have useful packing features like wide compression straps to help you fit more in the case.

The Check-In Large was a winner of last year's GH Family Travel Awards because of its spacious interior and maneuverability. Testers said it was easy to roll and they loved the sleek appearance. It's also worth noting that the brand has a 100-day return period so you can get a refund if it's not a good fit.

READ OUR FULL REVIEW: Here's Why Travelers Love the Monos Luggage Collection

Monos luggage shown in three sizes: Check-in Large, Check-in Medium and Carry-on

Eagle Creek

Whether you’re backpacking internationally or exploring a national park, Eagle Creek gives you both the convenience and durability you need in a bag. Some have various compartments so you can stay organized (or store shoes and dirty laundry separately), and some bags have backpack straps if you need to be hands-free.

We especially love the Cargo Hauler Duffel for shorter trips: It’s affordable, spacious, lightweight and folds up into a small pouch for easy storage. For longer getaways, the Migrate Wheeled Duffel (pictured here) is larger and has two wheels with a telescopic handle. It also opens wide so you can easily access the contents.

Eagle Creek's Migrate Wheeled Duffel, left, being checked in at an airport terminal.

Lexie Sachs (she/her) is the executive director of strategy and operations at the Good Housekeeping Institute and a lead reviewer of products in the bedding, travel, lifestyle, home furnishings and apparel spaces. She has over 15 years of experience in the consumer products industry and a degree in fiber science from Cornell University. Lexie serves as an expert source both within Good Housekeeping and other media outlets, regularly appearing on national broadcast TV segments. Prior to joining GH in 2013, Lexie worked in merchandising and product development in the fashion and home industries.

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American Tourister

Briggs & riley, bric's, luggage faqs, the 11 best luggage brands of 2024, tested by experts.

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The best suitcases let you roll through the airport quickly and confidently, with assurance that your items are well-protected and sturdily organized within.

We selected our picks for the best luggage brands based on years of hands-on testing by several travel editors who regularly take up to 50 flights a year. Since the size of luggage you'll need will depend on your specific travel plans, we focused on the best brands rather than specific pieces. Our top picks are known for making sturdy and reliable luggage, with smart extras to make packing and traveling a breeze. 

Read on for our top choices for the best luggage brands at various price points to consider. If you're specifically looking for hand-luggage, check out our guide to the best carry-on bags . 

Our top picks for the best luggage brands

Shop all luggage at Samsonite

When it comes to value, Samsonite makes excellent luggage at some of the best prices, which is why we named it our top overall pick for the best carry-on . Samsonite offers numerous options for roller bags, including both hard-side and soft-side carry-ons and checked luggage, as well as wheeled underseat bags and even roller duffels. 

Samsonite also sells several two- and three-piece sets if you want to pair small, medium, and large roller bags together. In addition to traditional roller luggage, Samsonite also offers classic backpacks, wheeled backpacks, duffels, briefcases, wallets, dop kits, and more. There are even some cool wheeled garment bags that can fit under your seat and will fit far more than your typical folding or hanging garment bag. I've owned a Samsonite bag for over three years now and it's held up incredibly well.

You can read our full Samsonite Centric Carry-On review for more info.

Worth a look:

Shop all luggage at Away

Away has multiple options for roller luggage, including hard-sided, expandable, and aluminum. Bags are available in both neutral hues and bright, eye-catching colors.

Away's stand-out feature used to be the removable battery pack for charging your electronics on the go, which was previously available as an add-on to its carry-on bags. While the brand retired that feature, we still think its bags have thoughtful extras like in-bag compression, built-in TSA-approved locks, and a removable washable lining. 

In addition to roller bags, the brand also a range of other bags and travel accessories, including backpacks, duffels, pet carriers, totes, packing cubes, and more. I've personally owned Away luggage for years and can attest to its durability and practicality. 

Read our full Away luggage review and Away Carry-On review for more.

Shop all luggage at Travelpro

Travelpro mostly makes soft-side luggage and rightfully earned its spot as our top pick for the best soft-sided carry-on . I personally love the clear attention to detail that comes with a Travelpro bag, from the whisper-quiet spinner wheels to the tear-resistant material and sturdy buckles.

In addition to rolling luggage, Travelpro has options for underseat bags (rolling and not), toiletry bags, backpacks, foldable duffels, garment bags (which often come included with a carry-on), luggage tags, laptop bags, and more.

Read our full Travelpro Platinum Elite Carry-On review for more.

Shop all luggage at Monos

Monos is a newer start-up that doesn't have as many suitcase options as the other luggage brands on our list, but it's worth mentioning since it's one of the best suitcases on the market with a hard front pocket that gives you an easy place to safely store laptops and extras. Monos suitcases are durable, come in an array of colors, and are well-priced. Plus, all of the luggage comes with a 100-day trial period and a limited lifetime warranty. The same brand also makes some of our favorite durable packing cubes .

Currently, Monos has two sizes of carry-on that either come with a front pocket or not depending on your preferences, plus a medium-sized roller bag and a checked luggage option. Monos also make a backpack, duffel, and folio kit.

You can read our full Monos luggage review for more.

Shop all luggage at American Tourister

Many of American Tourister's carry-ons start under $100, and while they may not last you a lifetime, they certainly won't break down anytime soon either. The hard-sided bags are made from a sturdy ABS material, and the spinner wheels aren't quite as high-end as premium options but still easily roll on most surfaces. While these suitcases don't come with tons of extras (be aware that some don't come with built-in TSA locks), the interiors are still thoughtfully designed for easy packing. 

American Tourister has numerous roller bag options in varying sizes, including both hard-sided and soft-sided suitcases. There is also a line of Disney luggage that kids especially might love. While there are also some nice wheeled underseat bags, American Tourister hasn't branched out much from classic roller bags, so you'll want to look elsewhere if a duffel or weekender bag is more your aim.

Shop all luggage at Rimowa

When it comes to high-end luggage, Rimowa is a consistent standout that uses premium materials to create long-lasting and recognizable pieces. Its ribbed aluminum luggage, which comes in every color from simple silver to a cherry red, is particularly popular — though it will cost you upwards of $1,000. However, thanks to heavy-duty construction that still manages to be lightweight, the rollers might be worth it if budget isn't an issue for you.

For a slightly more cost-effective (though still pricey) option, I particularly love the Essential Lite collection, which I named the best high-end hard-side carry-on thanks to the fact that it's incredibly durable but weighs less than five pounds. Unfortunately, if you're a fan of soft-sided suitcases, Rimowa is not the brand for you, and there aren't as many accessories available as some other brands. 

Read our full Rimowa Essential Lite carry-on review .

Shop all luggage at Briggs & Riley

We named Briggs & Riley our top pick for the best high-end soft-side carry-on. I particularly like the super-smart interior features that truly elevate these suitcases, from a special CX compression-expansion system that increases packing capacity by 25%, to making sure the adjustable handle is entirely on the outside of the bag so no packing room is lost to the poles. These suitcases are certainly investment pieces, but they're built to last and also come with a lifetime warranty.

While I find the soft-sided bags to be some of Briggs & Riley's best options, there are also some nice hard-sided carry-ons and checked bags for those who prefer to go that route. In addition to roller bags, Briggs & Riley also makes backpacks, duffels, weekends, laptop bags, and travel accessories of all types, including packing cubes, bag ID tags, laundry bags, and more.

Shop all luggage at Bric's

Bric's is probably best known for its high-end Bellagio collection of luggage, both recognizable and revered for its durable, but ultra-light polycarbonate exterior with leather trim that gives it a nostalgic trunk feel. It's the little details that set this Italian brand apart, including Hinomoto wheels, matching interior linings, and premium zippers. That's why you've likely seen a luxury travel guru wheeling this bag through the airport, or, if you're an eagle-eyed "Schitt's Creek" fan, may have caught Alexis Rose using this collection to pack up her belongings. 

However, for those not ready to spend $600 on a carry-on, Bric's also has several more affordable suitcases in both hard-sided and soft-sided options. The Capri collection features striking exterior detailing in a wide range of colors at a mid-tier price point, while B/Y Zeus will appear to soft-sided fans.

The brand also has a sale section where you can sometimes score premium collections that typically start at $650 or more for under $200. 

Read our full Bric's Capri luggage review .     

Shop all luggage at Tumi

Like Rimowa, Tumi luggage pieces are an investment. But they're a worthy one since these suitcases will likely last you years, if not decades. With numerous options of all sizes for both hard-sided and soft-sided suitcases, Tumi has bags to suit just about all tastes. 

Its well-thought-out suitcases include premium spinner wheels, heavy-duty zippers, scratch- and tear-resistant exteriors, and well-designed interiors that help travelers maximize every last inch of space. In addition to roller luggage, Tumi is also well known for its premium totes and briefcases, and also makes travel wallets, backpacks, duffels, care kits, travel umbrellas, and more. 

Shop all luggage at Victorinox

Victorinox luggage falls in the mid- to high-tier of pricing but its durability makes it a good value choice. The brand also frequently has luggage on sale during big shopping holidays when you can score suitcases for less. As you might expect from a Swiss Army company, the interiors of most suitcases are also thoughtfully designed to maximize packing space. 

Victorinox offers both hard-sided and soft-sided roller bags of numerous sizes including classic carry-ons, checked bags, medium-sized suitcases, and smaller wheeled underseat bags that can fit laptops and accessories. Beyond roller bags, Victorinox also offers briefcases, duffels, backpacks, totes, toiletry kits, garment bags, and more.

Shop all luggage at Delsey

If you like the look of Bric's cream suitcases with leather trim, you may also want to consider Delsey's Chatelet line of hard-sided luggage. While these suitcases start around the same price as Bric's, they can be found on sale more frequently, often for half the price. Delsey's Titanium suitcases are also a fan-favorite option since they are ultra-lightweight but incredibly durable. 

Delsey has numerous options for roller bags for domestic and international travel in both hard-sided and soft-sided variations (though more hard-sided), as well as several luggage sets. It even has an eco-friendly line of laptop bags and duffels using recycled materials.  

Is hard-sided or soft-sided luggage better?

There are pros and cons to each. In general, hard-sided luggage offers more protection for your belongings than soft-sided luggage.

For checked bags, you're best bet is hard-sided luggage, since it can withstand tough handling and having other items stacked on top. Soft-sided luggage may be a good option if you want more flexibility, since fabric-made suitcases have a lot more give. Soft-sided pieces are a good option for carry-ons because they can flex and compress to fit into tight overhead bins.  

What size luggage should I buy?

We think it's best to start with a carry-on size, since it offers the most flexibility, whether you want to keep it in the cabin or check it. Most US airlines cap carry-on size at 22 inches long, 14 inches wide and 9 inches high, including handles and wheels.

When it comes to buying a checked bag, you'll want something between 25 and 29 inches long. Airlines typically charge a fixed fee for checked bags up to a certain weight, so it may be tempting to think a bigger suitcase is always better. However, bigger pieces of luggage come with more weight of their own, don't protect your items well when they're underpacked, and encourage overpacking, which can lead to higher baggage fees (or the dreaded airport floor repacking). 

You can purchase logo and accolade licensing to this story here . Disclosure: Written and researched by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our partners. We may receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at [email protected] .

• Main content

The Best Carry-On Luggage

By Kit Dillon

Kit Dillon is a writer focused on bags and travel gear. He has worked for Wirecutter for a decade and lost count of the number of bags he has tested.

Traveling well is not always easy. Keeping your suitcase with you when you fly not only protects your belongings from loss or damage but may help you avoid extra fees as well.

If you decide to do so, you need a good carry-on bag.

Over the past 10 years, we’ve handled, tested, and traveled with 67 bags from more than 35 brands, and we remain convinced that the Travelpro Platinum Elite offers the best balance of value and quality for most travelers.

It packs five days’ worth of clothes into standard US carry-on dimensions 1 and has premium touches you might expect from a $600 bag at about half the price.

It’s a bag that you can rely on for life, even if it’s damaged by airlines —a rarity at any price.

Everything we recommend

Travelpro Platinum Elite 21″ Carry-On Spinner

The best soft-sided carry-on.

This spinner carry-on offers the best balance of size, value, reliability, and durability, plus high-end details. It’s backed by a lifetime warranty.

Buying Options

Travelpro Platinum Elite 22″ Carry-On Rollaboard

A bit more capacity and extra wheel durability.

This two-wheeled carry-on bag isn’t as maneuverable, but it offers slightly more space, a garment folder, and larger, more durable wheels.

Away The Carry-On

The best hard-sided carry-on.

This great-looking and relatively resilient piece of hard-sided luggage has top-of-the-line components—including wheels as smooth-rolling as any we’ve tested.

Away The Bigger Carry-On

Slightly more room, but you might get checked.

With more capacity than Away’s standard carry-on, this suitcase is sized appropriately for most flights. On smaller planes, though, you may get gate-checked.

Budget pick

Travelpro Maxlite 5 21″ Carry-On Spinner

Lightweight and appealingly inexpensive.

Remarkably well priced for a reputable brand, this is an ideal lightweight pick and provides many features of luggage costing nearly twice as much.

Upgrade pick

Briggs & Riley Baseline Essential 22″ Carry-On Expandable Spinner

A soft-sided carry-on that fits more in less.

This carry-on bag offers superlative build quality, plenty of expandable room, and a uniquely effective compression system. It’s a buy-it-for-life suitcase.

Briggs & Riley Baseline Essential 22″ 2-Wheel Expandable Carry-On

More room, bigger wheels, less maneuverability.

If you’re willing to give up maneuverability for more space and bigger wheels, this is also a great option.

Carl Friedrik The Carry-On

A more luxe hard-sided carry-on.

Luxury touches and a strong polycarbonate and aluminum design give this bag a standout look with exceptional feel and performance. It does cost nearly $200 more than the comparably sized Away bag, though.

Yeti Crossroads 22″/35L Wheeled Luggage

A bag built for tough conditions.

A polycarbonate back and rugged wheels make this design suited for rougher travel over difficult surfaces. However, it has a limited warranty, and it’s somewhat unwieldy to handle.

What to consider

Four-wheel bags, aka spinners, are easier to maneuver down tight airplane aisles, but two-wheel bags will always be more durable .

Hard-sided looks better to most people, but soft-sided luggage withstands the bumps and knocks of travel for longer .

Plenty of reputable brands offer lifetime warranties; it’s generally worth paying a little extra for the peace of mind .

Depending on where you travel, you might need to look for specialty luggage sizes .

We’ve also included picks that stood out for their form and individual functionality: an upgrade with best-in-class compression, a pick made of polycarbonate , an upgraded hard-sided case with latch closures and an aluminum frame, a rolling soft-top hybrid , and a budget pick that’s also the best ultra-light suitcase we can find.

Travelpro’s Platinum Elite line of luggage is still our top pick after 10 years of testing. It addresses the concerns of most travelers for an affordable price while offering the best warranty against potential airline damage in the industry (as long as you register the luggage within 120 days of purchase, which you can do in minutes).

The Platinum Elite features smooth-rolling, replaceable wheels, as well as solid and comfortable telescoping handles and a hard-wearing nylon exterior propped up by a solid internal chassis. Travelpro also provides a full catalog of other replaceable parts . Instead of chasing the smart-bag moment, Travelpro added an exterior pocket with a USB pass-through extension that lets you insert your own battery pack for charging your phone. And weighing less than 8 pounds when empty, the Platinum Elite is dead in the center of average weight for bags this size.

In our view, soft-sided luggage lasts longer and shows less wear, but if you prefer the look of a hard-sided bag, Away’s The Carry-On is our choice. Like our other picks, this bag stands out for its high-end components: YKK zippers, smooth-running wheels, and a well-braced handle. Its strong but flexible polycarbonate shell shows scratches—however, after seven years of using the Away Carry-On, our testers have found that it is capable of enduring most of the trials of travel with fewer knocks than other similar models we’ve tested.

Away also makes a slightly larger version of the same model: The Bigger Carry-On . It conforms to carry-on size for most major airliners, but you might be asked to gate-check it on smaller planes.

Similar to our soft-sided picks, this Away bag is backed by a limited lifetime warranty. And though the coverage doesn’t explicitly protect against airline damage, it does apply to any damage that an airline could possibly dish out—specifically, but not limited to, the shell cracking or wheels breaking off.

Some companies have tried to shave off a few pounds from their standard luggage designs to make so-called ultra-light luggage. The Travelpro Maxlite 5 21″ Carry-On Spinner is the best of these bags we’ve seen, and it comes with the pedigree of our top pick but not quite as strong a warranty.

The Maxlite 5 is just over 2 pounds lighter than our top pick—that’s the weight of two or three pairs of jeans. It’s not a huge difference, but if you have trouble lifting luggage over your head and prefer an easier-to-manage suitcase, the Maxlite 5 may be your choice. This bag is also the best one we’ve found under $200, with almost all the benefits of luggage nearly twice the price.

For the more frequent flyer who is willing to invest in a higher-quality bag, we recommend the Briggs & Riley Baseline Essential Carry-On . Every detail of this bag, from the zippers to the wheels to the wrinkle-resistant suit compartment, is made to the highest standards, and it has a higher proportion of usable space than any other spinner bag we tested.

Briggs & Riley boosts this extra capacity with a ratcheting compression system that easily presses an entire extra outfit (if not more) into the same external dimensions as most other carry-ons. It’s simple, impressive, and unmatched by any other brand’s compression system.

The Expandable Spinner version is also the only spinner luggage model we tested with a built-in garment folder, which helps shirts and pants stay wrinkle-free if you pack them well. If things go awry, Briggs & Riley has a catalog of replaceable parts and a global network of repair centers , as well as a reliable lifetime warranty covering repairs for airline damage.

For some people, Carl Friedrik’s The Carry-On may be worth the extra cost. Behind the maturity of Italian leather accents and polish of higher-end Hinomoto wheels, the Carl Friedrik Carry-On bypasses the biggest compromise in most polycarbonate designs: the stitched-in zipper. Incorporating an aluminum frame around the center of the case and two latch locks, it feels comfortingly secure and well structured where other luggage tends to sag or bend away.

There’s a potential catch, however: The flex in a polycarbonate design (and most luggage, incidentally) is its strength. The more robust a piece of luggage becomes—by replacing, for instance, a zipper with an aluminum frame—the greater the chance that if something hits the case hard enough, the frame can bend or break. That said, you need to hit a frame like this with an extreme amount of focused force for that to happen. And Carl Friedrik provides a lifetime warranty that appears to cover airline damage in the event that an airline doesn’t compensate you within 14 days.

The Yeti Crossroads 22”/35L Wheeled Luggage represents the best of a relatively niche type of luggage design. Call it a hybrid model—a blend of a soft-sided luggage on top and hard-sided luggage on the back—that lends itself to fairly specific circumstances. It’s ideal for tough roads, broken streets, and slamming your luggage into uneven curbs with abandon. Do most people need this kind of luggage for their day-to-day travel? Absolutely not, and it can feel heavier than it really is. But if you do, this is the best there is—at least for the moment.

The Yeti Crossroads has everything you might expect from a brand that has built its reputation for over-the-top toughness and durability. The two heavy-duty wheels are among the largest and broadest that we’ve seen. Externally, Yeti blends a polycarbonate shell back with a water-resistant 700-denier nylon front and waterproof zippers. However, Yeti backs its luggage with only a three-year warranty and no mention of airline damage. That’s very limited protection, especially for the conditions this bag was designed for and definitely in comparison with the standards that our other picks set.

The research

Why you should trust us, how we picked and tested, our pick for the best carry-on luggage: travelpro platinum elite, our pick for the best hard-sided carry-on luggage: away the carry-on, budget pick: travelpro maxlite 5 carry-on spinner, upgrade pick for the best carry-on: briggs & riley baseline essential, upgrade pick for the best hard-sided carry-on: carl friedrik the carry-on, also great for tough conditions: yeti crossroads 35l wheeled luggage, other good carry-on luggage, what to look forward to, the competition.

I’ve been covering luggage and travel bag design for Wirecutter for nearly a decade and have personally researched, tested, and compared hundreds of bags in that time. Over the years we’ve also spoken with plenty of experts: flight attendants for major airlines, product designers and creative directors for luggage and gear companies, and travel and gear writers. My conversations with these people have helped shape our coverage, and we owe much to their collective knowledge.

In the 10 years we’ve been covering this category, luggage has evolved, and so has our thinking about what makes the best carry-on for most people. After spending well over 200 hours doing research and interviews and easily twice that time conducting hands-on testing, we’ve seen a few truths become clear. First, at a certain threshold—roughly over $200—most luggage is fine. It will more than likely get you from point A to point B without incident many times a year for many years. What distinguishes great luggage from everything else is mostly an attention to detail—the quality of a bag’s handle, its wheels, the frame, and stitching—and a company’s guarantee that it will stand behind its product.

Every year we try to refine our testing and find new ways to consider what it means to be the best luggage. We’ve weighed and measured suitcases, comparing our results with company claims. We’ve calculated true internal capacity with hundreds of Ping-Pong balls 2 and some decently complex math for a writer to scratch out. We’ve packed and unpacked more bags than I care to remember. We’ve studied and compared wheel bearings, wheel sizes, pocket counts, pocket quality, the curious subtleties of garment bags that will (or more often won’t) keep your clothes wrinkle-free, the strength of warranties, and repairability.

We believe that any maximally sized carry-on should be capable of holding enough clothes to last you five days with room to spare for miscellaneous necessities. Most years we aim to have two testers, one male and one female, pack two bags individually as if headed to the same wedding. 3 What we included isn’t representative of a family traveling or a couple splitting a bag, but we erred on the side of bulky, and we hope it gives you a clear idea of how much of your own stuff these bags will hold.

We looked at how each bag loaded. Was there an easy way to keep smaller items (such as socks and underwear) organized? Did it have compression straps to keep things in place? Were the straps thick enough to avoid creasing the clothes? Just how much would the bag compress? How much room was left over? Once packed, was the bag prone to tipping over?

Over the years I’ve torn bags apart to see how the frames were put together, taken apart wheels, dismantled handles, and more or less treated luggage as poorly as one person could. I’ve wheeled loaded bags around many neighborhoods, looking at how well each bag rolled and how well it handled broken sidewalks, uneven pavement, grass, bricks, dirt, and curbs. I’ve dragged bags up and down two flights of concrete stairs, noting how easy this task was and how much damage the bags sustained. For our finalists, I’ve repeated the torture test along a second, even rougher route because I like the sound that polycarbonate luggage makes when it bounces down cavernous stairwells.

In fall 2023, we asked a panel of paid testers with a wide range of body types, dexterities, and mobilities to examine our picks and share their perspectives. We’ve incorporated their feedback in this review.

The Travelpro Platinum Elite 21″ Carry-On Spinner is our pick for a soft-sided carry-on; if you need a little more room, we also recommend the Travelpro Platinum Elite 22″ Carry-On Rollaboard .

It has a history of great performance. Travelpro’s Platinum Elite line has been our top pick for almost every iteration of this guide because it addresses the concerns of most travelers for an affordable price: In addition to smooth-rolling, replaceable wheels, it features solid and comfortable telescoping handles and a hard-wearing nylon exterior propped up by a solid 7.8-pound internal chassis. Travelpro backs it all with a lifetime warranty that covers airline damage and shipping to the repair facility (as long as you register the luggage within 120 days of purchase). Additionally, Travelpro supplies a full catalog of other replaceable parts .

It moves well across most surfaces and through most situations. The spinner bag’s configuration stands out in particular because of its MagnaTrac wheels, which magnetically snap into a forward position when the bag is moving. The small tracking assistance makes a large difference when you’re navigating the Platinum Elite through a crowded airport or down a busy street. It also has an easy-to-use, removable garment bag. After years of testing, we think the superior maneuverability of spinner luggage, along with improvements in manufacturing processes, makes four-wheel bags a better choice for most people. However, if you prefer slightly more packing capacity (the equivalent of squeezing in two more sweatshirts), larger wheels that run more smoothly over rough terrain, and a more protective built-in garment folder, 4 you may appreciate the two-wheeled 22-inch version of the Platinum Elite. One of our paid testers, who’s 6-foot-6, told us that although he could see the appeal of a spinner, “I would still choose the two-wheeler. It has a little more space, and when you’re my size, packing is just so horrible.”

It’s sized to maximize your space, but you have options. Measuring 23 by 13.5 by 9 inches, the Platinum Elite carry-on bag (in either wheel configuration) hits the upper margins of actual carry-on size limits and could get you gate-checked by an overzealous agent. However, it fits into most standard-size baggage caddies at check-in, including that of American Airlines and United Airlines. I’ve personally traveled with Travelpro carry-ons this size for more than 45,000 miles spread across 50 flights, from regional to long-haul to international routes, and I’ve never had an issue fitting within gate-side luggage sizers. If you’re nervous about getting caught at the gate or often fly in very small regional planes, Travelpro makes a 20-inch Platinum Elite as well as a slimmer international size, but they hold less (naturally) and lack a suiter insert.

It keeps clothes compacted but not creased. Inside, the Platinum Elite has a pair of tie-down straps and two broad panels with pockets that cinch down, similar in design and function to what you’d find in much more expensive Briggs & Riley luggage . Compared with the simple tie-down straps you often find in cheaper luggage, the panels do a great job of keeping things compacted without creasing clothes—a problem we’ve encountered in numerous other bags we’ve tested. Beyond that, the Platinum Elite’s internal organization system is about average. It will be familiar to anyone who has used a suitcase before, which means there’s no learning curve for optimizing the storage capacity. One long mesh pocket sits on one of the bag’s sides, and a smaller removable transparent plastic bag sits on the other side for easy TSA inspection of toiletries.

It’s tough yet flexible. The exterior is made of a hard-wearing nylon fabric, a key feature of all the bags we’ve tested. It hides scuffs and scratches, and it’s much more versatile than hard-sided bags. An expansion zipper lets you increase storage by about 30% in a pinch—although the bag is no longer carry-on compliant at that point. We prefer to use the expansion zipper as something of an ad-hoc compression system: We unzip the expansion zipper while packing the bag and then zip it at the end, tamping everything down tight. The Platinum Elite carry-on also has a variety of convenient exterior pockets, including two in the front, suitable for a sleep mask and other small miscellaneous items, and one on the side for a battery, though it can fit a bit more if necessary. It also has an accordion pocket on the front for magazines and electronic tablets.

It’s well balanced and spacious. This luggage has an 1,856-cubic-inch interior, which we measured using hundreds of Ping-Pong balls . In real-world terms (the needs of Ping-Pong champions notwithstanding), the Platinum Elite swallowed up five days’ worth of clothes with no problem and had a good deal of room to spare—and that’s without our resorting to the expansion zipper.

It has an excellent warranty. Should anything go wrong, you can take advantage of Travelpro’s generous lifetime warranty, which covers airline damage . The sole other company we’ve seen offering this extensive a warranty is Briggs & Riley, whose carry-on suitcases start at about $500. Travelpro bags have owner-serviceable parts and multiple repair centers . To get repair service, you can either drop the bag off at a repair center or ship the bag to Travelpro, the cost of which the company will cover. Keep in mind that the warranty doesn’t cover cosmetic wear.

Travelpro has a history of fixing production errors remarkably quickly. In 2019, we noticed a small uptick in Wirecutter reader complaints about zipper tabs breaking. We reached out to Travelpro, and a representative told us that a production error expanded the capacity of the front pocket of the Platinum Elite; this allowed travelers to overpack the pocket, which put excessive strain on the zipper. Travelpro identified and fixed the issue before it had reached the threshold of more than a few comments online.

Dimensions: 23.5 by 14.5 by 9 inches (HWD) Weight: 7.8 pounds Volume: 46 liters

How the Platinum Elite has held up

After nearly a decade of testing the Platinum Elite line of bags from Travelpro, we have yet to encounter a single serious issue. The fabric exterior brushes off scrapes and is easy enough to clean. Simply, it is a remarkably built bag that continues to travel well, year after year.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• Though the Platinum Elite rolled well in general, we are still concerned when dragging the bag up stairs. Some of the other bags we tested had long plastic bumper strips running most of the way up the length of the bag; this Travelpro model’s skid plate isn’t as big or as protective. I haven’t had an issue, but if you’re particularly rough on your luggage or uncomfortable lifting the bag over curbs or up stairs, it’s something to be aware of.

• In 2018, Travelpro added a USB-A pass-through cable to the Platinum Elite as a way to compete with so-called smart bags. We like the battery pocket, but the built-in cable itself, which routes from the pocket to a USB port less than 6 inches away, is an unnecessary item, which at best adds a potential point of failure to the bag—USB cables do not last forever. Does it ruin the bag? No. Is it a feature? Not really.

If you prefer the look of hard-sided luggage or the security of knowing that you can’t overpack your suitcase, Away’s The Carry-On is the carry-on we recommend. If you want to maximize your available carry-on space, it also comes in a slightly larger size: The Bigger Carry-On .

It can take wear and tear. Most travelers are still better off with one of our soft-sided picks than a hard-sided carry-on; soft-sided luggage shows less wear and typically lasts longer than hard-sided luggage. But the Away Carry-On’s wheels and zipper are as well made as those of our soft-sided picks, and its polycarbonate showed fewer scratches than that of hard-sided competitors.

We’ve tested the Away Carry-On for six years, traveling with it ourselves across the country and lending several units to testers and frequent travelers to see how they enjoyed using the bag. Its polycarbonate feels similar to that used on more high-end (and significantly pricier) suitcases such as the Rimowa Essential Cabin , which is more than three times as expensive.

You have options if you need extra space. Away makes a similar model of suitcase with an expandable zipper, The Carry-On Flex . The Flex is the same bag as the standard Carry-On except for the expanding center zipper and the price (it’s about $50 more). Personally, I’m not a fan of expanding zippers on suitcases. It feels like just one more thing to break. But some people may prefer having the extra flexibility.

It feels great to use. The bag itself feels good in the hands, and the wheels are noticeably better than those on any of the hard-sided competitors we tried. Away also uses YKK zippers, outclassing our top pick in that regard (Travelpro moved to Supra zippers in 2015). At this point, we’re pretty comfortable saying that years of debate over the best zipper are largely redundant, but YKK still sets the standard.

Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Away has sparked more imitators and outright duplicates than any other brand in the past decade, in part due to its appeal with younger travelers. I’ve thought about why, and as best as I can guess, a simple polycarbonate cube dripped in limited-edition soft hues does exude a certain calm; the fact that some of those same colors also coat the exteriors of pills ending in suffixes -ax and -il is not, one assumes, accidental.

It has a great warranty. The Away Carry-On is backed by a limited lifetime warranty that protects against defects and parts breaking. Though the warranty doesn’t specifically mention airline damage, the damages it does list—cracks or breaks in the shell, wheels or handles becoming unusable, zippers that don’t work, fabric tears that render any pocket unusable—basically outline anything an airline could possibly dish out.

Dimensions (for The Carry-On): 21.7 by 14.4 by 9 inches (HWD) Weight: 7.5 pounds Volume: 40 liters

• The Carry-On’s sleek style comes at a cost: Its polycarbonate shell is ultimately more likely to break than the nylon fabric of our other picks.
• It lacks certain amenities, such as external pockets and a suiter, that our top picks have.
• The clamshell design, which splits down the middle and opens into two parts, can make the bag frustrating to pack and unpack. Packing cubes help, but after years of packing and unpacking soft-sided luggage with a single lid, I personally find a clamshell design to be more finicky when packing.

The Travelpro Maxlite 5 21″ Carry-On Spinner is one of the lightest pieces of luggage we’ve tested, at a great price.

It’s lightweight. We have a hard time imagining how anyone could make a suitcase much lighter than this without breaking certain laws of physics. A few years ago, I took apart a Maxlite suitcase to see how the internal frame was built. What I found beneath the fabric was a clever lattice of plastic supporting the frame, which offered the best balance between weight-saving and structure.

For some people, especially those with limited upper-body strength, a lighter bag—even by just a few pounds—may be easier to lift or manage. That said, most people don’t need extremely light luggage, but just to pack less. For all the innovative design, the Maxlite 5 shaves only 2.4 pounds off the weight of our top pick. That’s the equivalent of a couple of pairs of jeans.

It’s inexpensive. My general advice to friends is to spend more than $200 but less than $500 to get good, if not great, luggage. The Maxlite 5 is the one piece of luggage I’ve found that breaks that rule. You can usually find it for about $150 or less, which is a remarkable price considering the bag’s quality.

Simple is good. This model doesn’t have any real bells or whistles—no battery pass-throughs or magnetically tracked wheels, as with our other Travelpro picks. Instead you’ll find two simple front pockets, a few well-placed handles, and a cavernous main compartment with a couple of pockets and two light straps to hold your stuff in place.

It comes from a trusted brand. We haven’t covered, examined, and interrogated a single luggage brand at Wirecutter for as long as we have Travelpro. For a decade, Travelpro has done a premier job of maintaining trust with its customers and with us—we’ve watched the company make small changes in design, catch flaws quickly, and address warranty concerns promptly. This is not something we say lightly: Travelpro is a name you can trust.

Dimensions: 23 by 14.5 by 9 inches (HWD) Weight: 5.4 pounds Volume: 46 liters

• The Maxlite 5’s warranty isn’t as robust as that of our top pick: Manufacturing defects in the wheels, zippers, and handles are covered for as long as you own the bag, but airline damage and shipping to a Travelpro repair center are covered only for the first year. (And you do need to register the bag.) Considering that this bag costs half the price of the Platinum Elite, this makes sense, but it’s something to be aware of.

If you’re a frequent flyer and willing to invest in higher-quality gear, we recommend the Briggs & Riley Baseline Essential 22″ Carry-On Expandable Spinner (also available in a two-wheeled version with more capacity).

It’s the best of the best. Every detail of this top-rated bag, from the zippers to the wheels to the wrinkle-resistant suit compartment, is made to the highest standards, and we found that it had a higher proportion of usable space than any other spinner bag we tested. Briggs & Riley keeps its design consistent, adding, at most, small improvements such as this year’s upgraded lifting handle. Our 6-foot-6 paid tester pointed out that the Baseline Essential’s handle extended an inch and a half farther than that of the Travelpro Platinum Elite, which made it less likely to hit his heels as he pulled it.

Although the wheels don’t snap into alignment, they are exceptionally smooth-rolling and easy to maneuver. If you fly more than 25,000 miles per year, it’s worthwhile to invest in luggage that goes beyond merely being sturdy and actually improves your overall travel experience. That’s why we’ve been recommending it since we first covered this topic in 2014. The Baseline Essential is one of the best carry-on luggage options available today.

Its compression system is truly a marvel. The most ingenious part of the Baseline Essential bag is its CX expansion and compression system. Pull upward on two plastic handles inside the bag, and you can extend its depth a full 2.5 inches. Load the bag as full as you need to, and zip it closed. Then you push down on the bag, which compresses it as a clip mechanism secures it in place. Unlike other expansion systems, which are either open or closed, this one locks into incremental positions. It’s a unique design and very satisfying to use.

It’s the easiest to pack. Briggs & Riley placed the tracks for the Baseline Essential handles on the outside of the bag, which allows for a flat surface in the interior of the bag, with no small crevices to work around for simple packing. And in our tests, after packing 10 bags and trying to figure out strategies for each nook and cranny, packing on a broad flat surface felt like a luxury. According to our measurements, the bag, unexpanded, offers 1,905 cubic inches of storage room (and that accounts for the space occupied by the wheel wells and such). Expanded, it can stow 2,110 cubic inches. That’s remarkably efficient for a bag that does so much. All of these features add up to a carry-on that is easier to pack than any other bag we tested.

The Baseline Essential spinner is also the only spinner luggage model we tested with a built-in garment folder. It’s similar to the folder in Travelpro’s two-wheeled Platinum Elite bag, and that’s a good thing. It’s easy to pack and has an anchor point for hangers. Each of the three folds has a bit of padding that helps to keep a suit from pinching onto itself and creasing, though much of that depends on how well you pack. You can fit a week’s worth of clothes in the Baseline Essential, including some puffy gear for colder weather. A wide, wrinkle-free tie-down system completes the package.

It’s understated. On the outside, the Baseline Essential is pretty unremarkable. There’s nothing eye-grabbing about the bag, which is good if you’re trying to avoid being gate-checked (or having it stolen). Its outer, nylon fabric seems to be of a tighter weave than that used on the other bags we’ve tested. We also noticed a robust feel to the zippers, which are a self-repairing type made by YKK.

Similar to our top pick, the Baseline Essential includes a charging pocket. However, Briggs & Riley skipped the internal USB wiring, instead opting for a simple pocket arrangement (video) on the back of the bag for discreetly storing a charge pack and your phone. It’s an elegant solution.

It comes with an excellent warranty. All Briggs & Riley bags come with a lifetime warranty that covers any damage to the “functional aspects” of the bag, even if caused by an airline (like Travelpro, Briggs & Riley does not cover cosmetic wear or cleaning). Although Briggs & Riley handles warranty-covered repairs at no extra cost, you do have to pay to ship the bag to the company to carry out any repairs; it will ship your bag back to you for free. Or you can drop off the bag at one of the many repair centers . Briggs & Riley emphasizes that returning your bag to you in its original condition, even after repairs, is not always possible. The bags are easy to service and repair, so you can also order the parts you need and replace them yourself at home.

We’ve put in the miles, and the Baseline Essential is in a separate league. Over a five-year period before the pandemic, Wirecutter founder Brian Lam carried a two-wheeled Baseline Essential carry-on while traveling 150,000 miles and farther. After considering all the bags in our test and logging an additional 40,000 miles with a similarly priced bag by Tumi, he was convinced that this model is the best for anyone who’s always on the move. “I love this bag. It carries so much,” Brian said. “Sometimes I check it. Sometimes I carry it. It always fits.”

Dimensions: 22 by 14 by 9 (expands to 11.5) inches (HWD) Weight: 10 pounds Volume: 37 liters (expands to 48 liters)

• Despite the plastic shielding, the exposed rails on the exterior could use more protection. While dragging the bag up stairs (which we don’t advise doing), we felt more scraping than we’d like.
• At first glance, the handle feels too loose for a roughly $700 bag. We spoke to Briggs & Riley representatives, and they explained that this is a deliberate choice: The looser tolerances allow for the handle to retract by itself when you click its button, without your having to force it down. In practice, this is very helpful for scaling stairs and could save you some hassle in tight quarters, such as in the aisle of an airplane.
• At 10 pounds, the Baseline Essential is the heaviest bag we recommend. In this price range, weight often equals durability, which equals quality. But if you’re uncomfortable with a heavier bag, this isn’t the best pick for you.

Carl Friedrik’s The Carry-On is an impressive polycarbonate case that improves in areas where most other companies tend to cut corners.

It’s robust and durable. It improves the usual hard-case design primarily by replacing the zipper with an aluminum frame sealed with two metal latches incorporating TSA locks. This trim makes the case feel far more robust, which is a very satisfying feeling when you’re wheeling luggage around an airport.

Clasping shut an aluminum frame with a metal lock is pleasing—it feels like closing a safe and locking it tight. The polycarbonate shell has an equally rigid feeling but exhibits plenty of flexibility under strain. Although it’s difficult to compare polycarbonates between brands, higher-end polycarbonate feels dense to the touch even as the material flexes; in this piece of luggage, Carl Friedrik offers impressive quality.

Additionally, the Carl Friedrik Carry-On has YKK zippers internally and Hinomoto spinner wheels from Japan—both considered the top of their class.

It’s thoughtfully styled. The soft leather accents and bolted frame all have a certain maturity that’s often lacking in other, competing cases. This look carries to the inside of the luggage as well. A simple gray polyester lining accompanies two sets of compression straps and a removable compression pad, which has a zippered pocket.

It has an excellent warranty. As you might expect for the price, Carl Friedrik backs up its luggage with a lifetime warranty that protects against airline damage (assuming the airline hasn’t responded to your request for compensation within 14 days).

Dimensions: 21.6 by 14.5 by 9 inches (HWD) Weight: 8.6 pounds Volume: 40 liters

• This is a brand-new pick—so far we haven’t found any flaws, but we’re keeping an eye on the latches. Luggage latches are small, complicated mechanical devices that have a myriad of ways to fail.
• The handle feels just a touch loose, which, as with our upgrade pick from Briggs & Riley , can be a benefit. It can also sometimes be a hazard. Again, we’ll continue testing it.

Hybrid designs like the Yeti Crossroads 22″/35L Wheeled Luggage aren’t for everyone, but if you like the flexibility of a soft-sided luggage with the hard-hitting ruggedness of a polycarbonate back and two large fixed wheels, then this bag is just right.

It’s made from tough materials and easy-to-repair parts. Yeti has a reputation for using tough, sometimes cutting-edge, materials in all its gear. The Crossroads is no exception. The 700-denier nylon is one of the better nylons we’ve tested—tightly woven and exceptionally durable. (Denier is a measure of the fiber thickness in a fabric.)

The Crossroads comes in only a two-wheeled design, which is usually able to withstand more damage than a four-wheeled design. The wheels are also easier to service on the road and often replaceable. 5

It’s well organized. It includes a front panel organizer, similar to that of modern laptop backpacks, with two slots for your laptop and tablet plus a mesh pocket for spare gear. Fully packed, it still has room for a few magazines as well, if you like. Internally, the soft top has a zippered main compartment with a decent amount of packing space, as well as two mesh organizing pockets.

It’s a pleasure to pack. As the Crossroads is built around a molded polycarbonate base, the entire suitcase becomes, in essence, a large tray to pack and then zip shut. It’s a very satisfying design—easier to manage than many of the clamshell designs that are currently popular. Yeti’s packing cubes are designed to fit snugly in the Crossroads’s main compartment, and the bag does come with one small cube. But if you choose these, you’re spending a premium for additional packing cubes when almost any packing cube will work.

Dimensions: 22 by 14 by 9 inches (HWD) Weight: 8 pounds Volume: 40 liters

• We’d love to see a better warranty. Three years is very limited when compared with other luggage brands selling similarly priced suitcases—especially for a bag that claims to be as tough as the brand’s reputation.
• Occasionally, Yeti’s tough-gear reputation veers almost into absurdity, as with the inclusion here of self-sealing zippers on a bag that isn’t actually waterproof—merely weather resistant. They’re top-of-the-line zippers. But self-sealing zippers can be hard to operate and require regular lubrication, which most people aren’t used to providing.
• The front-facing laptop organizer is woefully unshielded. If you’re traveling with a laptop, place it deep within the bag if you want it properly protected.
• The bag feels heavy—by our measurements, it weighs about a half pound more than Yeti’s 7.5-pound estimation. It’s not the heaviest of our picks, but something about the weight distribution and shape of the bag makes it feel heavier when you’re swinging it around.

If you need a hard-sided budget bag: Look at the Gregory Quadro Hardcase 22″ , an unexpectedly high-quality suitcase from an outdoor-gear company. Gregory offers a lifetime warranty with service and repair. Although the warranty doesn’t explicitly mention airline damage, Gregory’s good reputation speaks for itself in this matter. However, the Quadro Hardcase is a pound heavier (at 6.5 pounds) and about $60 more than our budget pick.

If the Away Carry-On is sold out: Consider the Monos Carry-On Plus . Picking between these two models came down to splitting some very fine hairs. Both use YKK zippers. Both have lifetime warranties. The handles and interiors are almost identical. Monos even hides the stitching that attaches the zipper to the polycarbonate frame, which is a nice aesthetic touch. The difference came down to the Away Carry-On’s wheels, which spun just that much more freely in our testing, and the underside handle, which made it easier to pull out of overhead bins. And we’ve tested the Away Carry-On for longer. However, if it’s unavailable, the Monos model is a good, nearly identical substitute.

If you want a bag made of recycled materials: We suggest the Paravel Aviator Carry-On . Paravel is attempting to design luggage with recycled materials and some environmentally minded transparency to the company’s production methods. However, you pay a premium for the effort. Quality-wise, the bag is similar to our other hard-sided picks, for about a hundred more dollars. And much of the Paravel branding is built on carbon offsets, which we are deeply skeptical of (though we wish they worked).

If you’re an infrequent adventurer: Try the Topo Designs Global Travel Bag Roller , which could almost be an also-great pick under our hybrid pick . It’s cheaper, has a better warranty (but no explicit coverage for airline damage), and is made from recycled materials. However, the overall build quality is wanting. For example, the polycarbonate shell doesn’t fully cover the tubes for the extendable handle as it does with our hybrid pick. It seems an oversight for bags that are built to knock around.

If the best possible suit-packing experience is all you want, and money is no object: The Vocier C38 Carry-On Luggage is worth a look, despite a few flaws and an $800 price tag. The C38 takes a unique, fold-free approach to packing clothes. Rather than folding garments in on themselves to fit in the bag, it bends the suit around the outside of the luggage frame in a U shape. This packing method creates no creases and therefore no wrinkles. The case is protected by a limited lifetime warranty that doesn’t cover airline damage.

We hope to take a look at the European brand Floyd , which is currently popular on Instagram. At first glance, it’s another piece of luggage looking to appeal to a younger mass audience. But the easy-to-replace polyurethane wheels and bearings—similar to skateboard wheels—do have “user-serviceable parts inside” curb appeal.

We’re currently testing Level8’s Voyageur series of luggage, which features an extra-wide handle. It’s a design trend we’re starting to track with a few lesser-known brands (and, incidentally, a Louis Vuitton case costing several thousand dollars). A wide handle should do two things: It should free up a little more space inside the luggage, and it should improve handling.

Lastly, we’re considering expanding our coverage to include equipment cases like those made by Pelican . Though their appropriate use is very specific, when you need to travel with high-end gear or fragile valuables, Pelican cases more or less set the standard.

Soft-sided carry-on luggage

Cotopaxi Allpa 38L Roller Bag : We’re generally fans of Cotopaxi’s Allpa line, but this two-wheeled bag falls short. Specifically, the bottom of the bag is split by the zipper, which gives the bag an unstable feeling when it’s standing upright.

Eagle Creek Tarmac XE 4-Wheel 22″ Carry On Luggage : If this bag were about $150 cheaper, it would be a good price for the quality. We like the recycled materials, but the bag lacks framing.

Solo Re:Treat Carry-On Spinner : I appreciate any bag made entirely out of recycled materials, but this model (from a brand owned by the same company that manages Briggs & Riley) felt awfully flimsy. Even with its five-year warranty, I just don’t trust that this bag can go the distance.

Thule Subterra : The clamshell design—similar to the ones you find on hard-sided bags—makes this bag difficult to close if you’re trying to fill it to its full capacity. It just isn’t as easy to use as our soft-sided picks.

Timbuk2 Copilot Luggage Roller : The balance on this bag was decent, and it stood up well unloaded or loaded. Its wheels had a cheap ball-bearing rhythmic chatter, though, and the abundance of zippers and internal compartments made it tedious to pack.

Tumi Aerotour International Expandable 4 Wheeled Carry-On : At about half the price, this would be a great bag. But paying nearly $700 for a five-year warranty and a bag that doesn’t do nearly as much as a Briggs & Riley suitcase seems a bit silly.

Hard-sided carry-on luggage

Amazon Basics 24-Inch Hardside Spinner : This bag is a surprisingly good carry-on for about $90. However, its ABS plastic shell is not as tough as a polycarbonate shell. It’s worth investing more in your luggage—the bag you choose will last longer and work better.

Arlo Skye The Frame Carry-On : The Arlo Skye carry-on is a decent piece of luggage, but it’s hard to square the bag with its cost: $200 more than our pick from Away .

Away The Carry-On: Aluminum Edition : 10 pounds! At this weight, you’ve lost a quarter of your allowable luggage weight to the suitcase alone, unpacked. And it’s nearly as expensive as our upgrade pick, with a much less satisfying compression system.

Briggs & Riley Torq and Sympatico : Though these collections seek to solve a different problem, neither is as impressive as the Baseline series.

Calpak Ambeur Carry-On Luggage : We preferred sturdier polycarbonate shells over Calpak’s blended ABS polycarbonate shell. Also, the bag’s handling felt jittery against normal airport floor surfaces.

Delsey Rempart Expandable Spinner Carry-On : At just around $200, the Rempart is a decent budget option. However, the external styling (like layers of pressed sheet pans) is an odd choice. It has some practicality, but only if you’re stacking identical Delsey cases one on top of another, which might happen, I suppose, at some point … maybe.

July Carry On : In the lineup between July, Monos, and Away, July falls just short. We appreciate the lifetime warranty, YKK zippers, and flexible but dense-feeling polycarbonate. But the overall design doesn’t do much to improve on the category (as the Monos bag subtly does).

Level8 Road Runner Pro Carry-On 20″ : This is potentially a decent budget pick at just around $200. But the one-year warranty and the somewhat fiddly TSA lock and front latching panel give us pause.

Lojel Cubo Medium : Although we liked the uncommon top-loading design, the internal organization of the lid made packing this carry-on difficult. We also weren’t impressed by the zippered expansion system, which made the suitcase feel bulkier than our picks.

Lojel Voja Medium : An odd suitcase, this would be a great children’s suitcase or a budget pick—especially if it were under $200. But its current price is steep for a polypropylene blend with a couple of latches.

This article was edited by Ria Misra and Chris Ryan.

Airline policies vary, but a general rule is that the bag must be under 45 linear inches—the total sum of the bag’s length, width, and depth. Here’s the current sizing breakdown among the major US airlines:

• Alaska Airlines: 22 by 14 by 9 inches
• Allegiant Air: 22 by 14 by 9 inches
• American Airlines: 22 by 14 by 9 inches (the dimensions of soft-sided garment bags are allowed to add up to 51 inches)
• Delta Air Lines: 22 by 14 by 9 inches
• Frontier Airlines: 24 by 16 by 10 inches (and less than 35 pounds)
• Hawaiian Airlines: 22 by 14 by 9 inches
• JetBlue Airways: 22 by 14 by 9 inches
• Southwest Airlines: 24 by 16 by 10 inches
• Spirit Airlines: 22 by 18 by 10 inches
• Sun Country Airlines: 24 by 16 by 11 inches
• United Airlines: 22 by 14 by 9 inches

We double-checked the measurable packable space of our top picks against the manufacturers’ listed volumes by filling each piece of luggage with hundreds of Ping-Pong balls: 144 Ping-Pong balls weigh exactly 0.5 pound, and each Ping-Pong ball represents approximately 2 cubic inches (PDF) . After weighing each piece of luggage three times to establish an average empty weight, we filled the bags as full as we could with Ping-Pong balls and measured the change in weight. For every half-pound increase in weight we estimated 288 cubic inches of packable space.

His five-day travel kit included the following:

• 1 two-piece linen suit on a hanger
• 1 dress shirt on a hanger
• 1 pair of jeans
• 1 pair of khakis
• 5 medium-weight to lightweight shirts
• 1 heavy sweater
• 2 flannel shirts
• 5 pairs of boxer briefs
• 5 pairs of sport socks

Her five-day travel kit included the following:

• 1 dress on a hanger
• 1 blazer on a hanger
• 1 blouse on a hanger
• 1 pair of heels
• 2 pairs of jeans
• 1 pair of light sneakers
• 5 pairs of underwear and 3 bras
• 1 pair of yoga pants
• 1 flannel shirt
• 1 hair dryer
• 1 curling iron
• 1 jewelry/makeup kit
• 3 pairs of sport socks
• 4 lightweight shirts

You use a garment folder by laying a suit or dress across the panels, folding them into themselves, and zipping up the inner compartment. A folder should be wide enough that a suit isn’t cramped, and it should include hanger straps (which should fit around everything, even larger plastic hangers) to keep things from shifting around too much. Some folding boards have 0.75-inch-diameter foam rolls in them to help prevent creases along the packed clothes’ fold lines. When you aren’t traveling with fancy clothes, you can take the whole apparatus apart and use it as luggage dividers in the main bag itself, or leave it at home, converting the suit/dress compartment into an extra packing cube.

Yeti doesn’t seem to have an easy way to order replaceable wheels. But the 3.5-by-1-inch wheels are fairly common, and we’re looking at the best possible alternatives.

Meet your guide

Kit Dillon is a senior staff writer at Wirecutter. He was previously an app developer, oil derrick inspector, public-radio archivist, and sandwich shop owner. He has written for Popular Science, The Awl, and the New York Observer, among others. When called on, he can still make a mean sandwich.

Further reading

Wirecutter’s 100 Most Popular Picks in September 2022

by Wirecutter Staff

These 100 useful things were the most-purchased Wirecutter picks in September 2022.

The Best Luggage Tags

by Geoffrey Morrison

We chose five luggage tags that will help you identify your belongings in a sea of similar suitcases.

The Best Carry-On Travel Backpacks

by Kit Dillon

The Cotopaxi Allpa 35L is our backpack pick for most travelers. We also have picks for other travelers, including those who want to carry a bit more.

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The best carry-on luggage of 2024.

Discover the best carry-on luggage for your unique travel style and needs.

The Best Carry-on Luggage

Rachael Hood | U.S. News

Things aren't always as they seem – especially when it comes to luggage. In our quest to find the best carry-on bags, we discovered that while some suitcases look good, they don't always hold up to the demands of travel. Some designs have attractive features that add bulk but not additional functionality, while others just don't live up to the hype.

To determine the best carry-on luggage, we tested dozens of bags on countless trips to find the ideal bag for every travel need. Read on to find the best option in a variety of categories, tested and reviewed by our team of experts.

Best Overall: Solgaard Carry-On Closet Original – Large

• Jump to features and expert insights ↓
• Overall Runner-up: Travelpro Platinum Elite Carry-on Hardside Spinner

Best Hard-sided: Away The Carry-On

Best soft-sided: samsonite solyte dlx carry-on spinner, best lightweight: july carry on light, best for international travel: delsey paris helium aero international carry-on - expandable spinner, best affordable: amazon basics 20-inch hardside spinner.

• Best Expandability: Briggs & Riley Essential 22" Carry-on Expandable Spinner
• Best Underseater: CALPAK Luka Soft-sided Mini Carry-On Luggage

Best for Business Travel: Amazon Basics Expandable Softside Carry-On Spinner – 20.4 Inch

Best luxury: carl friedrik the carry-on pro.

• Best Carry-on Duffel: The North Face Rolling Thunder–22"

Best Carry-on Backpack: Cotopaxi Allpa 35L

(Note: Prices were accurate at the time this article was published; they may fluctuate due to demand or other factors. Original photos were taken by our editors during luggage testing.)

Price:  $315 or less

Dimensions: 22.4 x 14.6 x 9.6 inches | Weight: 8.1 pounds; 8.85 pounds with closet insert Packing capacity: 4-7 days |  Color options:  Red, purple, navy or 6 others, plus precious metals options Hard- or soft-sided:  Hard-sided   | Warranty: Lifetime

Sturdy and attractive, this suitcase is set apart from the rest by its patented and removable shelving system. This unique design feature makes packing easier, keeps items in place and removes the need for unpacking at your destination. Rather than a zippered clamshell design, the Solgaard Carry-on Closet has two latches that open with just the squeeze of two levers together; it secures with a TSA-approved lock.

The waterproof polycarbonate exterior has an aluminum frame and corner guards so this suitcase can withstand all the rigors of travel. There's also an ergonomic handle and frictionless wheels, which make it easy to maneuver on all types of terrain. What's more, this sustainable suitcase helps to repurpose 6 pounds of plastics that may have ended up in the ocean.

What our editors say:

This carry-on suitcase has it all! From the power bank (sold separately) to the super sturdy and comfortable handle to the removable closet feature – not to mention the attractive yet functional appearance – this suitcase packs a punch. I really like how easy it is to pull on a variety of surfaces, including carpet and brick. – Rachael Hood, Senior Editor

Best Overall Runner-up: Travelpro Platinum Elite Carry-On Hardside Spinner

Leilani Osmundson | U.S. News

Price: $369.99 or less

Dimensions: 23 x 14.5 x 9.5 inches | Weight: 8.1 pounds Packing capacity: Up to 10 days; 45 liters | Color options: White, red, blue, green or gray Hard- or soft-sided: Hard-sided | Warranty: Limited lifetime

The Travelpro Platinum Elite Carry-On Hardside Spinner is a truly well-rounded carry-on with a plethora of unique features. USB A & C ports on the outside of the bag give easy access to charging. (A power bank is not included, though the bag does have a pocket for one inside the expansion zipper.) Self-aligning magnetic wheels – a reviewer-favorite feature – allow painless travel through the airport as well as on roads, sidewalks, uneven surfaces and more. A built-in TSA zipper lock offers ultimate protection for your possessions.

Even without the features listed above, this Travelpro spinner is, at its core, a high-quality piece. The hard outer shell is ultra-strong and 100% polycarbonate; aluminum corner guards further protect your belongings. The clamshell-style suitcase has two large interior compartments along with three extra pockets, one of which is water-resistant, and the expansion zipper allows for an extra 2 inches of packing room. Plus, this carry-on is made with genuine leather trim, so you can travel in style as well as comfort.

There are some amazing features on this carry-on, but my favorite is the wheels – as someone who typically prefers hands-free travel (primarily backpacks), I found that the way this suitcase easily glides around everywhere absolutely changed my mind about wheeled luggage. Just know that since this is one of the larger bags on this list, I would still check your airline's carry-on size requirements before traveling (though it's been tested for most major domestic airlines, and it fit perfectly on Delta). – Leilani Osmundson, Senior Digital Producer

Amanda Norcross | U.S. News

Price: $275 or less

Dimensions: 21.7 x 14.4 x 9 inches | Weight: 7.5 pounds Packing capacity: Up to 5 days; 39.8 liters | Color options: Black, navy, blue gray or olive, plus 2 glossy options Hard- or soft-sided: Hard-sided | Warranty: Limited

When it comes to hard-sided carry-on luggage , nothing beats The Carry-On by Away. The bag is lightweight yet indestructible thanks to a 100% polycarbonate exterior. Plus, you can easily wipe away most scratches with a magic eraser.

In late 2023, Away launched a new iteration of The Carry-On that somehow made it even more efficient. The most notable new features are an additional underside grab handle, three extra interior compartments, and an enhanced compression system that upholds the bag's ability to accommodate nearly a week's worth of clothing. The bag's 360-degree wheels are also slimmer than those of its predecessor for improved maneuverability. While Away has long been known for its neutral colored matte options, glossy options of this bag are now available.

The Away Carry-On is my ride or die. I've taken it on so many trips over the past five-plus years and it's still in perfect shape. I know I'll have it with me for many years to come. – Amanda Norcross, Senior Content and SEO Strategist

Catriona Kendall | U.S. News

Price: $199.99 or less

Dimensions: 22 x 14 x 9.5 inches | Weight: 7.1 pounds Packing capacity: Up to 7 days; 32 liters | Color options: Black, gray, green, aqua blue or royal blue Hard- or soft-sided: Soft-sided | Warranty: 10-year limited

This classic soft-sided option from Samsonite offers everything you need for a smooth trip. There are three spacious pockets and a trolley strap on the outside so you can stack it on top of another rolling suitcase, as well as a USB port for charging your phone (though you'll have to purchase a battery separately).

Inside the suitcase, three more zippered pockets – including one for wet items – help you stay organized, while buckles keep the main compartment's tie-down straps out of your way while packing. This spinner can conveniently expand by 0.75 inches, but keep in mind if you're flying that overpacking may put it over your carry-on size allowance.

I've used other spinner suitcases in the past, but none of them glide as smoothly as this bag, with its 360-degree dual-spinner wheels. I also love the high-quality, lightweight material, but my favorite part is its organizational features – especially the WetPak pocket. I'd highly recommend the Samsonite SoLyte DLX for anyone who needs a trusty soft-sided carry-on for a flight; it definitely fits more than I thought it would. – Catriona Kendall, Editor

Price: $245 or less

Dimensions: 21.25 x 14.17 x 7.5 inches | Weight: 3.9 pounds Packing capacity: Up to 7 days; 32 liters | Color options: Beige, light green, dark green, lilac, charcoal or 3 others Hard- or soft-sided: Hard | Warranty: Lifetime with 100-day returns

Weighing just under 4 pounds, this bag is the lightest hard-sided carry-on we found on the market. It's constructed with an extremely durable German polycarbonate shell, and the interior has two mesh zippered compartments to keep your belongings from shifting. The inner nylon lining is also resistant to water and stains. To make the suitcase easy to maneuver, there's a top carry handle, a telescoping handle and dual-spinner wheels.

I was absolutely shocked by how light this suitcase is. While some lightweight designs can be extremely flimsy, this July carry-on is very durable and holds a good amount of clothing. With compression packing cubes I was able to pack enough clothing for a week. It was extremely easy to put in the plane's overhead compartment, and the wheels rolled very smoothly for my entire journey. The only thing I noticed is that since the bag is so lightweight, the trolley bag I had was making it want to topple. Next time, I'd use a smaller tote or a north-south design to avoid that issue. – Rachael Hood

Erin Evans | U.S. News

Price: $179.99 or less

Dimensions: 21 x 14 x 10 inches | Weight: 8.16 pounds Packing capacity: 5-7 days; 41 liters | Color options: Black, blue, red or gray Hard- or soft-sided: Hard-sided | Warranty: 10-year limited

This DELSEY PARIS carry-on is a well-built piece of hard-sided luggage. It meets carry-on suitcase size restrictions for most international airlines and offers an easily accessible front compartment – ideal for a laptop up to 15.6 inches or other items you want to be able to grab quickly. The suitcase has a TSA lock and two spacious internal compartments for clothing, shoes and travel gear. The double-spinner wheels glide smoothly across all types of surfaces, and the handle pulls out and retracts with ease.

I was incredibly impressed by this little workhorse of a carry-on bag. There are so many different pockets and compartments within it for organization, and it fits a surprising amount of clothes, shoes and accessories. The handle and wheels make it easy to maneuver, and the glossy exterior makes it look sleek and chic. – Erin Evans, Managing Editor

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Price: $80 or less

Dimensions: 21.46 x 14.76 x 9.45 inches | Weight: 7.34 pounds Packing capacity: Up to 7 days; 23 liters | Color options: Black, navy blue, orange or light blue Hard- or soft-sided: Hard-sided | Warranty: 1-year

The Amazon Basics 20-inch Hardside Spinner is similar to many other hard-sided luggage products on the market, but it's available at a fraction of the price. The ABS shell is textured, so even if you – or luggage handlers – bang it around a bit, it does not show scuffs or scratches easily. The double-spinner wheels (a must, honestly, in today's luggage landscape) make the bag effortless to maneuver.

Inside, one side of the bag features a compression strap, while the other has a large fabric zippered closure, complete with a few organizer pockets for smaller items. Thanks to its availability on Amazon Prime, the carry-on luggage ships quickly, so it's also a great option if you need new luggage in a crunch.

This carry-on bag is a superb selection for the budget-conscious traveler. I appreciated how much I was able to get into this bag (it doesn't look huge, but it fit quite a lot), and the textured exterior really ups the durability factor. The compression straps and the interior organizer even helped me squeeze in a bit more. – Erin Evans

Best Expandability: Briggs & Riley Essential 22" Carry-on Expandable Spinner

Price: $699 or less

Dimensions: 22 x 14 x 9 (up to 11.5) inches | Weight: 10 pounds Packing capacity: Up to 7 days; 37-48 liters | Color options: Black, navy or olive Hard- or soft-sided: Soft-sided | Warranty: Lifetime

The Briggs & Riley Essential 22" Carry-on Expandable Spinner has a standout feature that other bags on this list don't: one-touch CX expansion. Exclusive to Briggs & Riley, this technology allows your bag to expand and compress in one swift motion. Simply press and pull up on the red levers found at opposite ends of the bag, and it will grow 2.5 inches. Once you've packed your belongings, push down on the buttons to compress the bag before zipping it up.

This bag also features a garment folder to reduce wrinkles in a suit or dress, as well as cinch-down garment panels to secure the clothing in place. Other convenient features include interior mesh compartments for organization, an exterior pocket for airport essentials (or even your laptop) and a signature PowerPocket where you can charge your smartphone.

While the bag is undoubtedly an investment at $700, its "simple as that" guarantee (free repairs forever, no questions asked) – plus sturdy features like impact-resistant corner guards and self-repairing zippers – means you'll have it for life.

When it comes to quality, this is the best luggage I've ever used – period. The compression/expansion system is just the icing on the cake. – Amanda Norcross

Best Underseater: CALPAK Luka Soft-Sided Mini Carry-On Luggage

Price: $165 or less

Dimensions: 16 x 14.5 x 9 inches | Weight: 5.1 pounds Packing capacity: 2-4 days; 34 liters | Color options: Chocolate, oatmeal or rose quartz Hard- or soft-sided: Soft-sided | Warranty: 2-year limited

Compact and filled with useful features, this CALPAK underseater has a water-resistant exterior, a TSA-approved lock, and side and top handles for easy lifting into the overhead or pushing under the seat. There's a telescoping handle, a luggage trolley sleeve and two exterior pockets for stowing small items like your passport, boarding pass and earbuds.

On the inside, there's a padded laptop sleeve, multiple interior pockets and compression straps. For added convenience, the main panel can be secured via built-in snaps to get your laptop out while traveling (and keep your other belongings from spilling out), or you can unsnap it while packing to maximize the interior storage space.

When I'm traveling on a quick trip with my laptop, this is my go-to bag. Its compact size glides easily under the seat, and it's also compact and light enough to fit into the overhead bin even on the smallest regional planes. I love the laptop sleeve and the zippered exterior pocket for my book, earbuds and wipes. To maximize the interior space, I use compression cubes from Lug , and I'm able to squeeze in four to five outfits, a pair of shoes and daily necessities. – Rachael Hood

Price: $83 or less

Dimensions: 20.4 x 14.9 x 8.2 inches | Weight: 6.35 pounds Packing capacity: 2-3 days; 26 liters | Color options: Black, olive, gray, red, blue or purple Hard- or soft-sided: Hard-sided | Warranty: 1-year

This simple but sturdy carry-on piece from Amazon is a great option for business travelers, thanks to its front pocket for easy laptop access, smooth double-spinner wheels and TSA lock. This Amazon Basics soft-sided carry-on also features a handle on the bottom between the wheels, which makes it easy to put the bag up into and pull it out of the overhead bin. On some airplanes, it may even be small enough to fit under the seat.

The interior of the bag features one large compartment with two compression straps, plus two zippered pockets on the opposite site. The 20.4-inch option is ideal for shorter trips, but this style is available in larger sizes as well. Another bonus: It's available on Amazon Prime, so it ships quickly.

This Amazon Basics option is on the smaller side for a carry-on, but that's what makes it a solid choice for business travelers going on short trips who only need to pack a few things. The laptop pocket is easily accessible, and the handle on the bottom of the bag is super useful for hauling it out of an overhead bin. The black color is professional, and the price can't be beat. – Erin Evans

Price: $565 or less

Dimensions: 21.7 x 15 x 9.6 inches | Weight: 9.5 pounds Packing capacity: 5-7 days; 43 liters | Color options: Gray/cognac, gray/chocolate, gray/black or black Hard- or soft-sided: Hard-sided | Warranty: Lifetime with a 100-day trial

Constructed with premium materials, this luxury carry-on has Italian leather accents, Japanese spinner wheels and a polycarbonate exterior with an aluminum metal frame for stability. It closes via two secure latches with combination locks (rather than a zipper). There's a front laptop compartment with a smaller pocket and pen slots to keep business essentials or travel documents easy to access.

The interior has leather details, compression straps and a removable compression pad with a pocket – ideal for small items like ties, fashion jewelry or silk scarves. Travelers can also purchase an additional compression pad to have a pad on each side of the interior compartment.

This suitcase exudes luxury with its Italian leather trim and understated elegance. The design of it looks very sleek, the interior is spacious, the handle is very sturdy and the wheels glide with ease. I especially liked that the top of the suitcase is very flat, which gave my trolley bag a secure base so it wasn't moving around while I was at the airport, and the front compartment was ideal for accessing my laptop on the go. It feels very sturdy, but the only downside is it weighs more than a typical carry-on. – Rachael Hood

Best Carry-on Duffel: The North Face Rolling Thunder – 22"

Price: $270 or less

Dimensions: 22 x 14 x 8.5 inches | Weight: 7.34 pounds Packing capacity: Up to 5 days; 40 liters | Color options: Black Hard- or soft-sided: Soft-sided | Warranty: Limited lifetime

The North Face's 22-inch Rolling Thunder duffel doesn't have the bells and whistles of other carry-on options, but it's a sturdy and reliable option for those who want a duffel style on wheels. The duffel has a hard-sided back panel, two wheels that can withstand various terrain and plastic bumpers for abrasion resistance. The soft-sided top of the bag is made of water-resistant Base Camp material and nylon for extra durability. There are two zippered pockets on the outside to stash small items and a mesh pocket inside for some added organization.

I brought this duffel on a trip to New Zealand, and it held up very well. The Rolling Thunder had no issues after being checked on six different flights, and the flexibility of the style allowed me to easily store it out of the way in my campervan once I had unpacked. It's definitely a simpler style, but it does its job well. Be aware, though, that this wheeled style doesn't have straps that would allow you to carry it like a duffel; it can only be rolled. – Catriona Kendall

Price: $200 or less

Dimensions: 22 x 12 x 10 inches | Weight: 3.5 pounds Packing capacity: 5-10 days; 35 liters | Color options: Multiple options but color availability changes frequently Hard- or soft-sided: Soft-sided | Warranty: Lifetime

When it comes to hands-free and adventure travel, the Cotopaxi Allpa 35L can't be beat. This lightweight carry-on backpack comes with a sternum strap, a removable waist belt and a weight-distributing harness system, all to make for a comfortable carry (since sore shoulders can be a concern when it comes to carrying backpacks through time-consuming airport experiences).

Organization is a breeze with a top zippered pocket – perfect for storing travel documents or a Cotopaxi hip pack – and a padded laptop sleeve on the outside. Internally, you'll find two mesh compartments, one large and one subdivided, that work great with Cotopaxi packing cubes . The backpack's straps can be tucked away for more streamlined travel, and the bag even comes with a rain cover (though the Allpa is already TPU-coated to be water-resistant).

Furthermore, Cotopaxi is dedicated to sustainability : 94% of Cotopaxi products contain repurposed, recycled or responsible materials. The vibrant, one-of-a-kind Del Dia Allpa backpacks , for example, use remnant fabric.

I've taken my Cotopaxi Allpa on countless adventures and it's survived everything – wind, rain, being shoved into tiny rental cars, you name it. Besides being incredibly durable, I love how much this backpack can fit; my longest trip so far with only the Allpa 35L as my luggage has been a comfortable nine days, and that included packing bulky cold-weather gear. I just wish it had a water bottle pocket like the Allpa 42L does! – Leilani Osmundson

Also Recommended

Solo New York Re:Serve Carry-On Spinner: While the Solo New York Re:Serve Carry-On Spinner is a solid (and sustainable) carry-on bag for less than $200, it doesn't offer quite enough space – especially for someone who may be traveling for longer.

Away The Aluminum Carry-On Bag: This is a well-built carry-on bag. The only downfall is that it's on the heavier side, weighing nearly 11 pounds. Away's Aluminum Carry-On is also more than twice the cost of the standard carry-on by Away, which works just as well.

Lipault Plume Cabin Size Spinner: This is a great soft-sided option if you're looking for a lightweight suitcase. Featuring a sleek nylon construction, a large front exterior pocket and internal zippered pockets, the Lipault Plume Cabin Size Spinner works well but isn't as lightweight as the July Carry-on Light.

Monos Carry-on Plus: It's a high-quality suitcase with a lot of internal details, but given its larger size this bag doesn't fit in the overhead compartment on multiple planes (especially regional jets). That said, if you're traveling domestically on larger planes, the Monos Carry-on Plus could be an option to consider. Or, the smaller standard Monos Carry-on could be a good option as well.

Pros and Cons of Hard-sided Luggage

Pros and cons of soft-sided luggage, frequently asked questions.

Aside from traditional rolling suitcases, the following items can be used as carry-on luggage provided they meet carry-on size limitations (which vary by airline) and fit in the overhead bin or fully under the seat (not sticking out) in front of you.

• Duffel and weekender bags:  This includes weekenders and duffel bags with wheels . Just note that wheels are included in carry-on dimension restrictions.
• Garment bags:  These are also considered carry-on baggage by most airlines. You can place your garment bag in the overhead bin, or in some cases, a small closet on the plane.
• Pet carriers:  Some airlines consider pet carriers to be carry-on luggage. Check with your chosen airline when preparing for your trip with Fido.
• Backpacks:  If your carry-on backpack fits under the seat, it will count toward your personal item allowance on most major airlines. This means you'll have the option to bring an additional bag for the overhead bin.
• Diaper bags: If you're traveling with a baby, diaper bags and other baby travel gear generally don't count toward either allowance – meaning you can bring these items in addition to your carry-on bag and personal item.

Purses , briefcases and camera bags can be carried on the plane as well, but usually aren't considered carry-on bags and are instead labeled personal items. Underseater bags – often designed specifically to fit comfortably under a plane seat – are also ideal as a personal item.

Typically, travelers can bring one carry-on bag (for the overhead bin) and one personal item (for under the seat) on the plane, free of charge.

Carry-on luggage sizes can vary by airline. Several major U.S. carriers, such as American Airlines and United, impose a 22 x 14 x 9-inch rule. If you're buying new carry-on luggage, this is a good default size to choose – especially if you fly with a variety of airlines.

For international airlines, it's often 21.5 x 15.5 x 9 inches. To be sure about dimensions as well as any weight restrictions, see our guide to Carry-on Luggage Size & Weight by Airline . It usually doesn't matter how heavy your carry-on bag is, though some airlines do monitor the weight.

• Hard-sided: The hard-sided July Carry On Light weighs less than 4 pounds, making it one of the most lightweight carry-on bags on the market. Other lightweight carry-on bags we recommend include the hard-sided Away The Carry-On (7.5 pounds) and the Amazon 20-Inch Hardside Spinner (7.3 pounds).
• Soft-sided: If you're looking for a lightweight, soft-sided carry-on bag, consider the Lipault Plume Cabin Size Spinner (4.8 pounds) and the Samsonite SoLyte DLX Carry-On Spinner (7.1 pounds).

Hard-sided luggage is often heavier than soft-sided luggage – but only by a few pounds. If you're planning to purchase a hard-sided carry-on bag, look for something that's made of polycarbonate or polypropylene, both of which are lightweight yet durable materials.

How We Tested

Our team tested 26 carry-on bags across several price points and on a variety of trips spanning overseas flights, weekend getaways, overnight trips and more. We traveled by car, plane, train and cruise and packed for a variety of climates and activities, from shore excursions in Mexico to rainy road trips around Iceland. For bags with wheels, we tested their maneuverability on multiple surfaces, including gravel, pavement, grass, moving walkways, cobblestone and carpet. After four months of testing, we deem these carry-on bags the best of the best for 2024.

Why Trust U.S. News Travel

The following editors personally tested the luggage recommended in this article:

Erin Evans , Managing Editor: Evans loves a durable bag and also can't say no to a good deal. Considering how banged up luggage can get, her picks on this list are both well-made and affordable.

Rachael Hood , Senior Editor: Hood rarely checks a bag, yet she loves to pack a lot and pick up some new finds along her journey. She looks for a combination of durability, functionality, interior space and overall appearance.

Catriona Kendall , Associate Editor: Kendall opts for convenient and versatile carry-ons that can work well for weekend and weekslong trips alike.

Amanda Norcross , Content & SEO Strategist: Norcross has mastered the art of traveling with a carry-on bag only, but believes this is only possible with the right luggage.

Leilani Osmundson , Digital Producer: Osmundson prefers lightweight, streamlined luggage that's ideal for adventure travel.

You might also be interested in:

• What to Pack in Your Carry-on Bag
• What Is Allowed in a Carry-on Bag
• The Best Travel Insurance Companies

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Best Luggage of 2024

Since 2018, our globetrotting experts have tested more than 50 of the best, most popular, and most promising checked baggage luggage on the market, with the top 17 in this year's update. We tested these luggage suitcases head-to-head for months, stacking each suitcase into all kinds of vehicles and packing them with everything from business casual clothes to backcountry adventure gear. We tested every packing feature, bumped them over curbs, threw them down stairwells, and even sprayed each one down with a hose. Whether you're seeking a budget bag, a gear locker, or looking for a forever suitcase, we've discovered some great options for you.

For avid travelers who prefer to skip the checked baggage lines and instead lean on something a little smaller and more portable, be sure to have a look at the best carry on luggage we tested, our choices for the top travel backpacks , and our overall favorite backpacks of all kinds . Our packing list and roundup of the best travel bags showcase our favorites across many categories and styles of bags for those on the move.

Editor's Note: This review was updated on April 1, 2024, to provide buying advice and additional testing details.

Top 17 Product Ratings

Best overall suitcase, travelpro platinum elite 29".

• Capacity 8.8
• Ease of Transport 9.0
• Construction Quality 9.0
• Design and Functionality 9.5

As we said, this bag is big. In fact, we often had trouble keeping it full, so it may simply be too large for less extensive travel or for jet-setters who like to pack light. Additionally, this bag tips the scales at 12.2 pounds, and this extra weight may impact the Platinum Elite's packable payload after factoring in standard weight restrictions enforced by airlines (which typically start charging fees once bags weigh more than 50 pounds). In all, no piece of luggage is perfect, and when we consider the pluses and minuses, the Platinum Elite is still our favorite. We also love its smaller siblings, the Platinum Elite 25" and the carry on size Platinum Elite 21" , which offer the same amenities but alternate sizes. No other checked-size luggage we tested matches the performance and price of this seriously impressive bag. The only ones that come close are the duffel-style Eagle Creek ORV Trunk 30 and Osprey Sojourn Shuttle 100L , or the premium hard-sided Rimowa Essential Check-In L (but that comes at a very premium price).

Read more: Travelpro Platinum Elite 29" review

Great Value for a Hardshell

Samsonite omni pc hardside expandable 28".

• Capacity 9.0
• Ease of Transport 5.9
• Construction Quality 6.0
• Design and Functionality 6.0

Although internal organizational features are limited to a single mesh panel enclosure, cross-straps (without compression), and one hanging zip pocket, the remarkably light weight-to-volume ratio of the Omni PC delivers a mighty impressive carrying capacity for any long-haul journey. But as with other bags in the series, the gift of size can also be its greatest flaw, as one can squeeze a whole heck of a lot into this wide-bodied suitcase, easily exceeding the checked luggage weight restrictions of most airlines. While all load and pull handles feel sturdy under average use, an overweight bag could put additional strain on such key features. As with many other four-wheeled suitcases we tested, this Samsonite spinner is not built for mixed or off-road terrain. But for price-conscious urban flyers, this seems a small price to pay. For even more savings and only a small drop in price, the Delsey Paris Titanium Hardside 29" is worthy of consideration as well.

Read more: Samsonite Omni PC Hardside Expandable 28" review

Best Value for a Softshell

Swissgear sion softside expandable roller 29".

• Capacity 7.0
• Ease of Transport 6.0
• Construction Quality 6.5
• Design and Functionality 6.8

We don't recommend the Sion Softside for frequent, extensive travel. Although we saw no serious wear and tear during our testing, this bag simply doesn't compete with the quality of more expensive softshells, and many of the international travelers on our panel feel that repeated, long-haul travel as a checked piece of luggage may be too much turbulence for this bag. That said, it's perfectly suited for moderate domestic trips or an occasional jaunt overseas. Additionally, the Sion Softside tends to leak when exposed to water, its wheels shutter and rattle at higher speeds, and we question the longevity of its zippers after years of use. All said, it's a dandy of a deal, and it is perfectly suited for simple to moderate travel. If you can afford to spend a little more on your luggage, the Timbuk2 Copilot is a more durable bag with a solid organizational system and easy-rolling wheels, making it another good value choice.

Read more: SwissGear Sion Softside Expandable Roller 29" review

Best Suitcase on a Tight Budget

Amazon basics 30" hardside spinner.

• Capacity 6.7
• Ease of Transport 6.2
• Construction Quality 5.0
• Design and Functionality 5.0

Unfortunately, this bag has a tendency to rotate outward on a vertical axis when walking uphill (rather than rolling with you in parallel). And like many hard-sided bags, the zipper sometimes sticks a bit when coming around corners. So, there are some minor inconveniences to consider. However, the most pressing consideration has to be durability. Both interior and exterior materials appear very average in quality, but this bag stood up reasonably against the rigors of our testing, well enough to win notice. So, if a shorter life span is acceptable for your needs, this strikingly affordable and well-sized four-wheel suitcase will do the trick. If you need the cheapest option that still functionally gets you there, this suitcase can't be beaten. But if you're willing to spend a bit more, both the Delsey Paris Titanium Hardside 29" and the Samsonite Omni PC Hardside Expandable 28" offer far better performances overall.

Read more: Amazon Basics 30" Hardside Spinner review

Best Adventure Duffel Roller

Osprey sojourn shuttle 100l.

• Capacity 8.2
• Ease of Transport 8.0
• Design and Functionality 9.0

A full-length interior metal frame and super tough fabrics don't come cheap, so expect to pay a little more for the top-tier quality. The Sojourn Shuttle also lacks protective bumper rails, which are designed to allow bags to slide rather than tumble end over end when falling down staircases or landing on hard surfaces. The beefy zippers are super tough, which makes them a bit difficult to use; however, the trade-off is zippers that won't split open during the rigors of international travel. Additionally, we feel this bag's pack volume could fall short of accommodating large amounts of gear needed for an extensive trip. For larger expeditions, we recommend the Sojourn Shuttle's 130-liter model. We also really love the Eagle Creek ORV Trunk 30 , which performed equally as well across all our testing. The choice of which model to choose really comes down to your personal preference and what price you can find each at, as the ORV Trunk is typically slightly more expensive.

Read more: Osprey Sojourn Shuttle 100L review

Best Premium Hardshell

Rimowa essential check-in l.

• Capacity 7.5
• Design and Functionality 8.7

Our negative note-taking was minimal, though the obvious elephant in the room is this suitcase's enormously high price. While the Rimowa Check-In is impressive in all areas, this bag's price tag is simply too high for most travelers. The one structural complaint we have is that this spinner's ultra-polished polycarbonate shell has no protection, and after a tumble or two, it shows scratches and scuffs easily — a bit of a letdown especially considering the up-front investment. However, any way you slice it, quality is quality, and this bag is perfectly comfortable being the best. If you're in the market for a premium piece of hard-sided luggage, the Tumi 19 Degree Extended Trip Expandable is another high-quality, good-looking bag with a top-shelf price. We're also very big fans of the Away The Large suitcase, with high marks in our testing, a premium look, and a more reasonable price.

Read more: Rimowa Essential Check-In L review

Best Premium Softshell

Briggs & riley baseline large expandable spinner.

• Capacity 6.0
• Construction Quality 9.8
• Design and Functionality 9.8

There are two notable downsides to this high-quality spinner: the cost and its higher-than-average weight. While it's among the heaviest of all the cases we tested, it surprisingly did not match those figures with the largest capacity. But given its superior performance across all metrics, we still feel there's a lot to justify the extra investment. Everything we saw during testing indicates it's built to last. Plus, with the company's renowned unconditional lifetime guarantee, you can repair any components or features that may break over time. We did note some vulnerabilities when it comes to water exposure under testing. So, we wouldn't count on this case to provide watertight protection in transit under harsh conditions. But given nearly all bags in the test group showed similar results to some degree, the overall merits of the Baseline far outweigh this single notable risk factor. If you're okay with paying more upfront for travel gear with a superb compression system and a design that will outlast the competition, this could be the right option for you. If you need more space, more organizational features, or a more reasonable price tag for a high-quality piece of luggage, our next best recommendation would be the Travelpro Platinum Elite , our favorite all-around suitcase.

Read more: Briggs & Riley Baseline Large Expandable Spinner review

Compare Products

How We Test Suitcases

We traveled across the West, from California's Yosemite and Eastern Sierra to Central Oregon, Utah, and Colorado, with plenty of stops in between. We visited Switzerland and France and spent more hours in airports and airplanes than we care to count. Each year, we research the best candidates before handpicking our lineup of the best, most popular, and most intriguing models. We then purchased all of these bags and took them everywhere we went over the course of several months. We rolled them along sidewalks, through the airport, over cobblestone pathways, and deep out onto rocky backcountry roads. We traveled with them in the back of trucks, SUVs, and tucked into vans. At home, we set up obstacle courses, rolling them over and around different objects and hucking them down stairwells and onto concrete. We even hosed them down with water to see which could repel light rain. In total, our bags saw thousands of miles of travel and hundreds of combined hours of testing. Read more in our complete how we test article.

Our comprehensive testing was divided into five testing metrics :

• Design and Functionality (20% weighting)

Why You Should Trust Us

This thorough testing of suitcases is led by GearLab Review Editors Myrha Colt and Jason Wanlass . Both Myrha and Jason are frequent travelers, spending many weeks each year living out of their suitcases. It is not uncommon for Myrha to be on the road for nearly half (or more) of any given year, with days spent traveling between mountain hideaways, remote beach villages, city skyscrapers, and all the backcountry roads, trails, museums, waterfalls, and taco stands she can squeeze in between. Jason loves adventuring to unique corners of the globe, particularly mountainous regions. He enjoys the thrill of hiking in the most famous mountain ranges in the world, which usually involves lugging boatloads of gear around in hefty, gear-hauler suitcases. Mountains are his first love, but airports are a close second. Jason loves all things travel and is on the go whenever he can find the time. Both of our reviewers have traveled to five or more continents, exploring big cities, small towns, and rugged high-country destinations. Each of them test gear for a living and know a thing or two about packing their bags and what makes a good one.

How to Choose The Best Luggage

Here are four key considerations to help narrow down your next luggage selection based on size, organization, material type, and features.

How Many Belongings Do You Travel With?

The first step to finding a suitable piece of luggage is considering your average belongings and the length of trips you plan on taking. Overpacking or bringing an oversized bag can diminish an otherwise great vacation or trip. Factors such as checking in your bag or using a carry-on will dictate an appropriate size, along with how much walking between places you plan on doing. It's also important to consider weight constrictions, as the larger your bag, the more likely you will start to run out of allowable weight.

How Much Organization Do You Need?

Different luggage will offer various levels of organization to provide easy access and maximize space. For folks who need to access belongings more frequently, luggage with convenient pockets and storage can make a significant difference. Additionally, organizational pockets can provide more storage to make sure you leave nothing behind. Looking for features such as interior pockets, dividers, and access points are all good areas to consider for those needing plenty of organization.

Do You Prefer Soft or Hard Shell Luggage?

When deciding on luggage, a hard shell will provide increased durability and resistance to impacts. If you plan on checking your bag, a hard shell will provide extra peace of mind when it's not in your possession. A soft shell will be lighter and allow for more flexibility when packing items. Ultimately the items you travel with and the type of travel will dictate what style is best for your needs.

How Important is Ease of Transportation?

For travelers who plan on navigating hubs such as airports and train stations, luggage with features such as smooth rolling wheels, telescoping handles, and ergonomic features will enhance your travel experience. Consider whether you prefer four-wheeled luggage with more maneuverability vs two-wheeled bags with increased stability. Also worth considering is the length of the handles for different-sized folks and to help reduce strain on hands and arms.

Analysis and Test Results

We compared our tested suitcases across four key metrics and evaluated them side-by-side in the field and at home. We packed the same set of clothes and gear in each to compare their storage and organizational capacity. We rolled them around trip after trip to see how easy they were to transport, carry, and load. We pushed them hard to see their reliability, weighed them, and took stock of their style. The winners are the ones that scored the best and the ones we would recommend to our own friends and family. Read on to learn more about how each performed to help inform your final purchase decision.

Often, you get what you pay for, and we've rarely come across a high-quality, low-cost roller case. If you want well-made luggage that's likely to last, it will likely be expensive. That said, some of these bags are well-made and reasonably priced. The Timbuk2 Copilot isn't the most or least expensive of the roller suitcases we tested, but it scored very well in our tests and has a middle-of-the-road price as well as the multi-terrain functionality of a two-wheeler. It's still an investment, but we think it's a good one. Some of the best value buys, in terms of volume per dollar, are some of the wheeled duffel bags. In particular, The North Face Base Camp Voyager Roller Duffel 29" and the Dakine Split roller 85L perform pretty well and can get you where you need to go for less.

If a duffel bag isn't for you, the Samsonite Omni PC Hardside is a pretty reasonable price and also offers excellent performance and notable durability for a spinner suitcase. The Omni PC is our favorite hard-sided roller in the test and costs considerably less than many other similar options on the market. The Amazon Basics 30" Hardshell Spinner bag is the least expensive in our lineup and still performed quite well in many of our tests. While its composition appears less durable than most of the other options, it still works well, especially if you'll only be traveling occasionally. On the other hand, if you're a frequent traveler who likes to stay organized, the Travelpro Platinum Elite 29" is well worth the investment.

We compared each model's volume, compartments, pockets, compression, and organization straps. To do so, we packed, unpacked, and hand-measured each bag's interior dimensions and weighed each to determine their weight-to-volume ratios. Bags that offered either thoughtful organization or ample storage capacity scored higher in this category.

One of our favorites for this metric is the Travelpro Platinum Elite 29" . Its main compartment offers close to 120 liters of volume and an extensive storage and organizational system. The Samsonite Omni PC Hardside Expandable 28" is also a standout in this metric, boasting 108 liters of volume and standing tall as our most spacious hardshell. The Delsey Paris Titanium Hardside 29" (98 L) is another affordable hardshell that also offers a ton of space.

These bags are followed closely by the Timbuk2 Copilot and its 99.5-liter interior. In particular, the Copilot is a softshell, but at the same time, is unique for offering a clam-style design, unzipping down the middle so you can load gear evenly on both sides.

Unlike most similar clamshell-style suitcases, this one has both sides covered with a zippered mesh panel — so nothing spills as you open it — along with a couple of additional mesh pockets for interior organization. You can also access your packed items from a U-shaped opening across the topside, which we love.

Well-known for their massive interiors are the duffel-style rollers or gear-haulers. These two-wheeler cases traditionally offer a softshell duffel top that is supported by a more dense hardshell-type tray bottom. Primarily designed to transport a mix of clothing and outdoor gear, these bags offer wide-open main compartments.

The most voluminous duffel roller on our list is the Eagle Creek Cargo Hauler XT 32" offering 108.5 liters of main compartment packing space. This wide mouth can swallow an entire 75-liter backpack and still have room for everything else you plan to take to base camp.

Other top-performing gear-haulers in this metric are the North Face Base Camp Voyager Roller Duffel 29" (105L), Eagle Creek ORV Trunk 30 (99.5L), and the Osprey Sojourn Shuttle 100L (99L). The ORV Trunk is a great choice for adventure travel, thanks to its many pockets and practical organizational features. This soft-sided case offers a lot of storage, an expandable wet/dry compartment, and easily holds bulky items. This is a great option if you need to bring big boots or camera gear on a long travel mission. It even has a bungee cord and daisy-chain loops to attach a helmet or other gear to the outside of the bag if you run out of space inside.

Similarly, the soft-sided Dakine Split Roller 85L (77.5L) is a roller duffel with a clamshell design that includes mesh panels for interior organization. Although it offers ample storage space and organizational options, in the end, the Split Roller scored lower because it lacks the convenience of the top-sided entry that proves so valuable on the Timbuk2 Copilot .

The Briggs & Riley Baseline Spinner is one of the more spacious premium suitcases on our list. It offers close to 100 liters of storage and a unique expansion and compression system that lets you add volume by growing the main compartment, packing it full, and then compressing the entire bag down again. It works surprisingly well. There's also a tri-fold hanging compartment, nicely placed external pockets for day-of organization, and an attachable SmartLink strap to help you carry a second bag. This is an excellent option for the frequent flyer who likes to easily see and access what's in their luggage.

The Travelpro Platinum Elite 29" has a very similar setup to the Briggs & Riley , but instead of expanding and compressing, it instead provides an external expansion zipper that reveals a tapered opening along the frontside lid, offering some additional capacity toward the base of the bag. The overall impact on packing space is limited, and this isn't the ideal place to carry such extra weight, as the bag can easily become front-heavy and start to tip when standing. However, the pockets are quite well-organized, and the internal hanging compartment will help keep your nice clothes less wrinkly in transit.

The Away The Large , Amazon Basics , and Kenneth Cole Reaction Out Of Bounds 28" are all hard-sided and feature clamshell designs with a fair amount of space. Of these, we like the Away bag (85.2 L) the best for its inclusion of an internal compression panel similar to those found in the Rimowa . It maximizes packing space along with a zippered panel enclosure, which allows for great double-sided packing. It even includes a separate laundry bag to keep your dirty clothing separate.

All of these suitcases offer enough storage to pack for anywhere from a week to a month. When you're considering storage and organization, make sure you know if you prefer a simple bag that you can throw everything into, like the Patagonia Black Hole Wheeled duffel, or if you'd prefer more built-in organization, like a trifold to keep your suits wrinkle-free.

Ease of Transport

Any wheeled luggage should be able to navigate the polished floors of an airport. But, as we all know, your luggage will also come across cracked sidewalks, steep curbs, and gravel-laden pavement. If you're traveling abroad in remote countries or into the outdoors, it's quite possible you'll also encounter dirt roads, cobblestone streets, and rocky trails. To see how our tested products hold up, we rolled each case over all types of terrain, taking note of which provided the smoothest ride.

In general, four-wheeled spinner options are ideal for smooth, hard surfaces since they can pivot and spin around any obstacle. Several of those in our lineup actually have eight wheels, two at every corner connected by an axle. Our top performers include the Rimowa Essential Check-In , Travelpro Platinum Elite , and the Tumi 19 Degree Extended Trip Expandable . Each of these bags is on the expensive side (some are on the very expensive side), but there is no denying their effortlessly smooth glide.

Another absolute top performer in this metric is the Briggs & Riley Baseline Large Expandable Spinner . We love it because it remains compact and well-balanced no matter how much you pack. Its superior wheels roll smoothly whether you're cruising through baggage claim, strolling down a city sidewalk, or heading for hotel check-in.

The rest on our list work reliably well on smooth ground. And when you tilt them up on two wheels, they can also manage cobblestones and even short gravel stretches. But if you spend any real time on rough surfaces, you should consider the two-wheeled roller bags. They aren't as responsive and nimble as spinners at the airport since they require wider turns, but they tend to have bigger wheels that fare better in rowdy, uneven terrain.

Among the duffel rollers in our lineup, the Osprey Sojourn Shuttle 100L is an off-road roller dream, with substantial all-terrain wheels and a selection of grab-and-go load handles that make it among the easiest to handle and load under the most varied conditions. The Eagle Creek ORV is similarly outfitted with a variety of well-placed handles to aid in the transition between asphalt, trail, and vehicle or hotel. You can also haul the Eagle Creek Cargo Hauler XT , The North Face Base Camp Voyager , and the Patagonia Black Hole by their multiple handle options, though of course, they will be considerably harder to lift and move when packed to the brim. Luckily, they all also feature wheels that work well on the most varied terrain (and the Cargo Hauler XT even offers backpack straps).

If you're seeking a gentle ride that won't vibrate your arm off when navigating between city sidewalks and cobbled streets, check out the Timbuk2 Copilot . This bag uses skateboard wheels that feature a broad, stable base and a very smooth glide. Also consider a bag with higher clearance. The Briggs & Riley Baseline Large Expandable Spinner is untouchable in this regard, quickly followed by the Samsonite Omni PC among the traditional spinner bags.

Let's face it. There is some terrain that you won't be able to roll any of these bags over. So we also paid attention to how hard they are to carry. We appreciate the spinner bags with at least three haul handles: one on the top, another on the bottom, and one on the side. The Briggs & Riley meets this requirement very well, as do the Travelpro Platinum Elite and the SwissGear Sion Softside Expandable Roller 29" . Among the duffels, the Eagle Creek Cargo Hauler XT has several rugged load handles and lays claim to a set of detachable backpack straps hidden inside a small front zip pocket. The Osprey Sojourn Shuttle 100L , Eagle Creek ORV Trunk 30 , and Dakine Split Roller 85L are surrounded by excellent grab handles that can be accessed from nearly every angle. The Patagonia Black Hole Wheeled has deployable straps that allow it to be carried gym-bag style.

Construction Quality

You need reliable luggage. Once you drop it off at the airport, you have no control over how well it's handled. Then you're going to drag it over rough terrain, pull it up and down flights of stairs, and toss it in and out of vehicles. Zippers, handles, and wheels are typically the most vulnerable points where suitcases may break down. We evaluated the craftsmanship of each case in our lineup and tested them with a minimum of two months of travel.

General Wear and Tear

If you're considering dropping hundreds of dollars on a top-of-the-line model, you should start by looking at the outer material. In general, suitcases are divided into two categories: hard and soft.

Counterintuitively, hard cases are generally more susceptible to visible wear and tear than soft-sided options. The hard cases in this review include the Samsonite Omni PC , Tumi 19 Degree Extended Trip , Away , Rimowa Check-In , Amazon Basics , and the Kenneth Cole . The first four are made of 100% polycarbonate, a fairly durable plastic, with Samsonite boasting a particularly scratch-resistant micro-diamond hard-shell exterior. The remaining pair are made of less durable acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). We particularly loved the toughness of the Away bag. Regardless of the abuse it endured, it was always ready for more. We consider it one of the more rugged hardshells in our lineup.

Soft cases stand up better to abuse overall since they can flex with impact. They are more prone to break-ins, though, since they are relatively easy to cut or puncture. The soft-sided bags in our test are made of nylon, polyester, or both. To figure out how durable the polyester bags might be, look for the denier, or D, rating.

The Briggs & Riley , Osprey Sojourn Shuttle 100L , and The North Face bags feature ballistic nylon, which was developed during World War II to make flax jackets for airmen. So, it's pretty tough. The Eagle Creek ORV is suited up in a proprietary and tactically appropriate combination of Helix Poly Twill and Bi-Tech Armor (TPU-coated polyester). Its lighter-weight cousin, the Eagle Creek Cargo Hauler XT , is built of similarly strong Helix Poly Twill and TPU-covered poly. We know less about the construction of the Timbk2 Copilot , reported simply as "nylon and polyester", yet we've seen it withstand years of use with very little wear. This leads us to believe that even the soft-sided cases and roller duffels in our lineup are built to last.

Water Resistance

We placed a blue industrial paper towel strip in each of our suitcases (blue because it shows moisture) and then hosed each contender down on full blast for about three minutes, with another three spent targeting the most vulnerable entry and connection points. The external materials of some of the test cases were largely impervious to water under testing, but nearly all suffered from moisture infiltrating at handle joints and through zipper teeth or pull connections, leaving various amounts of water pooled toward the back and bottom of each suitcase, and often in the exterior pockets as well. Any that kept water out of critical areas, like the watertight Samsonite Omni PC or the Timbuk2 Copilot , whose padded front sleeve and liquids pocket remained dry through testing, scored the best overall in this category.

Several of the large rolling duffels in our series — the Eagle Creek ORV , Eagle Creek Cargo Hauler XT , Osprey Sojourn Shuttle 100L , and The North Face Base Camp Voyager — did relatively well against our simulated downpour. The recessed construction and awning-like fabric flaps help wick water away from vulnerable components, providing the bag with a base amount of protection from the start. But overall, only the Samsonite Omni PC came through testing watertight, and even then, we think it would be a hard sell to claim full waterproof status if challenged against even heavier conditions. Other top performers were the Travelpro Platinum Elite 29" , Briggs & Riley Baseline Large Expandable Spinner , Rimowa Essential Check-In L , and the Tumi 19 Degree Extended Trip Expandable . The takeaway: none of the bags in this test suite can offer guarantees, but if you need decent water resistance for your travels, look for hardshells with reinforced zippers or set your eye on options with protected zippers and water-repelling materials.

In general, two-wheeled options use larger wheels that are simpler and often more durable. Four-wheeled models often have smaller wheels with more complex construction, which means there's just more to break. But regardless of their potential break-ability, the four-wheeled spinners, in particular those that are double-wheeled spinners, provide the smoothest, quietest, most worry-free ride. Unfortunately, this type of quality will always cost you more.

Among our favorite wheels in the test are the skateboard rollers on the Timbuk2 Copilot . If they can stand up to skateboarding, you best believe they can roll your clothes around. They're solid, stable, and easy to change out. We also loved the wheel systems on the Travelpro Platinum Elite 29" , Briggs & Riley Baseline Large Expandable Spinner , Tumi 19 Degree Extended Trip Expandable , Away The Large , and Rimowa Essential Check-In L .

Among the more affordable spinners on our list, we were quite pleased with the Delsey Paris Titanium Hardside 29" , Samsonite Omni PC Hardside Expandable 28" , and the Amazon Basics 30" Hardside Spinner . In particular, the Amazon bag offered double-wheeled spinners that had a very smooth ride; however, we are still a little unsure about their overall construction quality. Another less expensive favorite with solid wheels is the SwissGear Sion Softside Expandable Roller 29" .

Other two-wheeled options that came close include the Osprey Sojourn Shuttle 100L , The North Face Base Camp Voyager , and the Eagle Creek ORV . Each has sturdy, oversized wheels that move easily up and over obstacles, with the Osprey Shuttle touting the tallest wheels of all the bags in our review. The Eagle Creek Cargo Hauler XT also has large, treaded wheels but they are built into a protective wheel housing that significantly reduces the bag's clearance, making it harder to navigate varied terrain and leaving the bag susceptible to damage from catching on objects in motion.

A good handle should retain its strength and shape even under considerable packed weight and average travel use. In our testing, the handles of nearly all cases proved to be impressively resilient during use tests, even up to 50 pounds. Among the burliest are the REI Big Haul , Osprey Shuttle Wheeled , and Eagle Creek ORV . The rest of the handles jiggled and flexed more substantially under pressure, particularly when fully extended, but still delivered where it counts: in motion.

Traveling Up Stairs

One of the worst things you can do to your luggage — and your stairs — is to drag your case up, banging the backside of the case on each step. It's better just to carry your luggage up if you can. If you can't or don't want to, look for models with protective plastic rails that run from the wheels up a large length of the case. These also help protect the bag from general wear and tear when laid to rest or shoved across the ground. Cases like Patagonia Black Hole , and The North Face Base Camp Voyager , and Briggs & Riley Baseline Large Expandable Spinner all have this feature. The Timbuk2 Copilot has an exterior handle housing that is set up to serve this purpose, but the metal material quickly becomes scratched when dragged along cement or wooden edges. The Eagle Creek ORV and Cargo Hauler XT both also do reasonably well, but they primarily rely on their oversized wheels to keep the bag from banging destructively up stairwells in transit.

When it comes to stairs and other rough terrain, we expect the Eagle Creek ORV and Osprey Sojourn Shuttle to stand up the best over time. They all have super burly outer materials with handles and wheels that are durable, well-clearanced, and easy to change out. We also expect the Briggs & Riley to last. If durable and reliable are what you seek, these are our favorites. Other all-around well-built options include the Timbuk2 Copilot , Away , Eagle Creek Cargo Hauler , and Patagonia Black Hole .

Design and Functionality

Here we considered the overall looks and the versatility of each bag. Because of the subjective nature of style, we polled as many people as we could and considered as many viewpoints as possible. Since luggage is such an investment, we mostly gave points for looks we thought would last. We considered the variety of places each is well-suited to and would both do and look at home in. We tested every feature for usability and gauged how convenient each aspect is.

When you approach airport baggage claim, you usually spy a sea of black roller bags, all with similar designs, duplicated in a variety of aspects across many brands. But there are others that we think look better and will certainly be easier to pick out at the airport.

Hard cases seem to be a favorite among the fashion-forward, and the Tumi 19 Degree Extended Trip Expandable and Rimowa Essential Check-In L spinner bags don't disappoint, but their price tag just might. They both offer very striking patterns and a chic design to catch the eye of anyone looking to stand out at baggage claim. You'll pay extra for their looks, but if style is important for your travel aesthetic, you won't be disappointed with either of these options.

The Away bag also stands out as one of the more stylish modern options, appealing to everyone who tested it. Its matte finish and choice of contemporary color palettes allow you to express yourself. The Travelpro Platinum Elite is a good-looking soft-sided bag that also has a ton of organizational features designed for urban exploration. The Briggs & Riley isn't far behind, with a sleek, professional design that isn't flashy but just looks good. Its pockets and organization are similarly designed for business travel or heading to a black-tie event.

The North Face Base Camp Voyager has a very appealing sporty/urban vibe and was an instant crowd-pleaser. The Timbuk2 Copilot is a lot less flashy, but its compact shape and pulled-together style always made us feel polished. The Patagonia Black Hole isn't winning our hearts for its style, but as a cavernous roller duffel, it allows you to put together your own customized packing system or simply stuff everything in all at once — you decide.

Still other contenders offer an outdoorsy, casual look, including the Dakine Split Roller , Eagle Creek Cargo Hauler XT , and Osprey Shuttle . The most technical and tactical-looking bag in this review is the Eagle Creek ORV . This soft-sided option isn't fashionable in an urban city sense, looking instead like the bag you'll take on your next big expedition. However, we still love its organization and functionality, and it's right at home, bumping down a dirt road to our next camping site.

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The 15 Best Checked Luggage Pieces of 2024, Tested and Reviewed

We rigorously tested over 75 pieces of checked luggage to determine the best options for all travelers.

In This Article

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• Our top picks
• Others We Liked
• Tips For Buying
• Why Trust T+L

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Learn more .

Travel + Leisure / Jhett Thompson

A checked suitcase is a staple for all travelers, whether you're a regular heavy-duty packer or a carry-on stalwart who occasionally needs a little more room. In either case, there's no need to buy too many checked bags — invest in a single quality piece, and it should last you quite some time. Of course, narrowing down to a single pick isn't necessarily the easiest process. That's why we tested 77 pieces of checked luggage to help find the best of the best.

In the Travel + Leisure lab, editors examine suitcases for capacity, maneuverability, and durability through rigorous tests that include navigating an obstacle course and hitting bags with baseball bats before taking the bags home to test during our travels. We also weighed other characteristics, such as organization features, aesthetic appeal, and value. These are our top picks for the best checked bags.

Best Overall

Samsonite winfield 2 hardside.

• Capacity 5 /5
• Design 5 /5
• Maneuverability 4.5 /5
• Durability 5 /5

It's lightweight, durable, spacious, and stylish — what more could you ask for of a checked bag?

The shell scuffs pretty easily, though major damage is rare.

Working our way from the outside in, the bag has a sleek polycarbonate exterior that comes in a variety of colors. It's exceptionally durable and breezed through our strenuous testing with hardly a scratch — the polycarbonate is designed to flex slightly to absorb impacts before popping back to its original form. While the bag sustained no major damage like dents or gashes when we dropped it off tables and hit it with a baseball bat, it did scuff slightly, which was our only critique. The suitcase also has a smooth maneuverability over a variety of surfaces, including carpet and gravel.

Regarding the bag's interior, it has an expandable storage system, which includes one side with a zippered mesh barrier and one side with compression straps so you can separate clean clothes from worn ones as the trip goes on. And finally, this bag falls on the lower side of the mid-market price range, making it a reasonably affordable investment. Overall, the Samsonite Winfield hit all the marks for an exceptional checked suitcase for all kinds of travelers.

The Details: 11.5 pounds | 28 x 19.75 x 12.5 inches | Expandable | 4 spinner wheels

Travel & Leisure / Vicky Wasik

Travel & Leisure / Jhett Thompson

Away The Trunk

• Maneuverability 5 /5

We love this spacious trunk for its sleek design and maneuverability. 

If you don’t pack each side evenly, it can feel a bit lopsided.

If you’re a fan of traveling with trunks , this one from Away is more easy to maneuver than any other trunk we’ve tested. It’s easy to pack thanks to its deep main compartment, while you can place smaller items in the slim top lid — just make sure to evenly distribute the weight around the bag so it doesn’t feel lopsided. Your stuff won’t get lost in the large compartment either because you can use the zippered pockets on the dividers to store undergarments, socks, or toiletries. Even though the trunk weighs around 12 pounds, it felt light enough to roll around tight corners, crowds, and over rough surfaces seamlessly, the wheels rolling like a dream whether we rolled it on four or two wheels. This was also the most durable piece of Away luggage we’ve tested — it barely scuffed or scratched after we dropped it off a table and hit it with a baseball bat multiple times.

The Details: 12.1 pounds | 31.3 x 17 x 13.7 inches | 107-liter capacity | 4 spinner wheels

Travel + Leisure / Jhett Thompson

Travel + Leisure / Joy Kim

Delsey Paris Chatelet Air 2.0 28-inch Large Checked Spinner

It's an extremely durable bag — and if anything were to go wrong, it has a 10-year warranty.

This suitcase doesn’t expand, so you can't overpack it.

The Delsey Chatelet Air line evokes the timeless look of classic travel trunks with decorative vegan leather trim with contrasting stitching, but it's an extremely durable and lightweight hardshell suitcase. This large bag has plenty of storage space inside with separate laundry and shoe bags. We also love that both sides of the shell feature zipper closures that make it easy to throw small items in at the last minute without worrying about losing them.

The suitcase is currently available in two colorways, and while the white with brown trim is a fan favorite, the black baseball bat did leave some scuff marks on it during testing. However, these were extremely easy to rub out — you can even do so with your fingers — and there were no permanent dents even after we jumped on top of the case. Plus, the 10-year warranty does stand as a testament to the durability of the bag, and we think you'd be able to use it for a long, long time.

The Details: 11.1 pounds | 20.75 x 12.75 x 30 inches | 110-liter capacity | 4 spinner wheels

Best Medium Capacity

Away the medium flex.

Unzip the flex feature to add an additional 1.75 inches of space, bringing this medium-size bag to a 75.7-liter capacity.

If you need even more space, Away also makes this suitcase in a larger version .

The best thing overpackers can do is get a suitcase with an expander. Even if you think you’re packing light, it’s always a life-saver to have a little bit of extra room to play with just in case you buy one too many souvenirs to take back home. This hardside suitcase has a zipper expansion that adds an extra 1.75 inches of space when you need it. We loved how spacious the suitcase is without being overly large, featuring one huge compartment on each side, as well as compression straps, a divider to hold clothing in, a mesh screen that fully zips, and a pocket for small items. The suitcase rolled smoothly on four wheels and two wheels without any effort during testing, and we found it easy to make sharp turns through our obstacle course even when the bag was fully packed. The shell on this bag also feels more durable and scratch-resistant than Away’s glossy options, holding up well to our table drops and baseball bat tests.

The Details: 10.8 pounds | 26 x 18.5 x 11 inches | 68.8-liter capacity; 75.7-liter capacity when expanded | 4 spinner wheels

Best Large Capacity

July large luggage.

The wheels are so smooth and the handle adjusts to multiple heights, making it easy as pie to navigate this large bag.

The suitcases tends to scuff on the aluminum corner bumpers.

If you’re a maximalist packer, this is the largest suitcase in July’s luggage line . While it has the same 110-liter capacity as the Delsey Paris Chatelet Air 2.0, the July bag has slightly smaller dimensions, meaning it looks a little more compact despite its large size. Sometimes large bags can be cumbersome to roll, but the wheels were as smooth as butter during testing, and the multi-stop telescopic handle adjusts to 20 different heights, making it easy to maneuver no matter your height. Even when we packed the bag full, it was easy to pull over concrete pavers and carpets without leaving a strain on our arms or back. While the outer shell felt solid and didn’t dent at all even after we hit it with baseball bats, we did notice that the July suitcases tend to scuff on the aluminum corner bumpers.

The Details: 10.5 pounds | 30.25 x 19.75 x 12.5 inches | 110-liter capacity | 4 spinner wheels

Most Durable

Roam the check-in.

• Capacity 4 /5

You can customize the colors across different pieces of the suitcase.

This is a smaller checked bag with somewhat limited capacity and organizational features.

The solidity of this bag is especially nice given that our favorite thing about the bag is its exterior design. Customers are able to customize this suitcase to their specific color preferences, choosing the hues for everything from the two shells (front and back), the binding, and the wheels for no extra charge. You can also decide whether or not to add an expander to the bag, but that adds $55 to the total cost. This Roam design also earned a perfect score for maneuverability as it was very easy to move the bag around in all conditions.

The bag is certainly a good size to fit everything for a week-long trip or longer. After regularly using the suitcase for three months, we had no issues with space, and we found that everything stays put in transit. The bag also comes with a 100-day return policy even when customized, as well as a lifetime warranty for non-cosmetic damage — if something becomes nonfunctional, Roam will replace the part.

The Details: 9.3 pounds | 26 x 17.5 x 10 inches | 60-liter capacity | Expandable | 4 spinner wheels

Travel + Leisure / Vicky Wasik

Best Splurge

Tumi alpha medium trip expandable 4 wheeled packing case.

• Maneuverability 4 /5
• Durability 4.8 /5

It has enough space for two people to pack together.

It's the heaviest bag on our list, weighing over 17 pounds when empty.

Money might not be able to buy happiness, but it can buy you a high-quality suitcase. This bag by popular travel brand Tumi is a behemoth — and it weighs as much as one, too. At more than 17 pounds, this is by far the heaviest bag on our list. Since most checked bags must weigh less than 50 pounds, the bag itself cuts deeply into your weight limit, making it better for land or sea travel instead of flights if you’re pushing its limits.

Weight concerns aside, we love this bag for its large capacity, easy-to-use organization system, and durability. Though for its list price, we'd hope that this bag would have a lifetime warranty, but it only has a five-year limited warranty. Still, we found it to be durable, even when we hit it with a baseball bat thanks to its ballistic nylon material. We also love how easy it is to roll the bag despite its bulky size.

The Details: 17.2 pounds | 26 x 19 x 13 inches | 108-liter capacity | Expandable | 4 spinner wheels

Best Budget, Hardside

Kenneth cole reaction out of bounds suitcase.

It's very lightweight for a budget pick.

After six months of testing, we noticed this bag scuffed pretty heavily.

Coming in at a price point that would even be considered affordable for a carry-on bag, this suitcase gives you the best bang for your buck. Pricing aside, the bag serves its purpose well. The Kenneth Cole checked suitcase is more than roomy enough for a week's worth of clothing. On top of that, the handle, wheels, and exterior are all well-made and durable. The swivel wheels make traveling a breeze even through larger airports.

Aesthetically speaking, this is a streamlined, contemporary suitcase, though you can punch up the look by choosing a bold color like kelly green or magenta — there will be no missing your suitcase at the baggage claim. Best of all, this bag comes with a limited 10-year warranty, which is impressive for a budget pick (typically it's the more expensive bags that come with such a long period of protection). There's also a matching carry-on suitcase in this line if you're looking to buy a great luggage set that offers even more bang for your buck.

The Details: 9.6 pounds | 29.5 x 20.5 x 11.75 inches | 20.5-liter capacity | 4 spinner wheels

Best Budget, Softside

Swisstech softside luggage.

• Design 4.5 /5
• Durability 4.5 /5

The affordable bag can fit a huge amount of clothing and other items.

It lacks aesthetic flair and it can be easy to overpack due to its size.

No, this bag might not dazzle with its design, but what it lacks in aesthetic value it makes up for in pretty much every other category. For starters, its low price point is extremely attractive, particularly when you consider how effective the bag is. This SwissTech roller is quite spacious, with plenty of room for trips longer than one week. Between the expander and the fact that it's a softside bag, you can really fit a lot in there. Plus, it has a number of pockets both inside and outside that make organization effortless.

The suitcase also performed well on durability and maneuverability tests, only sustaining a slight dent from the impact of a baseball bat and handling the obstacle course like a champ. After six months of regular use, the only noticeable change in quality is a missing zipper pull, but we were able to pack so much into this suitcase that it's worth the minor flaw.

The Details: 10.9 pounds | 29 x 19 x 10.5 inches | Expandable | 4 spinner wheels

Best Expandable

Travelpro maxlite air medium check-in hardside spinner.

• Design 4 /5

Both sides of the clamshell zip closed to keep all of your items in place.

The handle is a bit too tall for shorter users.

This Travelpro bag easily fit all things on our packing list even before we used the expander feature. While expanded, it adds about two inches of space, so on your return journey you don't need to be quite as strategic when packing. This is a great medium-size bag that would be perfect for either long or short trips, making this a go-to for minimalists who may just want to own one piece of luggage.

We love that both sides of the clamshell zip closed to keep your items from shifting around too much and the lightweight yet durable design of the case overall. While we wish the handle had a few more heights, it was still easy to maneuver over all surfaces thanks to its sleek wheels. It also passed our durability tests with flying colors, and we're sure it would survive even the roughest journeys.

The Details: 8.5 pounds | 24.5 x 16.25 x 11 inches | Expandable | 4 spinner wheels

Travel + Leisure / Alexander Huang

Best Wheeled Duffel

Briggs & riley wheeled duffel.

It's the lightest bag on this list, weighing under nine pounds.

There aren't very many color options.

If you're headed for a remote destination that requires a flight on a bush plane or a charter bus as part of the journey, you'll likely need to pack your goods in a soft bag, or at least a bag that's soft on three sides. That's where a bag like this comes in handy. This spacious duffel, which has a capacity of 96 liters, includes convenient straps like a normal duffel, but also a wheeled mechanism for easy transport. Just note that the bag only has two wheels, not four, so you have to pull it at an angle while maneuvering. This bag is optimal for rugged terrain — it even handled gravel well.

We appreciated the multiple pockets throughout the bag, including a PVC-lined one that's perfect for keeping dirty clothes or gear separate from the clean stuff. And the durability of the 800D ballistic nylon is incredibly impressive.

The Details: 8.6 pounds | 27 x 15 x 15 inches | 96-liter capacity | 2 standard wheels

Travel + Leisure / Jessica Juliao

Best Compression

Samsonite outline pro large spinner.

The internal compression features are great for heavy packers.

The bulky wheels make this a fairly heavy bag.

The Samsonite Outline Pro is super roomy inside, large enough to pack everything we would need for even long vacations. The KompressPak divider allows you to flatten any bulky clothing so the suitcase itself closes seamlessly. For extra heavy packers, the expander feature adds an extra few inches to the suitcase's overall size. With that large size does come a good bit of weight — it's over 10 pounds when empty — but this suitcase also has plenty of organizational features including pockets and removable bags to keep your items in place.

We love that the handle has three adjustable heights and is reinforced with padding to keep you comfortable. The large wheels on the bag also rolled through our obstacle course over different surfaces smoothly. And the bag shined throughout all of our durability tests.

The Details: 10.1 pounds | 30 x 20.5 x 12.8 inches | Expandable | 4 spinner wheels

Best Softside

Hartmann luxe ii medium journey luggage.

This is one of the most stylish softside suitcases we've ever tested.

There are very minimal organizational features included, so you may have to use your own packing cubes.

This luxurious bag is stylish and functional inside and out. It's easy to pack thanks to its depth and the roomy interior. We love the slim front pockets in which you can stash small items, and the lid of the suitcase acts as a pocket as well (perfect for laundry or accessories). The main compartment features straps to secure your items — but we do recommend investing in a set of packing cubes to help keep you organized.

The camel leather trim on the outside of the suitcase, patterned fabric, and soft material give this suitcase a high-end feel feel, and the quality construction is immediately apparent. The zippers that open and close the suitcase have an accompanying lock on the side of the suitcase, which is a great security feature, especially for long trips. The bag didn't sustain any scratches, dents, or damage after it went through our durability tests, proving that softside bags can handle a beating, and we're sure it will remain just as stylish after your trip as before.

The Details: 9.4 pounds | 27.3 x 18.5 x 11.5 inches | Expandable | 4 spinner wheels

Best for Organization

Béis large check-in roller.

Despite its massive size, it's among the lightest bags on this list.

It scuffed easily during testing.

If you want to bring your whole wardrobe with you on vacation, this might be the bag for you. It's absolutely gigantic inside with a 112-liter capacity, but best of all, it has so many pockets, compartments, and removable bags for dirty clothes or shoes that it's super easy to stay on top of all your belongings. While it's easy to stay organized inside the bag, there are no external pockets — not a dealbreaker on a checked bag, but it's definitely something to consider. Something we didn't like, however, was how easily the bag scuffed. Though it seemed easy to clean the scuffs off, it would be a pain to have to touch up the bag after every flight. But after three months of use, we do love how easy the bag is to maneuver through crowded spaces and over various surfaces.

For those who are picky about colors, it's easy to find a match with your personal style. There are currently eight colors from which to choose, from Béis ' signature beige to the newest slate blue color that will be easy to spot at baggage claim.

The Details: 11.84 pounds | 16.5 x 29 x 11 inches | 112-liter capacity | Expandable | 4 spinner wheels

Best Garment Bag

Travelpro platinum elite 50-inch check-in rolling garment bag.

• Ease of Use 5 /5
• Quality 5 /5
• Performance 5 /5

It can fit 15 items on hangers.

It only has two wheels, which might take some getting used to.

Though many travelers opt for carry-on garment bags , this heavy-duty checked model has enough space for at least 15 items on hangars, though that number will vary based on what you're packing. That makes un packing a breeze, since all you have to do is hang up everything already in your suitcase! We love that it has a number of pockets for accessories, too, from shoes to belts. All together, that makes this suitcase a perfect option for a business traveler — or simply someone who has a tendency to overpack and doesn't want any of their clothes to get wrinkly.

One thing we particularly loved about this suitcase is its solid maneuverability. Considering the bag only has two fixed wheels instead of four spinners, we were initially a little concerned about how it might handle movement. But it passed our maneuverability (and durability) tests with flying colors, making this an ideal checked garment bag.

The Details : 13.4 pounds | 24 x 24.25 x 10.5 inches | 95-liter capacity | 2 standard wheels

Other Checked Luggage We Liked

Some of the bags we tested did not make our list of recommendations yet still stood out from the pack. They all had positive attributes, but a few things held them back.

Delsey Paris Helium Aero Hardside Expandable Luggage, 29-inch (hardside, 12.5 pounds) : We loved the aesthetic of this bag, and the price is reasonable. However, we’d have liked to see some more interior organization features and better durability of the wheels and exterior shell.

Travelpro Platinum Elite 29-inch Expandable Spinner (softside, 11.5 pounds) : This spacious bag was deemed ideal for those traveling on extended trips — or for chronic over-packers. But the bag's style leaves something to be desired.

Briggs & Riley Baseline Expandable Spinner 26-inch (softside, 12.5 pounds) : Despite its boxy shape, which was an aesthetic no-no for some, we found this high-quality bag to be quite easy to maneuver. However, we were stymied by a confusing storage compartment that didn't seem to have a distinct purpose.

Tumi Extended Trip Expandable 4 Wheeled Packing Case (softside. 17.9 pounds) : Though it comes with a removable garment bag and has a stellar organization system, this spacious suitcase is almost too big. Not to mention too heavy at 17.9 pounds!

London Fog Buckingham 44-inch Wheeled Garment Bag (softside, 11 pounds) : This is an extremely spacious garment bag that can fit an entire week's worth of work clothes, but its square form is a little jarring to look at.

Our Testing Process

We adhered to a detailed luggage testing process that analyzed each bag's capacity, organization, maneuverability, durability, and value. The first step was weighing the empty suitcase and taking note of whether or not it felt lightweight while handling. Then, we packed the luggage with standard items for a seven-day trip, including a full wardrobe, shoes, and toiletries. We examined the bags' storage capacity, organization systems, and zipper functionality.

Next up was maneuverability. Once the checked bag was fully loaded, we rolled it through an obstacle course that involved multiple surfaces, including carpet, concrete pavers, and simulated gravel. We rated each piece of luggage’s wheels, handles, and overall balance.

Finally, we subjected each bag to harsh durability tests. Each one was shoved off a countertop multiple times and struck with a baseball bat repeatedly. We then checked each suitcase for scuffs, dents, tears, and other types of damage. We also re-tested maneuverability to see how wheels and handles fared in the beating.

After testing each item in our lab, we sent the bags home to be tested during real trips, global and domestic, over a period of six months. We will continue to update the article as we test new luggage pieces and collect additional insights on durability, quality, and convenience throughout long-term testing. This is the complete list of checked luggage we have tested over time, results included.

Tips for Buying Checked Luggage

Choose a size that’s right for your travels.

Checked bags aren't subject to such strict restrictions as carry-on bags, but airlines usually cap measurements at 62 total linear inches (that is, the sum of the height, width, and depth of the luggage). Weight is a more important measurement: most airlines cap checked bags at 50 pounds for most passengers, and occasionally at 70 pounds for frequent flyers with elite status. Please check baggage restrictions with your airline before your flight, especially if you tend to pack your expandable luggage to the max.

Depending on their travel plans, some people may even prefer a checked bag that is on the smaller size so that it's easier to keep under the weight limit or easier to lift up onto trains or buses.

Softside luggage can be just as durable as hardside luggage

You might think that hardside luggage is more durable than softside luggage, but both can be extremely hardy. Softside luggage is more prone to tearing than hardside luggage, of course, but it all depends on the material. You'll want to look for softside bags made from a high-quality, high-density material that is tear-resistant for the best durability. Hardside luggage, on the other hand, might not tear, but it can be prone to cracking and denting, depending on the material.

Think about your organization preferences

Checked bags provide quite a bit of interior space, and while that means you can pack more items inside them, you'll need to come up with a packing strategy so that your suitcase isn't a mess. Some bags are essentially just empty shells, which is prime for packers who love to use packing cubes . Others provide interior organization systems within the suitcase itself via pockets or zipped sections. If you're not a cube user, this is the kind of bag you might want to check out.

You are not allowed to check certain dangerous items which are potentially harmful to the aircraft. That includes flammable items like lithium batteries, electronic lighters, explosives, fuels, and liquor higher than 140 proof. You can see the full list here of what is permitted and forbidden to check in your luggage, per the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Most airlines limit checked luggage to 62 linear inches (the sum of the height, width, and depth of the bag) and a weight of 50 pounds, which can also apply to items like snowboard and travel golf bags . Check with your specific airline for its specific policies.

Why Trust Travel + Leisure

Stefanie Waldek is a freelance space, travel, and design journalist with over eight years of experience. For this article, she analyzed feedback from T+L's vigorous lab and real-world tests to select the best checked bags for every type of traveler.

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