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The best cheap luggage: 7 affordable options under $150.

Wherever you're headed, these affordable luggage brands have what you need to travel within budget.

The Best Cheap Luggage

Courtesy of Travelpro

If you're looking for an affordable soft-sided carry-on, the Travelpro Maxlite 5 Carry-On Rolling Underseat Bag is the right choice for you.

Some luggage comes at a steep cost that can make travel a financial challenge for the average person, but travel horror stories often put on the pressure to spend the big bucks. Cheap suitcases might make you think of shoddy materials and personal items strewn across tarmacs or luggage carousels, but today's budget-friendly luggage brands offer quality construction at an attractive price.

We've put together a list of the best luggage options – from compact carry-ons to stylish soft-sided bags to heavy-duty duffels – with top-of-the-line designs and high-quality materials at prices under $150. Whether you're traveling for business or pleasure, these affordable luggage options are set to become your go-to bags for every type of trip.

Best Soft-sided Carry-on: Travelpro Maxlite 5 Carry-On Rolling Underseat Bag

• Jump to features and traveler insights ↓

Best Hard-sided Carry-on: Amazon Basics 20-inch Hard-side Spinner

Best soft-sided checked bag: american tourister belle voyage 25-inch spinner, best hard-sided checked bag: coolife luggage 28-inch expandable suitcase, best backpack: swissgear 5358 usb scansmart laptop backpack.

• Best Carry-on Duffel Bag: SwissGear 1900 21-inch Duffel Bag

Best Checked Duffel Bag: Samsonite Andante 2 32-inch Wheeled Duffel

(Note: Prices were accurate for this luggage at the time this article was updated; they may fluctuate due to supply chain issues or other factors.)

Dimensions: 17.5 x 14.5 x 8.5 inches | Weight: 5.5 pounds Hard- or soft-sided: Soft | Warranty: Lifetime limited

What sets it apart: This soft-sided Travelpro bag is fitted with a number of convenient features to make traveling a breeze. The sleek design includes an adjustable height telescoping handle and wide U-shaped front flap for easy packing. The numerous exterior and interior pockets – including a padded laptop sleeve, quick-access external pockets, and a removable hanging organizer for storing cosmetics or toiletries – will help you stay organized.

While two-wheel designs are often seen as less convenient, the sturdy front legs keep this bag upright even when packed to the brim, and the two high-performance wheels make traveling with this bag a breeze. If you've got multiple bags, use the convenient rear strap to secure this compact carry-on luggage on top of larger luggage.

Travelers appreciate: Recent travelers love this versatile bag's spacious interior and clever pockets. Many also say the in-line wheels and sturdy handle make it easy to maneuver, including down narrow airplane aisles. Travelers who use the Maxlite 5 in addition to larger suitcases rave that it is a convenient height and stacks easily.

Price: $149.99 or less Shop now: Travelpro | Amazon

Dimensions: 21.46 x 14.76 x 9.45 inches | Weight: 6.53 pounds Hard- or soft-sided: Hard | Warranty: One-year limited

What sets it apart: Perfect for short trips, this hard-sided Amazon Basics spinner provides travelers with the organizational benefits of larger luggage in a compact model. The extra-thick ABS hard shell protects a fully lined interior complete with a divider, clothing straps and three zippered pockets for small items.

These features pair with the suitcase's full 180-degree opening and its ability to expand for up to 15% more packing space (though you should check airline size restrictions before doing so, as this may put the suitcase outside of size limits for some airlines). This hard-sided suitcase also has four double spinner wheels and a telescoping handle to maneuver through tight airplane aisles with ease.

Travelers appreciate: Adventurers have used this luggage everywhere from the rough cobblestones of Europe to the bullet trains of Japan , and there is one thing they all agree on: This hard-sided spinner moves like a dream. Recent travelers praise the durable wheels and easy glide for making movement across different surfaces smooth and effortless. While the spinner isn't immune to scuffs and scratches, many travelers praised the hard exterior for holding up across multiple baggage handlings.

Price: $88 or less Shop now: Amazon

Dimensions: 27.3 x 17.5 x 12 inches | Weight: 8.8 pounds Hard- or soft-sided: Soft | Warranty: 10-year limited

What sets it apart: Easy to spot at baggage claim with its metallic accents, this American Tourister check-in spinner offers travelers easy mobility, a thoughtful design and a sleek exterior. The spacious interior has shoe pockets, a mesh pocket for valuables, a modesty pocket for more sensitive items and clothing straps to help keep everything in place. The separate pocket on the front of the suitcase also gives you space to store items, and the 180-degree front panel opening allows for easy packing with the option to expand up to 1.5 inches for added space.

The single airflow spinner wheels and push-button locking handle will help you maneuver through airports and train stations, while the integrated top, side and bottom carry handles make lifting it off the baggage carousel easy.

Travelers appreciate: This suitcase is a favorite among travelers for its easy-to-spot exterior, lightweight design and durability. Many recent users of the bag appreciate the affordable price, sturdy wheels and lightweight design.

Price: $89.99 or less Shop now: American Tourister

Tips on Trips and Expert Picks

Travel tips, vacation ideas and more to make your next vacation stellar.

Dimensions: 29 x 20.5 x 11 (13.5 expanded) inches | Weight: 10.88 pounds Hard- or soft-sided: Hard | Warranty: Two-year

What sets it apart: While many affordable hard-sided luggage options struggle to stand up to airport baggage handling, the ABS and PC material of this spinner provides a light and durable hard shell. Added design elements like the textured scratch-resistant finish and beveled upper edge increase the bag's toughness. Built for durability and ease of use, this expandable Coolife suitcase has multidirectional silent wheels and a sturdy aluminum telescoping handle for smooth travel.

The incorporated TSA lock gives an extra level of security for personal items. The checked bag 's interior comes fully lined with several pockets, clothing straps and a divider to ensure all of your items stay organized. This suitcase already has a large capacity, but it also offers an extra 2.5 inches of space when expanded.

Travelers appreciate: Recent travelers love this suitcase's durable wheels and ease of movement, with many commenting on how easily it rolls across different surfaces. They also appreciate the spacious storage and built-in TSA lock, as well as the beautiful exterior and six color options that make it easy to identify your luggage at baggage claim.

Price: $139.99 or less Shop now: Coolife | Amazon

Dimensions: 18 x 11.5 x 7 inches | Weight: 3 pounds Hard- or soft-sided: Soft | Warranty: Three-year limited or 10-year extended warranty upgrade when ordered through swissgear.com

What sets it apart: At the top of the backpack game for many years, this SwissGear travel backpack has padded shoulder straps and a back panel with breathable mesh fabric and built-in support. If you don't want to carry it, you can slip it over a carry-on suitcase handle thanks to its add-a-bag trolley strap. One unique feature is the TSA-friendly laptop compartment with a padded 16-inch computer sleeve and a padded tablet pocket to help you breeze through security. What's more, the backpack has a built-in USB outlet power port (with the battery pack sold separately) to charge your phone on the go.

Despite its compact design, the backpack has a large capacity main compartment, with an internal zippered panel – that, when unzipped, turns into a side-access shoe bag – plus multiple organizational pockets. Given its size, the bag is an ideal personal item on a plane.

Travelers appreciate: The SwissGear 5358 USB ScanSmart Laptop Backpack's compact profile, multiple compartments and technology-focused design make it a favorite among travelers. They praise the TSA-friendly electronics compartments, organizational features and how easily this backpack slides under plane seats.

Price: $139.99 or less Shop now: SwissGear

Best Carry-On Duffel Bag: SwissGear 1900 21-inch Duffel Bag

Dimensions: 11 x 21 x 11.5 inches | Weight: 2.2 pounds Hard- or soft-sided: Soft | Warranty: Five-year limited or 10-year extended warranty upgrade when ordered through swissgear.com

What sets it apart: While there are many duffel bags that meet carry-on size restrictions, the SwissGear 1900 duffel offers travelers some unique perks – including a separate shoe compartment. This section keeps your clothes and other personal items clean, and it crushes flat to add more cargo space when not in use. The duffel also has an internal zippered mesh pocket with a removable wet bag and a digital organizer panel with pockets for all your travel accessories.

Once you've gone through security, take advantage of the side insulated cooler compartment for storing hot or cold snacks and drinks. On top of all these unique features, this travel duffel has a plush grab handle and an attachable padded shoulder strap to make carrying it around airports easy and comfortable.

Travelers appreciate: Travelers love this SwissGear duffel for its durability, spacious compartments and insulated compartment. While many reviewers heaped on praise for the quality of SwissGear products, the shoe compartment stole the show for most. It fits larger shoe sizes than most other bags on the market, making it ideal for a wide range of travelers.

Price: $74.99 or less Shop now: SwissGear | Amazon

Dimensions: 32.4 x 15 x 14.8 inches | Weight: 7.9 pounds Hard- or soft-sided: Soft | Warranty: Three-year

What sets it apart: Designed to maximize convenience and durability, the Samsonite Andante 2 takes duffel bags to the next level. This checked bag is constructed with water-resistant fabric, a locking pull handle, multiple exterior grab handles, corner protectors and bumper runners. There's a separate water-resistant pocket at the end of the duffel to pack shoes or other wet items, so your clothes and electronics stay dry.

The main portion of the bag is broken into two parts, with a drop-bottom compartment that's perfect for packing cubes and allows for extra organization when packing. The drop-bottom compartment is accessed by a 180-degree zip opening, and the U-shaped main compartment has a large opening for easy packability. An extra bonus of using this checked duffel bag is the lightweight design, which weighs in at slightly less than 8 pounds.

Travelers appreciate: Recent packers love the spacious compartments and durable materials of the Samsonite Andante 2. As a testament to its quality, travelers have put this bag through the wringer with heavy loads and multiple destinations, and still say the bag barely looks used by the end. They also praise the reliability and affordability of this bag, but some warn it doesn't stand upright easily when filled, a trait common among rolling duffel bags .

Price: $124.99 or less Shop now: Samsonite | Amazon

Why Trust U.S. News Travel

Erin Vasta loved traveling as a student and, as a result, figured out quickly that not all budget luggage brands are created equal. Dealing with everything from broken wheels to stuck zippers, she's had to improvise her way through a lot of luggage disasters. Those experiences helped her figure out what to look for when purchasing affordable luggage. Vasta hopes this article will help other budget travelers avoid her early mistakes.

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Cheap Tropical Vacations

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• # 4 Bora Bora

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The 7 Best Rolling Suitcases, According to Our Hands-On Experience

Our top luggage picks for every traveler—and every budget.

Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. Why Trust Us?

If it’s been a minute since the last time you replaced your luggage, consider the importance of having a reliable suitcase on your journey. You don’t want to be the person with the duck-taped spinner on the baggage carousel. That’s no way to kick off a vacation. Plus, performance and design innovations tend to improve with time, so you may be missing out on luggage that’s lighter weight and easier to pack than whatever you have stored in your closet.

As a former travel editor, I’ve tried quite a few rolling suitcases—and I tried several more just for this piece. Read on for our picks for the best rolling suitcases on the market, spanning a range of price points, plus advice on what look for while you shop.

The Best Rolling Suitcases

• Best Overall : Away The Carry-On
• Best Value: Monos Carry-On Pro
• Best Budget: Samsonite Omni PC Hardside Luggage
• Best Customizable : Roam Carry-On Front Pocket
• Best Sustainably Made : Paravel The Aviator

How We Selected

I have more than a decade of professional experience geeking out over luggage (to a degree that most people would find obsessive and exhausting). As a senior editor on Popular Mechanics ’ product reviews team, I still keep tabs on brands that are new to the marketplace, watching for new innovations in design and moves toward incorporating sustainable materials.

Our selection includes hardside and softside carry-on and checked rolling suitcases, from sub-$200 weekenders to luxury bags that cost well over $1,000. We got our hands on the majority of luggage we feature below, and vetted the others for high-quality materials and construction. To compare each, we considered wheel performance, handle sturdiness, and organizational design, along with overall aesthetics and nice-to-have extras like luggage tags and laundry bags.

Away The Carry-On Rolling Suitcase

Away’s original Carry-On, which dropped back in 2016, continues to be one of the brand’s bestsellers, and we totally get why. Of all the bags we got our hands on, this one went above and beyond for performance and attention to detail.

To my mind, the most important feature on any rolling suitcase is, in order, the wheels and the trolley handle—and Away’s Carry-On nails both. Travel can be tiring and stressful enough without a full-on workout to get your luggage from terminal to gate. That’s why it’s essential to have one that drives like a dream.

The bag didn’t get stuck on carpeting or pavement and kept up with me while I darted through crowds (one of my superpowers). I appreciated the grippy trolley handle versus the hard plastic on most others, and the TSA-approved combination lock was nice to have on top rather than along the side.

In terms of aesthetics, things like the wide-stitch leather trim and bonus leather luggage tag add considerable polish, which is appreciated at this price point.

Away’s latest update to its rolling suitcase line includes a recessed underside handle that helps you lift the bag onto a luggage stand or hoist it up into the overhead. Simple, but genius.

The interior also got a refresh, with three mesh pockets integrated in its compression system. Good functionality, but looks-wise, it doesn’t break the mold.

Still, all in all, it’s tough to find serious fault with this rolling suitcase. Away set the standard with a 100-night trial and a limited lifetime guarantee, which most newer luggage brands have since adopted. Whether you want to spend $315, especially when some of the competition offers a close second for considerably less, is your preference.

Monos Carry-On Pro Rolling Suitcase

Monos is a relative newcomer to the luggage and lifestyle travel space. Just five years in, the Vancouver-based brand has managed to turn out a collection of carry-on and checked bags that look great and offer fantastic value.

The Carry-On goes head-to-head with Away’s Carry-On on all the most important points—and costs $255 versus Away’s $315. The rolling suitcase’s high-performance spinner wheels and sturdy trolley handle are equally impressive.

And while it may not have an exterior with high-end details, Monos one-ups its main competitor on the interior, which looks more luxe and has a superior compression system. Extras thrown in include two shoe bags in addition to a laundry bag and vegan leather luggage tag.

The piece I tested is the Carry-On Pro, which adds an incredibly well-designed front laptop compartment, but is otherwise the same as the standard Carry-On, minus a few inches of interior packing space. I highly recommend it if you want an awesome rolling suitcase for work trips.

Along with everything that wowed me about the Monos luggage, I really appreciated that it came inside a canvas drawstring dust bag and shipped in a box with a handle. Those kind of thoughtful details go a long way when you’re dropping a couple hundred bucks.

Interior of the Monos Carry-On Pro

Roam Carry-On Front Pocket

Roam is the brainchild of two Tumi alums who saw potential in the marketplace for high-end, customizable luggage—and boy, is it fun to go down a rabbit hole using the brand’s online design tool.

You can choose color options for the front, back, and trim, as well as the wheels, handle, and even the binding. And, if the choices are too overwhelming, you can always leave it to the experts and go for one in the gallery. Because committing caused me more anxiety than I’d like to admit, I roped in a co-worker to design it for me (and it came out great!).

The spinner wheels performed admirably and I didn’t have any complaints about the trolley handle’s sturdiness. Also, all of Roam’s bags come with a lifetime limited warranty and a 100-day trial.

For a rolling suitcase at this price, I expected more for the interior, which was perfectly functional but lacked the next-level design of other carry-ons that cost much less.

Personally, I can’t travel without a laptop for more than a day or two, so I tested the Carry-On front pocket, which has a well-padded compartment but isn’t on par with the Monos.

If you want a rolling suitcase that offers solid performance and tons of color combo options, I highly recommend the Roam—but expect to pay much more for the privilege of owning a personally designed piece of luggage.

Samsonite Omni PC Hardside Luggage 24-Inch

For less than $200, this medium checked hardside rolling suitcase is great choice—and it comes with Samsonite’s 10-year limited warranty.

The polycarbonate clamshell expandable bag has an eye-catching design and features spinner wheels, a TSA-approved lock, and two interior packing compartments with zippered mesh dividers. There’s also a handy top handle, which makes it easy to grab off the luggage carousel.

Laptop compartments for Roam (left) and Monos (right).

Paravel The Aviator

Paravel was founded in 2016 and distinguishes itself from the pack as a sustainable, socially responsible travel brand that designs attractive, eco-friendly luggage and accessories.

The Aviator accompanied me on a weeklong trip to New Jersey. But soon after boarding the train, I decided it’s the perfect bag to take if I’m ever lucky enough to go back to St. Barth. The rolling suitcase is stunning—particularly in cream with camel vegan leather trim—and the interior’s design impressed me more than any piece luggage I’ve ever had the pleasure of packing.

Yet despite its lovely attributes, it didn’t perform nearly as well as the competition, particularly for city travel. The wheels were challenged by the commercial carpeting in my hallway and rough sidewalk pavement. It didn’t take curbs very well and the trolley handle wiggled from side-to-side.

It’s worth noting that on my flip trip back to New York, I saw a woman on the train platform with the Aviator and flagged her down to ask what she thought of it. She said she loved it overall, but also felt that the trolley handle wasn’t the sturdiest.

Still, for anyone seeking a high-style rolling suitcase that’s sustainably made, there’s no competition.

Interior of the Paravel Aviator.

Travelpro Maxlite 5 Softside Rolling Suitcase

At only 5.4 pounds, this 22-inch softside rolling suitcase is ultra-lightweight—and it’s from Travelpro, a go-to for inexpensive, well-made luggage.

It’s made of stain- and water-resistant polyester and tapered on the top to prevent tipping, with a telescoping handle that locks at two heights.

The main compartment has a zippered mesh top and adjustable hold-down straps on the opposite side, plus a zippered modesty pocket for small items like keys and chargers. There are also two large exterior compartments, plus it expands up to 2 inches—handy for the trip home if you went on a shopping spree. It comes in eight colors, though they're somewhat muted.

The only caveat is that the suitcase doesn’t have spinner wheels, which may be a dealbreaker for some.

Rimowa Original Cabin Rolling Suitcase

If dropping well over a grand on a piece of luggage is no biggie, Rimowa’s iconic aluminum Original Cabin rolling suitcase is worth considering.

Of all its high-end the ultimate jet-setter status bag boasts, my favorite has nothing to do with style. Its spinner-wheel braking system—a feature you would think midrange brands would prioritize figuring out—is practically worth the price tag. No matter how mindful I am of keeping my spinner next to me, it inevitably rolls away every time I travel.

The interior of Rimowa’s signature bag may not seem like much at first glance. But despite the lack of pockets to catch small items, its compression system is a godsend for over-packers—which is a good thing, because the bag closes with two locks rather than a somewhat forgiving zipper.

I’d be remiss not to point out that while the rolling suitcase’s name implies that it fits in the cabin, it’s almost two inches wider than standard domestic carrier dimensions. Chances are, anyone with funds to own a Rimowa won’t consider that an important detail—especially if the cabin is in a private jet.

What to Consider When Buying a Rolling Suitcase

Size and weight.

Carry-on and checked bag size and weight allowances vary widely among domestic and international airlines. As such, we highly recommend consulting your carrier’s website for specs before booking your ticket.

That said, standard carry-on dimensions for most domestic airlines are 22 by 14 by 9 inches (or 45 linear inches, measured diagonally across the suitcase), including wheels. Some international carriers cap carry-on height at 21 inches, so you may want to choose a smaller rolling suitcase if you frequently travel abroad.

Most domestic airlines don’t have weight restrictions for carry-ons, while most international carriers do. Checked bag requirements—and fees attached—are all over the map for both domestic and international carriers.

Keep in mind that baggage allowances may depend on fare class. A basic economy ticket on United or JetBlue, for example, doesn’t include a free carry-on—just a personal item.

Hardside or Softside?

The next decision to make is whether you want a hardside or a softside bag. Polycarbonate is typically used for hardside luggage (also referred to as hard-case or hardshell, depending on the brand) whereas softside rolling suitcases are often made of ballistic nylon—there are pros and cons of each.

Hardside suitcases are generally more durable, but lack outer pockets and scratch easily. Softside luggage isn’t as durable as edges can fray over time, but often includes several outer pockets so you can grab what you need while on the go. A few brands—like Monos and Roam—have hardside suitcases with padded front laptop compartments. You’ll find expandable models for both hardside and softside bags.

Spinner or Fixed Wheels?

Next up: do you want a bag with four spinner wheels or two traditional fixed wheels? Spinner wheels rotate 360 degrees, which makes it easy to roll your bag alongside you rather than dragging it behind you all the time.

The downside is that spinners aren’t as compact fixed wheels and the majority of spinner bags don’t have a brake system, which may mean your suitcase rolls away on surfaces with an incline.

Finally, you should absolutely factor in the warranty when buying any suitcase. Some brands also offer a 100-day trial period with a money-back guarantee and a lifetime limited warranty. A 10-year limited warranty is solid. We avoided featuring brands or specific models with five-year warranties or less, since luggage can be quite an investment.

Rachel Klein is a Senior Commerce Editor for Popular Mechanics , where she writes about everything from garden hose reels and patio furniture to mesh wifi systems and robot vacuums. She started her career as a daily newspaper reporter and was a travel editor for more than a decade before she started testing and reviewing luggage, noise-cancelling headphones, and other travel-related products. Fast-forward another five years and her area of expertise includes home decor, appliances, tech, and outdoor adventure gear. In her spare time, you'll find her planning her next trip, reading historical fiction, and seeing as much art as she can squeeze into a weekend. 

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The 11 Very Best Pieces of Rolling Luggage

“it has survived being dragged across sand, dirt, and cobblestones.”.

In this article

Best rolling luggage overall.

• Best less expensive
• Best for frequent fliers
• Best mixed material
• Best aluminum
• Best for overpackers

Best rolling-luggage set

• Best soft-side

Whether I’m running frantically toward the gate or strolling through security at a more leisurely pace, my trusty spinner suitcase makes travel so much easier. It’s helpful for keeping me organized once I arrive at my destination, too. Unlike most backpacks or duffels, the best rolling luggage has storage compartments, sturdy handles, and plenty of space. There’s something so pleasing about packing your items neatly before a trip, especially if your suit case has built-in compression storage.

To find rolling luggage for every kind of traveler, fellow Strategist travel writer Rachael Griffiths and I tested a dozen or so different pieces, from stretchy nylon cases with warranties that last a lifetime to bash-resistant plastic luggage. We tended to prefer hard-side cases over a soft-side, and especially those with the aforementioned compression dividers, which allow for a bit of overpacking. While some pieces may cost more than others, we’ve also learned that if you’re not fussy about the type of plastics used (ABS costs less than polycarbonate but can withstand some real rattling in transit), there are bargains to be found. While you’re here, you may want to check out my guides to the best  Dopp kits  and the best  refillable toiletry bottles .

What we’re looking for

Hard-shell vs. soft-side.

Most experts I spoke to prefer hard-shell luggage, and I agree. It’s durable and easy to clean, it protects your clothes if it rains, and it’s harder for bedbugs to penetrate if you encounter any on your trip. The hard-shells on this list are made from either ABS, an inexpensive but less durable plastic; polycarbonate, a more durable but also lightweight material; or aluminum, which is slightly heavier, but the most durable. Most on this list are polycarbonate, but there are a few soft-sided pieces too, for those who haven’t made the switch yet. While they aren’t as durable, “from a repair standpoint, we always feel that the canvas soft-sided luggage is better than the hard-side luggage because you can repair canvas,” Tony Pecorella, president and CEO of Modern Leather Goods, a repair shop in Manhattan, says. He’s an authorized repairman for many of the luggage brands below and says someone comes in with a cracked hard-shell every day and “there’s no repairing them at all.” So in addition to soft-side suitcases being fixable, they’re also overpacking-friendly because you can stuff more in them than a rigid polycarbonate case (and finesse a larger carry-on to fit in an overhead bin, too.)

Our experts continuously raved about the wheels on their favorite suitcases, describing them as smooth and sturdy. Most were talking about their four spinner wheels, which make the suitcase much easier to push along as it can glide in all directions. For comfort and ease of use, four wheels is definitely the way to go and is our recommendation, but again, Pecorella says it’s not the best choice from a repair standpoint. “It is always stronger to have the case that has the two wheels on it,” he says. “Those wheels are encased, so the only thing that can really happen on those wheels is that they wear out eventually like tires on your car.” With the four spinners — which Pecorella fully admits to using personally — he says because they aren’t encased and just are attached to the bottom of the suitcase, you run the risk of them being banged off. “If you’re rolling off a curb or if you hit the escalator too hard, it’ll just snap the wheel right off,” he says. “That’s one of the biggest repairs we do here all day.” However, a good warranty should cover this (more on that below.)

Almost none of the suitcases on this list go the easy-repair route of being soft-side and having two wheels, and that’s because most have pretty good warranties. The biggest phrase you want to avoid is “limited to manufacturer’s defects,” which Pecorella says means they basically cover nothing and will attribute damage to wear and tear, or say it’s your fault or the airline’s fault. “Lifetime warranty” is ideal.

If you’ve checked an overweight bag before, you’ll know how much those extra charges can sting. Lightweight suitcases are ideal for overpackers — including myself — so I’ve included each case’s weight when empty.

Hard-shell vs. soft-side: Polycarbonate hard-shell | Wheels: 360-degree spinner wheels | Warranty: Limited lifetime warranty | Weight: From 7.4 pounds  

If you’re after a relatively affordable suitcase that doesn’t have to be babied on cobbled streets and will survive being dragged up several flights of stairs, I’m not sure you can do much better than Away. The brand’s sturdy spinner wheels can truly take a battering, and they’ll also glide joyfully across flat surfaces when given the opportunity. I’ve been testing the Bigger Carry-on, which has a 50-liter capacity yet still fits in most overhead bins, over the past couple of months. Griffiths, who lives in Europe (where airline luggage requirements are much stingier), tested the original, smaller size and was surprised by how much she could fit into it. All of the brand’s rolling-luggage pieces feature the same qualities essential to a modern suitcase and come highly praised by travel experts. Stephanie Be from travelbreak.net and Buena calls out the “TSA-approved lock, 360-degree wheels, tough hardware, and sleek design.” Kelly Farber , founder of KF Literary Scouting, took only the larger size on a three-week, seven-city business trip, and says, “That thing just would not quit.” Strategist editor Maxine Builder also has experience with the Away warranty after her internal zipper broke in 2019: “There was a fair bit of back-and-forth over the next four months, but I ended up with a replacement suitcase in exactly the same limited-edition colorway with the same hand-painted monogram, all for free.” Five years later, she’s still traveling with it.

Best less expensive polycarbonate rolling luggage

Hard-shell vs. soft-side: Polycarbonate hard-shell | Wheels: 360-degree spinner wheels | Warranty: Limited ten year | Weight: 7.9 pounds

Usually, cheaper hardside suitcases are made from ABS, a less durable plastic than the polycarbonate more expensive brands use. That’s why this case is such a rarity: It costs less than $200 (and is often on sale), and it’s made from the more durable polycarbonate. It also includes all of the features I’d expect from more expensive brands, like four 365-degree spinner wheels, TSA-approved locks, and a built-in USB port to use with a power bank. Travel blogger Courtney Vondran says that “it’s a great option for budget travelers or first-timer carry-on travelers who want nice pieces for more affordable prices.” So far, Vondran has taken her case with her on “road trips throughout the Midwest, a work trip to Egypt, vacation to L.A. , travel conference in Memphis, romantic getaway to Maine,” — and it’s all been protected by the case’s limited ten-year warranty, which covers any major damages beyond reasonable wear and tear.

Hard-shell vs. soft-side: Polycarbonate hard-shell | Wheels: 360-degree spinner wheels | Warranty: None | Weight: From 6.2 pounds

Quince , the five-year-old start-up that seems to make a little bit of everything, recently added rolling luggage to its growing inventory . I’ve been testing out the brand’s carry-on-size suitcase as well as its larger, checked one, both made from the same durable polycarbonate that Away and Open Story use. In terms of weight and feel, Quince’s affordable suitcases are surprisingly similar to Away’s in particular. When I nudged an Away Bigger Carry-on and Quince Carry-on across my apartment floor side by side, their wheels carried them about the same distance, and their retractable handles are almost identical in form and function. Both brands use YKK zippers and TSA-approved combination locks. Inside, the compression compartments and removable laundry bag are also essentially the same. One key difference: Quince does not offer a warranty on its products. If you’re a very frequent traveler and know you’ll be putting your luggage through its paces, that’s definitely something to consider. If you’re vacationing for only a couple of weeks each year, though, it’s potentially less of a deal-breaker.

Best less-expensive ABS rolling luggage

Hard-shell vs. soft-side: ABS hard-shell | Wheels: 360-degree spinner wheels | Warranty: Limited warranty | Weight: 7.3 pounds

This Amazon Basics case is made from the less durable plastic ABS, but it’s still one of Griffiths’s favorites. “In my experience, it’s rare to find a case that costs under $100 that can compete with more expensive brands,” she says. “As it is made from a cheaper plastic, I was surprised by how thick and sturdy the suitcase feels — it has a nice thud when you knock against the exterior.” As well as being thick, the exterior is also scratch resistant , and the case also has a well-designed handle, smoothly rolling wheels, handles for comfort, and a built-in lock. The warranty is where this bag falls slightly short, though (and may explain the cheaper price tag): it’s only a three-year limited warranty that protects against defects in materials and workmanship — which Pecorella says is the type to avoid.

Best rolling luggage for frequent fliers

Hard-shell vs. soft-side: Polycarbonate hard-shell | Wheels: 360-degree spinner wheels | Warranty: Five -year manufacturer’s guarantee | Weight: 7.1 pounds

The Rimowa Essential line of suitcases is excellent; more than ten experts we spoke with recommended the brand, but its extravagant price prevents it from taking the top spot on this list. If you do have the money to spare, it comes in 11 colors and two finishes and works like a dream. Owners especially praise the wheels. “I won’t pretend to understand all the physics behind the bearings and axles on Rimowa’s bags, but I do know they spin amazingly well through the airport,” Summer Hull, director of travel content at the Points Guy , says. Fellow travel writer Hillary Eaton also told me she had no problem lugging the case on a 48-hour journey from Vancouver to Machu Picchu by “tiny floatplane, three long-haul flights, a five-hour bus, and a two-hour train ride.” Several owners also pointed out how easy it is to get this suitcase repaired if anything goes wrong. However, while there’s a manufacturer’s guarantee of five years, it only applies if you remember to register your product when you purchase it. Otherwise, it lasts for only two.

Best rolling luggage for budget airlines

Hard-shell vs. soft-side: ABS hard-shell | Wheels: 360-degree spinner wheels | Warranty: One-year limited | Weight: 6 pounds

I first learned about this teeny-tiny rolling case when researching the best personal-item-size luggage . It came recommended by Jasmine Anderson and Natasha Wilson , travel agents and co-hosts of the podcast  Travel Fly Sexy , as well as packing expert  Lauren Kelly . They all praise its snap-off spinner wheels that can slide miraculously into the cruelest of budget-airline baggage-sizers. (“Frontier lately is charging people for wheels and handles sticking out of the sizers,” says Kelly. “That means $100 extra for each leg of the trip.”) Measuring 18 by 14 by eight inches, the suitcase’s rectangular shape maximizes space and allows you to use packing cubes: “I have put a laptop and a week’s worth of clothes in the Take Off,” says Anderson. Kelly agrees that “it will give you the most packing space if your goal is a weeklong trip where you pack a personal item only.” The suitcase comes with a small bag to put its wheels in while your bag is being sized by airline staff; you can also just stash them in your pockets.

Best customizable rolling luggage

Hard-shell vs. soft-side: Polycarbonate hard-shell | Wheels: 360-degree spinner wheels | Warranty: Limited lifetime warranty | Weight: 7.9 pounds

Strategist associate editor Jenna Milliner-Waddell calls July the “the Away of the Down Under.” And while the July Carry-on offers a lot of the same features as the Away, it has the added perk of a USB-C port so you can charge your iPhone or your laptop straight from the bag. July’s smallest carry-on weighs about half as much as Away’s, even though they both have similar liter capacities, and you can personalize it. This particular case sets itself apart with a removable fabric front pocket, which came in handy for Christine Wang, founder of TheSkiGirl who is generally a fan of soft-side luggage. If you’re traveling for work, everything you need is easily accessible, and instead of digging through your bag to remove your laptop at TSA, you can easily just snap this pouch off instead.

Best aluminum rolling luggage

Hard-shell vs. soft-side: Aluminum hard-shell | Wheels: 360-degree spinner wheels | Warranty: Limited lifetime warranty | Weight: 10.1 pounds

Aluminum cases are as tough as they come: unlike with plastic cases, you don’t need to worry about them cracking and spilling all your belongings. They often have the added security of a clamp rather than a zip, which again is less likely to burst. This case comes from Away and has all the same specs as my favorite case overall, though it’s slightly heavier, so you may have to pack a bit lighter if you’re checking it in. Despite this, travel writer Sarah Greaves-Gabbadon says there’s plenty of space for all the essentials she’d need for a three- or four-day trip. Swede White, who works for Amazon and has to travel monthly for his job, told me the only downside to this case is that he finds it scuffs easily. Away acknowledges that this will happen, alluding to it as developing a patina over time — if you prefer a pristine case, it all boils down to personal taste.

Best rolling luggage for overpackers

Hard-shell vs. soft-side: Polycarbonate hard-shell | Wheels: 360-degree spinner wheels | Warranty: Limited lifetime warranty | Weight: 8.36 pounds

If, like me, you can’t travel without taking your entire closet, Béis’s luggage is for you. By unzipping an internal section, the bag expands by up to three inches — meaning you can shove that extra sweater inside. More stuff means a heavier bag, but Béis’s built-in weight-limit indicator ensures you don’t teeter over the 50-pound weight restriction for many checked bags. A red mark will appear if the luggage is over, which should save you some stress and money at the check-in counter. As well as a water-resistant zipper, travel blogger HeyCiara told me she appreciates how the case also has a TSA lock, a handle with ergonomic support, and a built-in laundry and shoe bag to prevent your clothes from getting soiled.

Material: Polycarbonate hard-shell | Wheels: 360-degree spinner wheels | Warranty: Lifetime | Weight: Various

If you’re traveling as a family, a set of luggage can be the most efficient and economic way to go. This suitcase set has accompanied Strategist senior editor Ailbhe Malone’s family on trips for two years. Aside from having everything you would expect from a great quality suitcase — “smooth wheels, extremely comfortable handle, more than enough space,” Malone says — these cases are eminently easy to store. That’s because they slot inside one another, meaning you can stash a whole family’s worth of luggage in the space of a single suitcase. The polycarbonate cases come in a range of 11 pleasing colors, and thanks to their construction, any scratches or scuffs will appear as the same shade as the case, no matter how deep. For bigger concerns, the set comes with a lifetime warranty, which covers the wheels, handles, and shells.

Best soft-side rolling luggage

Hard-shell vs. soft-side: Nylon soft-side | Compression strap | Wheels: Encased wheels | Warranty: Limited lifetime warranty | Weight: 5.4 pounds

From a repair standpoint, this suitcase is a dream. It’s made from easy-to-repair nylon and has just two encased wheels that won’t snap off. It expands up to two inches and has multiple compartments. None of this is groundbreaking, but that’s why I like this bag: It’s simple, effective, and on the less expensive side at under $200. TripSavvy ’s former general manager Molly Fergus told me she’s traveled with the bag across Miami, Cancun, and all over Europe: “It’s survived being dragged across sand, dirt, and cobblestones,” she says. Travelpro’s limited lifetime guarantee covers defects to the wheels, zippers, extension handles, and carrying handles, and this lasts for however long you own it. On top of that, for the first year, your product is backed by its Trusted Companion Promise, which covers the cost of repair for damage caused by an airline and covers the shipping cost for any product that needs to be shipped to one of its repair facilities.

Additional reporting by Rachael Griffiths

Some more rolling luggage we’ve written about

Our experts

•  Jasmine Anderson , co-host,  Travel Fly Sexy • Alexandra Baackes, travel blogger and founder of Wander Woman Retreats • Stephanie Be, founder of BUENA and blog Travel Break • Gabby Beckford , travel blogger • Kiana Brooks , luxury fashion buyer • Maxine Builder , Strategist editor • Hillary Eaton , food and travel writer • Kelly Farber, founder of KF Literary Scouting • Molly Fergus, former general manager of TripSavvy • Jacqui Gifford, Travel + Leisure editor-in-chief • Nicholas Gill , writer and photographer • Sarah Greaves-Gabbadon , travel writer • Summer Hull, director of travel content at The Points Guy • Jessie Hyman , co-founder of Pruzan Running • Ciara Johnson, travel blogger HeyCiara • Brian Kelly, The Points Guy • Lauren Kelly , packing expert • Ailbhe Malone , Strategist senior editor • Tom Marchant, co-founder of luxury travel and lifestyle brand Black Tomato • Tony Pecorella, president and CEO of Modern Leather Goods • Laura Ratliff , travel writer • Robin Reetz, writer and VP of marketing at Rag & Bone • Lauren Ro, Strategist writer • Alex Sanchez , consumer marketing manager at G Adventures • Chris Schalkx, co-founder of Rice/Potato • Jane Stoller , author of Decluttering for Dummies • Courtney Vondran , travel writer • Christine Wang, founder of TheSkiGirl • Swede White, principal content strategist at Amazon Web Services •  Natasha Wilson , co-host,  Travel Fly Sexy

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18 Best Pieces of Rolling Luggage, According to Frequent Fliers

For more of the Cut’s favorite fashion, beauty, and home finds,  sign up for the weekly  Cut Shop Newsletter .

Luggage can make or break your trip. At its best, you don’t even notice it’s there. At its worst, it’s an anchor you have to drag across the airport like a dog that refuses to cross the street. There are many schools of thought when it comes to picking the best rolling luggage (check-in or carry-on, hard shell or soft side, etc.), so we asked frequent fliers for their recs.

What to look for in a rolling carry-on?

Never mind that your clothing is rolled up into literal balls of wrinkled cotton or you weren’t able to pack deodorant; if it doesn’t fit in the carry-on, it’s not coming. Thus was the sentiment among most of our frequent fliers. One thread we noticed is that all the experts picked the largest version of each brand’s available carry-on. This means anything nearing the maximum size for carry-ons. According to Consumer Reports , that’s 22 inches in height, 9 inches in depth, and 14 inches wide at the “big three” airlines: Delta, American, and United.

What to look for in rolling checked luggage?

In general, checked bags value function over form since they’ll be heaved pretty ruthlessly across multiple conveyor belts. You won’t tend to find exterior pockets on these, and more often than not, they’ll be hard-shell for durability. For sizing, you can expect anything from 24 inches to 30 inches; you’ll want to stay vigilant when packing the extra-large ones, as you can quickly head into “Oversized Baggage” territory. Our experts harped on the need for a top-tier glide and 360-degree wheels. This roughly translates to what the luggage industry called “spinners.” Notably, regardless of size, not a single two-wheel piece of luggage was recommended. (This is of special importance with a checked bag, which will need to carry a heavier — likely, unevenly distributed — load.)

The one for packing pros

When he’s not shoving clothes into his Pelican camera case to cut down on checked items, Matthew Tompkins , a cinematographer who lives in upstate New York and Los Angeles, uses this durable Amazon find. “I pack my bag like a game of Tetris — with clothes alongside equipment — so a hard shell is imperative when transporting things safely. This Samsonite rolls smoothly and gets the job done,” he says.

Dimensions: 23” x 15” x 10” | Colors: 15

The one for people with down-payment money in their bank account

A former Rimowa skeptic, Lauren Gar y, senior strategist at TBWA\Media Arts Lab, is now a full-fledged convert: “My husband is a frequent traveler and has been a Rimowa enthusiast for the last ten years. Once his luggage became a permanent fixture in our travels together, I could see why,” she says. “This thing screams “luxury”… as it should with that kind of price tag. The Classic has leather handles, a sleek aluminum body, and latches that click so well it feels like shutting the door on a G-Wagon.” The downsides are that the piece is a bit heavier than plastic versions, some of the hardware has been known to be finicky (though if you’re within Rimowa’s warranty period, you’ll be fine), and per Gary, “It’s not suited for smaller yachts.” You know, relatable travel things!

Dimensions: 30.8” x 20.5” x 10.7” | Colors: 2

The Amazon best seller

We’d be remiss not to include this top-rated pick from Amazon — after all, there are a few of you out there looking at this post because you needed a piece of luggage yesterday. This hard-shell luggage is large, under $100, and has nearly 9,000 five-star reviews. It’s not as widely loved as the Amazon Basics Hardside Spinner (we’ll get into that), but this one has cool patterns to easily spot your goods on the luggage carousel.

Dimensions: 22” x 15” x 9.5” | Colors: 16

The best plus-one

Being an actual movie star comes with more than the usual human amount of travel, so it’s no surprise that Shay Mitchell’s brand, Béis, is hype-worthy. Another line of work that can require frequent flying? Public relations. Cathy Jang , a PR specialist at Amazon Prime Video, says Béis gets you the most bang for your buck. “I tried to get my hands on a piece of Béis luggage during Black Friday and it was no use. I ended up getting the carry-on later and it was well worth it, even at full price. I travel regularly, so luggage is far from an afterthought — this thing glides like a dream, and it doesn’t hurt that it looks nice too.”

Dimensions: 22.8” x 15.7” x 9.8” | Colors: 10

The most popular rolling luggage

Meet the most recommended bag from our experts. As the “Bigger” of Away’s carry-on options, this one pushes the limit for what most airlines will allow. Miraculously, it’s still light enough to wield safely above passengers’ heads and into the overhead bin, a testament to its durable polycarbonate frame. Sarah Raoufpur , a casting director based in Los Angeles, says that beyond work trips, her Bigger Carry-On has traveled around the world (“Over the last several years, it’s been to Japan, Spain, and Mexico”). While there’s a lot to love about it, Raoufpur says, “It’s sleek, chic, and has enough room to be comfortably packed for weeks at a time. My favorite features are the USB external battery (perfect for long travel days).

Dimensions: 22.7” x 15.4” x 9.6” | Colors: 10

The one Siobhan Roy would roll around

Want a bag that’s durable — like, throw it across the tarmac and it won’t sustain a scratch durable — but feels like you’re pushing air? Eugenia Gonzalez de Henn , contributing editor at Vogue Mexico & Latin America, says, “This bag rolls so smoothly, it feels like it can walk on its own.” She discovered Rimowa through her husband (“A perfectionist German architect who swears by its design and practicality”). She loves how lightweight the bag is, but even better: “When it opens, the weight is evenly divided down the middle, and these very handy blue dividers hold your clothing down so nothing moves, wrinkles, or unfolds when you open and close the bag.”

Dimensions: 21.7” x 15.8” x 9.1” | Colors: 2

The other Rimowa cabin bag

While similar to Gonzalez de Henn’s Rimowa pick, the Cabin Original has a couple key differences for about $100 less; it’s known for its sleeker design, more colorways, and quieter closures. “I have gone through many, and the Rimowa Cabin Carry-On is by far the best,” says co-founder and CCO of The Well Kane Sarhan. “I travel about 200 days a year, visiting our open locations around the world in New York City, Connecticut, Costa Rica, and Mexico, as well as the many new projects we are working on, like our forthcoming office and residence concept in Miami, so my carry-on is my life partner (after my dog, who travels often with me, of course). The price was a bit of a pill to swallow, but the lifetime warranty means it pays for itself. I am on my third one, all replaced for free.”

Dimensions: 21.7” x 15.8” x 9.1” | Colors: 4

The bag that won’t break your back

We all have those trips where XL-level luggage is essential. If you don’t want to make a scene trying to haul it off of the conveyor belt at the airport, you’ll want to ensure your suitcase is just as lightweight as it is durable. Chris Barish, restaurateur and owner of Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer, says his checked-bag checklist includes four things: “easy-to-grab handles, recognizable, lightweight, and in a proportion that moves well.” This one fits the bill. “I’ve found myself using the Away Large Suitcase so much so that I cracked the corner on my first one (still worked just fine),” says Barish. “They promptly sent me a new one at no charge, and I’m back on the road with a signature Black Tap sticker-bomb luggage tag so I can tell it apart from the rest. This has made it with me around the world plenty of times now.”

Dimensions: 29” x 20.5” x 12.5” | Colors: 6

For the smart and sustainable traveler

“Whether I’m visiting a project or gathering inspiration, I travel with the safari green colorway of Paravel’s Aviator Grand suitcase . I love the coordinating packing cubes, which help me to stay organized and prepared for multiple destinations where the weather may not be the same,” says Courtney Brannan, principal at Champalimaud Design, who’s worked on properties from the Beverly Hills Hotel to Ritz-Carlton in Grand Cayman. Not only is Paravel’s luggage made of sustainably sourced materials, it comes with clever design details. “Another thoughtful detail is the folding duffle bag, which allows me to run to and from meetings without needing to pack an extra bag,” says Brannan. “And, of course, it offers space for extra goodies on the trip home!”

Dimensions: 18.25” x 28” x 11” | Colors: 5

The trunk on wheels

July launched a little after Away, but it already has a dedicated following. It’s a transatlantic-voyage-level trunk that doesn’t cost an apartment security deposit. This is the largest bag the Melbourne-based brand offers and is perfect for families that need to travel with their child’s entire room wherever they go.It’s made with aluminum bumpers but has a polycarbonate shell, so it stays light, and is probably only rivaled by Away in the amount of color options available.

Dimensions: 30.25” x 19.75” x 12.5” | Colors: 16

The one that just works

Damien Nunes , former director of accessories, partnerships, and collaborations at Gap, travels between the East Coast and L.A., Austin, and Seattle (and internationally to London and Paris) on the regular, and this Patagonia wheeled duffel is the only thing that can keep up. “This bag has to be checked, which is fine with me because it’s super-weather-resistant; has smooth, strong wheels; and has a great handle. What I love is that it’s just a huge volume of space, without lots of useless pockets and compartments. What’s also great is it has a zipped bottom lining that I can shove stinky, dirty clothes under during a trip,” he says. And it lasts too — Nunes had the previous generation of the slightly smaller model for 12 years.

Dimensions: 21.6” x 14” x 9.5” | Colors: 2

The one for practical execs

“The last Tumi I had I used for over ten years,” says Joe Zee , former editor-in-chief of Yahoo! Style and co-host of FABLife. “That one was so old, it only had two wheels! It’s just super-durable. Of course, no baggage carousel treats luggage well, but this has always held up and fits everywhere.” Zee says the interior of the bag is especially nice: “It has a separate compartment for dirty laundry, and there are clips for a garment bag in the interior.” The only downside? The color you’re looking at here is the color you’re going to get.

Dimensions: 26” x 19” x 13” | Colors: 2

The Rimowa dupe

Calpak makes one of the Cut Shop’s favorite weekender bags (the Luka duffel ). So we weren’t surprised to find that the brand’s luggage is top-qual too. The Ambeur line is a decent dupe of Rimowa’s aluminum suitcases and a fraction of the cost. They’re also made of aluminum but are shockingly lightweight — an average of one or two pounds lighter than Rimowa pieces. Plus, you can be a little less precious about them when they’re haphazardly flung across baggage claim.

Dimensions: 26” x 16.5” x 11” | Colors: 10

The one to keep (price) tabs on

“I bought a Samsonite suitcase from Macy’s in 2018 — a big purchase for my first ‘big girl’ work trip,” says Alexa Stoczko, a social-marketing strategist at Disney. She still uses it as her carry-on now, traveling at least two times per month. She notes that this is the updated version, but the bag is incredibly sturdy, has multiple internal pockets to help keep things organized, and has a pleasing but simple exterior. “Plus, those department stores have great sales,” Stoczko adds, so you can likely grab one for a legitimate bargain if you find it at a big-box retailer.

Dimensions: 21.5” x 15” x 9” | Colors: 4

The (very tough) softie

Many frequent travelers we talked to said not to discount the persistence of a soft-sided case. They have less of a chance of cracking, but the caveat? You’ll need to invest in a top-quality pick like the Thule Aion. It’s made of recycled polyester fabric that’s coated in a water-repellant waxed canvas coating. That’s not the only notable thing about this luggage; there’s a sturdy polycarbonate back plate for structure and a removable (and compressive) packing cube in the body.

Dimensions: 21.5” x 14” x 9” | Colors: 2

The one that’ll get the job done

In terms of cost per use, it’s hard to beat (albeit hard to stomach) the kind of value the Amazon Basics brand offers. This top-selling piece of rolling luggage has over 31,000 five-star ratings. It comes in well under $100, which is significant, considering the average cost of luggage on this list is around $500. Reviewers love that this bag is durable and rolls smoothly, with a hard shell that’s low-key but unique enough to spot in a crowd.

Dimensions: 19” x 13.6” x 9.5” | Colors: 4

Our Experts:

• Alexa Stoczko, social marketing at Disney
• Cathy Jang, PR specialist at Amazon Prime Video
• Damien Nunes , former director of accessories, partnerships, and collaborations at Gap
• Eugenia Gonzalez de Henn , contributing editor at Vogue Mexico & Latin America
• Joe Zee , former editor-in-chief of Yahoo! Style and co-host of FABLife
• Lauren Gary, senior strategist at TBWA/Media Arts Lab
• Matthew Tompkins , cinematographer
• Sarah Raoufpur , casting director
• Courtney Brannan, principal at Champalimaud Design
• Kane Sarhan , co-founder & CCO of The Well
• Chris Barish , restaurateur and owner of Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer

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The Best Rolling Luggage of 2024

Quality rolling luggage can last you a lifetime of travel. I’ll help narrow down your search with recommendations for the best rolling luggage that are durable, functional, and stylish.

After destroying the wheels of two spinner suitcases on the cobblestones in Germany, I’ve learned the value of investing in high-quality luggage that’s built to last. If you’re looking for the most durable luggage out there, two-wheeled roller luggage is your best bet.

From business trips to Malaysia to safaris in South Africa, I have experience with many different kinds of travel. I’ve hauled luggage over some pretty unforgiving surfaces, and I know how important it is to have a durable, well-built suitcase you can count on when you’re far from home.

Before we dive into a list of the best rolling suitcases, it’s important to understand the difference between roller and spinner bags.

• Spinner luggage has four spinner wheels that can rotate 360-degrees so you can push the bag in any direction and it will roll smoothly.
• Rolling suitcases , also known as rollaboards, have two wheels that are mounted at fixed points on the suitcase with an extendable handle that lets you pull them behind you.

Luggage with spinner wheels has become much more popular, but there are many advantages of rollaboards. These include better durability, easier rolling on rough terrain, and even improved ergonomics .

One thing to note is that you can’t really find rollaboard hard shell luggage these days. If you want the advantages of two sturdy wheels, you’ll need to focus on soft-sided bags.

I’ll highlight the best rolling suitcases for various categories and unpack the details and specs of each one.

• Best Rolling Luggage Overall: Travelpro Maxlite 5 Medium Rollaboard
• Most Affordable Rolling: US Traveler Rio Carry-On
• Best Lightweight Rolling Luggage: Bric’s X-Bag Carry-On Rolling Duffel
• Best Carry-On Rolling Luggage: Briggs & Riley Baseline 22”
• Best Checked Rolling Luggage: Db Hugger 90L Rollerbag
• Best Rolling Duffel Luggage: Travelpro Bold 30” Rolling Duffel
• Best Rolling Luggage Set: July Family Luggage Set
• Best Rolling Underseat Luggage: Travelpro Maxlite 5 Rolling Underseat Bag
• Best Kids Rolling Luggage: American Tourister Kid’s 18”
• Best Small Rolling Luggage: Samsonite Ascella Underseater
• Best Large Rolling Luggage: Eagle Creek Expanse
• Best Rolling Garment Bag Luggage: Briggs & Riley Baseline Garment Bag
• Best Hard Rolling Luggage: Monos Check-In Medium
• Best Soft Rolling Luggage: Delsey SkyMax 2.0
• Best Rolling Backpack for Carry-On Luggage: Eagle Creek Gear Warrior Convertible Backpack
• Best Rolling Luggage for Flight Crews: Travelpro Platinum Elite Carry-On

Travelpro Maxlite 5 Medium Rollaboard : Best Rolling Luggage Overall

In 1987 Bob Plath, an airline pilot and the founder of Travelpro, invented the rollaboard suitcase by attaching two wheels and an extendable handle.

That’s right, the Travelpro brand was built by the inventor of rollaboard luggage, so it’s no surprise that the best rolling luggage comes from Travelpro.

When Plath started making luggage, he initially marketed them to fellow flight crews. Soon, though, the idea took off and travelers around the world started using wheeled luggage based on his original design.

One of the key benefits of rollaboard luggage is durability. Four-wheel spinners are much more complicated and fragile than the securely-mounted wheels of 2-wheel luggage. The best rolling luggage needs to make the most of this advantage with extremely durable and long-lasting construction.

The Travelpro Maxlite 5 knocks this out of the park with durable materials, well-engineered wheels, and excellent quality construction. Compared to pretty much any spinner suitcase with four wheels, the wheels on this bag feel absolutely bomber.

Of course, any component is going to wear out over time. The Maxlite 5 addresses this with easily replaceable wheels that you can buy from their parts catalog . I love seeing luggage brands give you the ability to make your bag last forever.

The Maxlite pro also has a good assortment of internal and external zippered pockets and compression straps. Frequent travelers know how much good organization can make travel easier.

While this medium 26” bag is intended for checked luggage, the Maxlite 5 is also available in a smaller carry-on bag .

All Travelpro products have a 100-day trial where your can return for now cost and are covered by a great limited lifetime warranty.

If you’re going to be hauling your suitcase across cobblestone streets in Europe or even rougher paths around the world, this durable rollaboard suitcase won’t disappoint.

• Technical Specs

US Traveler Rio Carry-On : Most Affordable Rolling

US Traveler makes a lot of inexpensive, functional items that are fantastic for people looking to save money while still getting a decent product. Plus, it’s all available right on Amazon.

The best budget luggage should ideally cost less than $100 while still providing good performance and longevity. In my opinion, rollaboards are better budget choice than luggage with 360-degree spinner wheels. When manufacturers cut costs on spinner wheels, they are even more likely to break during use.

The US Traveler Rio Carry-On is very affordable, and still packs in a lot of great features, making it a great rolling suitcase for anyone on a budget.

You should be aware that with a piece of luggage this inexpensive, you won’t get the same quality and craftsmanship as higher-end brands. The weak point here will be the zippers. If you are only traveling occasionally, though, this budget bag should do the job.

Hey, it’s a suitcase. It doesn’t have to be expensive or fancy. It’ll carry your clothes just fine.

Bric’s X-Bag Carry-On Rolling Duffel : Best Lightweight Rolling Luggage

Bric’s is an Italian family-owned business that originally started making premium leather bags in 1952. They specialize in exceptional craftsmanship and making beautiful products that stand the test of time.

If you’re traveling the world, you want a rugged carry-on bag that is as lightweight as possible so it doesn’t weigh you down when tossing your luggage into overhead bins or hauling it through cities.

Bric’s X-Travel product line is a collection of utilitarian travel bags with adventure-ready styling and features. The X-Bag Carry-On Duffel is a rolling carry-on that weighs in at just five pounds, cutting down the weight you have to carry around.

The exterior of the carry-on-sized X-Bag is made of durable polyamide fabric with a thick PVC coating. This makes it extremely water resistant so all your belongings are protected when you encounter monsoon season in Southeast Asia or blizzards in New England.

With a compact size of 21.7”x12.8″x10.2”, this softside carry-on is easily small enough to fit carry-on size restrictions for most overhead bins on virtually any flight in the world. You’ll never need to worry about showing up to the gate only to be told you have to check your carry-on bag because it’s too big.

The flip side is that this carry-on bag will be a bit small for many people. If you aren’t a light packer, you may want to look for a bigger carry-on with a bit more packing space.

On the outside of this carry-on, you have multiple compartments for easy access to anything you may need when traveling. I hate digging around inside my carry-on for something mid-trip, so having exterior pockets is a very welcome feature.

In my view, if you’re looking for the best lightweight luggage for a rolling international carry-on , you can’t go wrong with the X-Bag Rolling Duffel.

Briggs & Riley Baseline 22” : Best Carry-On Rolling Luggage

Briggs & Riley is one of the world’s premier luggage manufacturers and are a top choice for flight crews and frequent fliers. While their products are more expensive than most of the options on this list, the price is worth it if you’re looking for the absolute best in quality and durability.

Briggs & Riley backs up their products with a true lifetime warranty that’s one of the best in the business. So if you invest in one of their products, you can rest assured knowing you’re getting a suitcase for life.

This is fantastic news for anyone looking for the best carry-on luggage . If you’re a frequent flier, you know that your carry-on takes a lot of abuse. From shoving them into a tight overhead compartment to dragging them over rough surfaces, we ask a lot from them.

It stands to reason that, if you’re traveling frequently, you want a high-quality carry-on that can stand up to everything you throw at it. Fortunately, rolling carry-on luggage is the most durable option. With two larger wheels, rolling suitcases can take a lot more abuse than carry-on luggage with spinner wheels.

The Briggs & Riley Baseline 22” carry-on is built to stand the test of time. With rugged construction, ballistic nylon fabric, ample packing space, and clean styling, this carry-on is great for anyone who is willing to spend a bit more money for higher quality and top-notch design.

The expandable design lets you turn this into a bigger carry-on by opening up a zipper around the side. This feature adds a lot of versatility and lets you grow or shrink the size of the bag for different trips, though it’s worth noting that when expanded it will fit in most overhead bins, but not all. You also get functional compression straps inside that hold your load in place whether the suitcase is half-empty or fully packed to the seams.

If you need a durable rolling carry-on that will last a lifetime, the Briggs & Riley Baseline Carry-On has you covered with its great build quality and warranty.

Db Hugger 90L Rollerbag : Best Checked Rolling Luggage

Db is an innovative Scandinavian manufacturer with innovative designs and high quality that make them one of the best luggage brands out there.

One thing I love about Db is their commitment to environmental stewardship. Many brands talk the talk, but few implement really meaningful policies geared toward sustainability.

When it comes to checked luggage , you need a suitcase that provides durable protection for your belongings. We all know airline baggage handlers are far from gentle. You also want to have plenty of storage space for everything you’ll need on your trip.

The Db Hugger Rollerbag is a durable, padded, and highly protective rolling checked suitcase. Its innovative design is simple and incredibly utilitarian. With 90 liters of space, it swallows big loads for any trip.

This bag has padded sides, ballistic nylon fabric, and an embedded ABS skeleton that adds protection and structure. You can rest assured during your travel that your belongings are safe from damage.

I also love that it uses Db’s “hookup” system, which lets you attach a Db carry-on or backpack to the outside of the bag, giving you only one thing to deal with rolling around the airport.

For big checked bags, it makes even more sense to choose a roller rather than more breakable spinner wheels. The Db Hugger is an ultra-durable option that’s big enough to carry everything you need for longer trips.

Travelpro Bold 30” Rolling Duffel : Best Rolling Duffel Luggage

Travelpro makes multiple appearances in this list, and it’s for good reason. Having invented the rollaboard category, they know a thing or two about making durable and functional rollaboard luggage.

While suitcases with spinner wheels have started to dominate the luggage, one place you won’t find them is in duffel bags. There’s just not a good way to build a duffel bag with spinner wheels, so manufacturers have stuck to two-wheeled designs for rolling duffels.

Duffel bags are fantastic for their ability to swallow massive amounts of gear with ease. They are also very versatile from packing clothes for a family of four to hauling climbing gear to a remote destination.

A good rolling duffel bag should have cavernous space and wide zippered openings to give access to the contents.

The Travelpro Bold Duffel is a rugged bag with lots of room and lots of zippers. The durability, ease of access, and versatile design make this a fantastic choice for a large rolling duffel.

This duffel bag is built from burly high-density polyester fabric and has beefed-up handles and compression straps. It’s ultra-durable and water-resistant.

The massive main compartment can be separated with a zippered divider or opened up to give you one massive space. This adds versatility for packing different types of loads.

The bag features one long all-around zipper and several other zippered access points. It’s easy to get into the contents and access what you need. You also get multiple exterior pockets to keep important items within easy reach.

This bulky duffel bag isn’t for everyone, but if you need space and durability, it’s a great choice.

July Family Luggage Set : Best Rolling Luggage Set

July is dedicated to building products that improve the travel experience. They started their design process by reading thousands of reviews for existing products and setting out to solve the problems they saw.

If you need multiple suitcases, it makes a lot of sense to buy a luggage set . You save money over buying bags individually, and having matching suitcases makes it easy to identify which ones are yours on the baggage claim. Plus, rolling around with a matching carry-on and checked luggage set just makes you feel cool.

The July Family Luggage Set technically has spinner wheels rather than a roller design, but there aren’t really rollaboard sets on the market, and this fantastic set has a lot going for it.

This set comes with a carry-on, a medium checked bag, and a large checked bag. These cases will keep you ready for trips of any length.

All the bags are built with a durable polycarbonate shell that has aluminum-reinforced corners. These cases are truly built to last a lifetime.

The built-in combination lock in each suitcase keeps your belongings secure and protected.

July cases have a hidden laundry bag built inside. This helps keep your dirty clothes separated and out of the way when you travel.

While 360-degree spinner wheels are less durable in general, July set out to change that with their design. They designed their own double spinner wheels from scratch and used steel ball bearings and advanced engineering to make spinner wheels that will survive on rough terrain. If you want a spinner suitcase that can take some abuse, July is a good bet.

Travelpro Maxlite 5 Rolling Underseat Bag : Best Rolling Underseat Luggage

Okay, yes, it’s another Travelpro bag. You’re probably getting the point by now that specifically when it comes to two-wheeled rolling suitcases, this brand is one of the best in the business.

Sometimes you just don’t need the room of a bigger carry-on. Or maybe you need just a bit more space, but not enough to justify checking a bag. Or maybe you’re flying on a budget airline that charges fees for carry-on luggage in the overhead bin.

An underseat carry-on is designed to fit the size restrictions for personal item, meaning it doesn’t count as your main carry-on in the overhead bin.

The Travelpro Maxlite 5 Underseat Bag has many of the same features as their larger suitcases in a compact package. With well-designed low-profile wheels, it makes much better use of space than spinner wheels and provides a surprising amount of packing volume.

This little carry-on has a laptop sleeve for protecting your electronics. This works well for providing easy access to your devices as you travel.

If you’re traveling super light or just need an extra bag for small items, the Maxlite 5 Underseat Bag is a reliable choice.

American Tourister Kid’s 18” : Best Kids Rolling Luggage

American Tourister is one of the largest mainstream luggage manufacturers in the world. While they don’t offer the same craftsmanship as some of the smaller brands, they have a huge range of products available for affordable prices.

Kids luggage needs to be simple, fun, and inexpensive, since they’ll be outgrowing it at some point. If you’re traveling with kids it’s definitely nice to have small bags they can pull along themselves.

The American Tourister Kid’s 18” suitcase fits the bill perfectly. It’s small enough for little ones to tote behind them and has just the right amount of storage and organization. It’s sized to work as a carry-on, so you don’t have to pay extra for checked bag fees.

You also won’t be breaking the bank getting luggage for your kids. Traveling with a family is expensive enough, so anywhere you can save some cash is welcome.

The fact that this small carry-on comes in a variety of fun colorways with Disney character prints is an added bonus that makes it fun for little travelers.

Samsonite Ascella Underseater : Best Small Rolling Luggage

Samsonite is probably the largest and most well-known luggage brand in the world. They’ve been making luggage since 1910, and build well-thought-out products for all travelers.

If you are looking for a small rolling carry-on, a roller uses space more efficiently than a spinner bag. You’ll also want good storage options for a laptop, tablet, or other devices.

The Samsonite Ascella is a simple, well-designed small rollaboard carry-on with sturdy materials and excellent features.

The padded laptop sleeve fits up to 15” screens and is easy to access. This makes the Ascella a perfect choice to use as a carry-on laptop bag during your travels.

There is an internal compression system and an array of zipped pockets. This helps you keep the contents neat and organized on your trip.

It’s hard to go wrong with Samsonite luggage , and this small suitcase is simple, well-built, and highly functional.

Eagle Creek Expanse : Best Large Rolling Luggage

Eagle Creek is a manufacturer that has built a reputation on making travel gear that lasts forever. They use burly materials, and their “No Matter What Warranty” beats out the typical limited lifetime warranty you find from most brands.

Sometimes you need a travel bag that can carry everything but the kitchen sink. Whether you’re packing for a family or hauling all your worldly possessions for a move across the globe, having one massive bag is simpler than trying to use multiple smaller ones.

For large rolling suitcases, durability is paramount. You’ll be hauling heavy loads and need bomber construction that will stand up to the stress.

The Eagle Creek Expanse is a massive rolling duffel that keeps things simple with one cavernous main compartment and a few zippered pockets for small items.

With ultra-durable wheels, thick ballistic nylon fabric, and big YKK zippers, this giant duffel is ready to haul whatever you put in it wherever you need to go.

Last bonus? The bright color schemes make it easy to find this giant duffel at the baggage claim.

It’s nothing fancy, but the combination of immense space and legendary durability makes this pick a no-brainer when you’re hauling big loads.

Briggs & Riley Baseline Garment Bag : Best Rolling Garment Bag Luggage

This is another brand that shows up multiple times in this list, and for good reason. Their Baseline collection is a great example of how a brand can take a simple design concept and refine it.

Garment bags are designed specifically for traveling with suits, dresses, or other clothing you don’t just want to roll up and stuff in.

A good rolling garment bag needs to have a bracket for hanging clothes and a good folding system to keep garments wrinkle-free. You also want good zippered compartments for shoes, belts, and other accessories.

The Baseline Garment Bag has a fantastic design for carrying formal and business attire. It also goes above and beyond the basic function by providing an additional flat-pack compartment for more storage and tons of highly functional pockets for smaller items.

The hanging storage setup is superb, with a tri-fold compression system. This helps ensure your hanging clothes are protected and uncrumpled.

This carry-on garment bag is pretty unique in that it is vertical when you’re rolling it. This makes it easier to maneuver in crowded airports than traditional horizontal garment bags.

If you need to travel with a suit or dress, the Baseline is a fantastic choice.

Monos Check-In Medium : Best Hard Rolling Luggage

Monos is a Canadian brand that puts their focus on building simple, streamlined cases with outstanding quality and longevity. I love their brand ethos of minimalist design and uncompromising quality.

There aren’t any great two-wheel hard sided bags out there anymore, but if you are looking for a high-quality hard sided bag, I’d go with Monos. They build some of the best hardside luggage out there (even if you’re stuck with spinner wheels).

With a beautiful streamlined design, a durable polycarbonate shell, and thoughtful features, the Monos Check-In Medium checks all the boxes for a fantastic hard shell bag.

This spinner suitcase has a sturdy aluminum handle, and the four spinner wheels are high-quality Japanese-made ones. Monos does extensive reliability testing to ensure their cases will stand up to the abuse of travel.

A zipper lock is built into the polycarbonate shell. This makes for a highly secure design that protects your belongings. The lock is TSA-approved, so airport security can easily open it for inspection.

Rather than trying to stand out with bells and whistles, this hard spinner suitcase focuses on excelling at the basics. It’s also worth checking out their carry-ons, which are some of my favorite suitcases with four wheels.

Delsey SkyMax 2.0 : Best Soft Rolling Luggage

Delsey is a Paris-based brand that aims to blend traditional elegance with modern innovation in their designs. They also place emphasis on having the best quality-to-price ratio in the luggage market. Plus, they make some great soft side luggage .

Softside luggage can be more lightweight and versatile than hard shell luggage. It also typically has more options for pockets and storage on the outside (which is great for a carry-on). The best soft shell luggage should maximize these benefits with lots of easy-access pockets and options for expanding the size.

While most of the options on this list are softshells, the Delsey SkyMax 2.0 stands out with its understated elegant design and functional features.

This bag has three external pockets including a side pocket that’s perfect for carrying a water bottle on the go. This easy-to-overlook feature is super convenient for staying hydrated while traveling.

At just 5.9 lbs, this bag is quite lightweight. For a carry-on, this means it’s easier to lift into the overhead bin and drag through the airport. It also means you can pack more in without worrying about overweight bag fees.

It also comes with a lifetime limited warranty so you can count on getting your money’s worth.

The SkyMax is a simple, well-thought-out softshell bag that comes in at a surprisingly affordable price. If you want to see more options from this brand, we have a full article on the best Delsey luggage .

Eagle Creek Gear Warrior Convertible Backpack : Best Rolling Backpack for Carry-On Luggage

If you’re venturing far from cities and pavement, dragging a wheeled carry-on suitcase behind you makes a lot less sense than a backpack. In the airport, though, having wheels is much more convenient and comfortable.

The solution is to get a convertible carry-on backpack with wheels. This type of design gives you tons of versatility and options while you travel.

The Eagle Creek Gear Warrior stands out in this category with comfortable shoulder and hip straps that can comfortably carry weight in backpack mode. When you don’t want it on your back, this carry-on bag rolls on oversize wheels that can handle rough terrain.

The straps can be tucked away when you’re in the airport. This makes the bag easy to maneuver and toss into overhead bins.

This carry-on also has a small external compartment that can be detached to become a smaller backpack. This is super convenient for having a bag you can take on day trips.

For a versatile transformer-like backpack, this carry-on bag is ready to handle trips off the beaten path.

Travelpro Platinum Elite Carry-On : Best Rolling Luggage for Flight Crews

It’s only fitting to wrap up this list with one final Travelpro product. The original rollaboard suitcase was built specifically for flight crews, and Travelpro continues that heritage with well-built luggage that fits the needs of flight crews.

Pilots and flight attendants use their luggage every day, so above all they need carry-on suitcases that will last. This means durable wheels, rugged materials, and high-quality construction.

The Travelpro Platinum Elite series is designed for frequent flyers and combines durable construction with premium materials and thoughtful design.

This bag is available in a variety of sizes to fit international, domestic, or personal item carry-on size limits. You can get one that’s perfectly sized to your needs.

It has an integrated USB port with a dedicated pocket for adding your own battery pack. This feature makes keeping devices charged simple and streamlined.

For professionals who are most demanding on their luggage, the Travelpro Platinum Elite is a fantastic, highly-durable option. And if you really prefer spinner wheels, they have an identical spinner version.

How to Choose the Best Rolling Luggage

There are a lot of factors to consider when choosing a new rolling suitcase. Your choice will depend on your type of travel and personal style. Here are some key considerations to keep in mind as you do your research.

The first important decision when shopping for new luggage is determining what size you need. The main factor will be whether you’re looking for a carry-on or checked bag.

Carry-on luggage is generally restricted to 22” max height for domestic flights or 21” for international flights. If you want one carry-on that can fulfill multiple uses, you’ll want a smaller one that can be used for all airlines.

Rather than using individual measurements like carry-ons, checked luggage is generally restricted to 62 total linear inches . You get the linear inches by adding the depth, width, and height together. For example, a bag that measures 30” x 18” x 9” would be a total of 57 linear inches.

Confused by the term linear inches? Check out our article on how to measure luggage for an in-depth explanation.

It can be possible to check larger items, but they may require additional fees.

Above all, you want a roller bag that will withstand the abuse of travel and give you years of use.

Roller luggage automatically has the advantage here. Two larger fixed-mount wheels are going to be much more durable than 360-degree spinner wheels. A roller will almost always last longer than a spinner suitcase.

Look for bags that feature heavy-duty materials, sturdy metal handles, and YKK-branded zippers.

Of course, you will have to do some maintenance to keep your suitcase going as long as possible. Read my article on how to clean a suitcase to learn how to keep your bag looking like new for years to come.

With enough use, any luggage will wear out with enough time and abuse. If a manufacturer offers a good warranty, it can give you some peace of mind that your investment will last.

Most good brands offer a limited lifetime warranty that cover defects and offer replacement for a limited time. Some brands stand out with an unlimited warranty that guarantees repair or replacement no matter what. Of course, buying from brands with better warranties typically costs more, so it’s up to you to decide if the peace of mind is worth it.

Of course, there’s more to choosing a piece of luggage than just finding one that’s the right size and is well-made. Often, the deciding factor will be in the details.

I love suitcases that pack in smart features for easier packing and use while travel. Here are some of the top features you may want in a suitcase:

• External pockets for easy access to important items
• An internal compression system to hold everything in place
• Built-in TSA locks to secure your belongings
• An included laundry bag for keeping dirty clothes separate
• A battery pack with a built-in USB port to keep your devices charged

Rolling Suitcase Accessories

A good travel setup involves more than just a suitcase. Here are some of the best accessories to improve your travel experience.

Monos Compressible Packi ng Cubes

These zippered packing cubes are fantastic for keeping your suitcase organized. They come in sets of four or six with an array of different sizes to hold everything from socks to shirts.

The mesh front panel makes it easy to see what is inside each packing cube.

If you want to up your organization game while traveling, these are a fantastic choice.

Away Small Toiletry Bag

One external zippered pocket and a transparent internal divider make it easy to see and access all your toiletries. Though it’s definitely compact, you’ll be surprised at how much fits in this little bag.

The small size is perfect for light packers, but if you need a bit more space, you can check out Away’s Large Toiletry Bag .

July Tech Kit

This little case gives you a dedicated place for those small, easy-to-lose items. With room for earbuds, chargers, cables, a usb battery bank, and a pen/stylus, you won’t have to worry about losing anything.

The transparent plastic case protects your electronics while making it easy to see what’s inside, while elastic holders keep everything secure and organized.

Why Trust TravelFreak?

When it comes to gear recommendations, we are dedicated to finding the best options on the market. We never recommend products we don’t actually like ourselves. Our team is made of avid travelers and obsessive gearheads, with decades of combined travel experience.

All of our expert recommendations are based on our personal experience using the products while exploring the world. We’ve tested suitcases from the best brands and delved deep into the specs and features of each.

As a product engineer, I’ve personally learned a lot about what it takes to build something that can stand up to daily wear and tear. My travels around the world have shown me first-hand the abuse that luggage takes and what designs last the longest. The suitcases on this list are picked not only for their features and style, but for their build quality and durability.

We’ve done the homework for you. Our expert picks combine top-of-the-line build quality with convenient features that will make your travel experience that much more enjoyable.

Best Rolling Luggage FAQs

What is the best luggage on wheels.

The Travelpro Maxlite 5 is the best rollaboard luggage option. Monos makes the best luggage with 360-degree spinner wheels.

Which luggage wheels are best?

Two-wheeled luggage with polyurethane wheels is the strongest option available.

Do airlines prefer hard or soft luggage?

Hard luggage is preferred for checked bags as it’s more protective and less likely to snag or tear.

Which brand of luggage is most durable?

Osprey builds extremely durable luggage that can last a lifetime.

What is the number 1 luggage brand?

Monos is the best luggage brand overall with their beautiful, durable, and functional designs.

Jeremy Scott Foster

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The Best Affordable Luggage for 2022

Caroline Morse Teel

Caroline Morse Teel is the Managing Editor for SmarterTravel Media. Follow her adventures around the world on Instagram @TravelWithCaroline.

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Spend your travel budget on experiences, not suitcases. There are plenty of affordable luggage options out there that will last for decades—and still have all the bells and whistles of more expensive models. Here are our favorite cheap luggage picks for 2022. 

All of the products featured in this story were hand-selected by our travel editors. Some of the links featured in this story are affiliate links, and SmarterTravel may collect a commission (at no cost to you) if you shop through them.

July Carry-On Light

July’s Carry-On Light Suitcase is light on your baggage allowance and your wallet. This affordable suitcase weighs under 4lbs., so you can pack even more inside. Double glide wheels and an ergonomic telescoping handle make this suitcase easy to carry (no matter how heavy you pack it). The hardsided exterior and a water-resistant lining will keep all your gear protected. Choose from a wide range of eye-catching colors (including green and pink) to find the perfect complement to your travel outfit. 

Amazon Basics 21-Inch Hardside Spinner

Need a bag that will work for trips both big and small? Amazon Basics’ hardside spinner suitcase is expandable, giving you up to 15 percent more packing space. If you like the carry-on style, Amazon Basics offers a matching two-piece set with a 30-inch hardside spinner, or a three-piece set with 21-inch, 26-inch, and 30-inch suitcases.

How to Choose the Perfect Suitcase

American Tourister Expandable Softside Luggage

American Tourister is one of the best brands for affordable luggage, offering a 10-year warranty on most of their suitcases—including the 25-Inch Checked Bag . The carry-on features four multi-directional single spinner wheels, an extendable handle, and multiple compartments for organized packing. The bag is also expandable to offer more room when you need it.

Samsonite Underseat Carry-On Spinner With USB Port

One way to avoid the dreaded mandatory gate checking of luggage after the overhead bin fills up? By bringing the Samsonite Underseat Carry-On Spinner , which fits nicely under most airline seats. Despite its small size, this suitcase holds quite a bit (definitely enough for a weekend trip). It can also be repurposed as your personal item, as it has a sleeve on the back that allows it to be easily carried atop a rolling suitcase. 

Monos Carry-On Plus

Travelers who tend to overpack (but still want to fly carry-on only) will appreciate Monos’ Carry-On Plus . Slightly bigger than a traditional carry-on, this suitcase is still designed to fit in the luggage sizers and overhead bins of most major US airlines. 

If you’re in the market for a checked bag as well, know that Monos’ suitcases are all made to nest inside of each other for easy storage

This Airline is the Worst for Lost Luggage

BÉIS Travel Carry-On Roller

BÉIS’ line of suitcases pack in a lot of features at an affordable price. The Carry-On Roller has high-end touches like a cushioned telescoping handle, a detachable carrying strap (that can hold up to 15 lbs.), a side carry handle with weight indicator, TSA-approved locks, an interior zip pouch for valuables, and a separate pouch set for laundry. 

Away Bigger Carry-On

Away’s Bigger Carry-On is indeed larger than the brand’s regular carry-on size, but will still fit in the overhead bin of most planes. The suitcase comes with a TSA approved combination lock, an interior compression system, and hidden laundry bag—and it can be upgraded with a built-in USB charger and monogrammed luggage tag for a small surcharge. 

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Travel & weekend bags

From carry on luggage with wheels to travel backpacks with adjustable straps, travel bags from IKEA can help you take what you need with you. Whether you’re packing for a weekend trip or weekday classes, we’ve got a variety of sizes and styles so you can find the most perfect travel luggage & bags to share your adventures with.

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VÄRLDENS Carry-on bag with wheels, 13 ½x7 ¾x21 ¼ "/1014 oz

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Looking forward to, and planning for a trip can be nearly as rewarding as the trip itself. And one of the most crucial steps in that process is packing. When you begin to fill your bags, you start experiencing your journey in your mind. Going ballroom dancing? Better make room for your freshly dry-cleaned evening gown. Any nature hikes on the itinerary? Must not forget to pack those hiking boots! With travel bags from IKEA, you’re sure to have enough room for all the clothes, gear and gadgets you need. And you’ll be able to carry it comfortably too. Check out our range of duffle bags, backpacks, luggage and more to find the travel bag that’s right for you.  

Travel bags with clever functions

Our range of travel bags aim to make your life easier. Many of them can be folded flat when not in use, making them easy to hide away. Put them in a closet, hide them in your cellar or why not stuff them underneath your bed to await your next journey.  An obvious perk of a clever travel bag is that they have several pockets and compartments for practical packing. This makes it easy to pack in an organized way, since you can have a dedicated space for each thing. That way, you’ll never have to dig through your whole bag looking for an umbrella in pouring rain. Or struggle to find your power bank when your phone battery is running low. If you’d like to get even more organized, have a look at our crafty bag organizers .

Choosing the right travel bag

Which kind of bag do you need.

First, you need to choose if you want a duffle bag, a backpack or a bag on wheels (also known as a roller bag).

With a duffle bag you’ll get plenty of space to pack. And you can often bring your bag anywhere. You will need to carry your stuff around. But walking up staircases or over uneven surfaces won’t pose any additional challenge. You can carry it over your shoulder or in your hands by the handles, making it quite versatile.  

Backpacks are great for shorter trips with light packing, or for carrying things on uneven ground. One of the biggest advantages of a backpack is that you get even weight distribution on both of your shoulders. This makes it easier to carry heavier things for longer, no matter the terrain. 

A roller bag makes packing a lot of heavy stuff a bit easier to do. This, since you don’t actually have to carry any of it. You can just drag it around behind you. This is great for airports, train stations or on even streets. But it’s less practical for a hike over cobblestones, on snowy roads or up staircases.

If you can’t decide which model is right for you, why not go for a combination? Check our range to find duffle bags on wheels or a cabin bag with straps for your back. 

Which size do you need?

Do you want to be able to take the bag as carry on for flights? In that case it must be the right dimensions for cabin luggage – which luckily some of our bags are.  

When considering hand luggage, remember to also pay attention to practical details that can help you get through airport security hassle free. For example, a bag with compartments lets you pack sensitive items where they’re easy to find. And if you can quickly locate and remove your computer and your toiletries from it, you’ll save a lot of time at the security check.

Finally, consider how much you are going to want to pack. A longer trip to a different climate than you’re used to will probably mean you’ll need a bigger bag. Maybe even several bags. A short trip, on the other hand, might be managed with a smaller bag. Maybe even just cabin luggage or a backpack.

Which fabric?

You must consider the outer fabric of your bag, since ultimately – that’s what protects your gear. Some of our bags have water-repellent outer fabrics for those days when the weather won’t be as great as your wanderlust. And some of our bags have fabric made of recycled polyester. A good choice to help take us one step closer to a more sustainable future.  

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Adrienne So Gear Team

The Best Travel Bags for Wherever You’re Headed

If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more . Please also consider subscribing to WIRED

Best Carry-On for Most People Travelpro Maxlite 5 Read more

Best Hard-Shell Carry-On Away Carry-On Read more

Best Soft-Shell Carry-On Yeti Crossroads 35L Read more

Best Bag for a Lifetime Briggs & Riley Baseline CX Read more

Whew! You've made it all the way across the globe. But have your toothbrush, pajamas, and running shoes made it, too? If you're a frequent traveler, it's easy to obsess over the logistics of getting your stuff clean, organized, and in good working condition upon arrival. Paying for a decent travel bag and a few useful accessories means buying a little peace of mind, especially when a few yards of zippers and some nylon are the only barriers between your precious belongings and the belly of an airliner.

Whether you're slinging a duffel into a car trunk for a weekend trip or packing for a whirlwind jaunt across Asia, we've got you covered. Need a bag for your passport or groceries? Don't forget to check out our other guides, like the Best Laptop Backpacks and the Best Recycled Bags , for more picks.

Updated April 2024: We reorganized this guide and added new picks, such as the Yeti Crossroads, Tom Bihn Aeronaut and Trinity, the Frame Carry-On Max, the Lo & Sons O.G. 2, the Camelbak A.T.P. 20, the Calpak Luka Duffel, and the Rux 70. We also updated the information on sizing and checked links and prices.

Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off) . This includes unlimited access to WIRED. com. Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.

Best Carry-On for Most People

Look around any airport—if you see flight attendants or pilots, they will probably be rolling around a Travelpro suitcase. We like Travelpros because you get a lot of bang for your buck. They're durable, light, and not too expensive.

For only a little over $100, the Maxlite 5 is one of the more affordable Travelpro suitcases, and at 5.4 pounds, it's very light! The exterior toiletry pocket is a nice touch for when you go through security and need to take out your liquids, and the zippers are also quite strong and don't tend to get stuck. The wheels also rolled nicely on both the spinner and roll-aboard versions. Reviewer Matt Jancer did note that the aluminum handle extensions did sometimes stick and the main grab handle on the bag is only single-stitched, which may cause durability issues farther down the line. However, he has seen no issues yet. This probably the best bag you can get in the $100 to $150 price range.

Best Hard-Shell Carry-On

Away's business practices may have raised some eyebrows , but there's no denying that this company changed the travel market entirely. It has increased in price since we first tested it, but multiple WIRED staffers still use the classic Away hard-shell carry-on ( 9/10, WIRED Recommends ) as their travel suitcase.

Hard-shell suitcases tend to be heavier. There's also not as much give in the case, so you may find it hard to squeeze in more items than in a soft-shell bag, bu they look a lot sleeker than their soft-shell counterparts and protect fragile items better. The Away weighs 7.5 pounds, which is pretty standard for a hard-shell carry-on. When I tested it, I liked that it had multiple height settings and that the polycarbonate shell wiped clean and stayed mostly scuff-free (it helped that my tester was in the darker navy color). Away's suitcases also come with a built-in TSA-approved combination lock, four spinner wheels capable of rotating 360 degrees, and an included laundry bag to keep dirty clothes separate from the rest of your stuff. The handle did feel a bit wobbly, though.

★ Alternatives: So many companies now offer a direct-to-consumer, stylish, hard-shell carry-on similar to the Away's. We've tried ones by Monos ($255) and July ($295) . Besides price, the differences are mostly negligible. I like July's aluminum bumpers, but they do add weight. The Monos's handle rolls out more smoothly, but the July's pebbled surface doesn't show scuffs as badly. Both have survived multiple cross-country trips, being checked as baggage, and being ridden on by two small children with no damage.

Paravel also offers an Aviator carry-on ($395) that touts itself as the world's first carbon-neutral carry-on; it has an interior lining made of recycled plastic bottles, a telescoping handle made of recycled aluminum, and vegan leather trim to help it stand out from all the plain black bags at the airport. Product reviewer Jaina Grey fell in love with its roomy interior and durable, anti-scuff hard-shell exterior.

Best Soft-Shell Carry-On

Yeti's coolers and cups are famous for being bomb-proof. The company recently launched a luggage line that's similarly overbuilt. The Yeti Crossroads 35L is a 22-inch roller bag that's carry-on size for most major airlines. It weighs 7.7 pounds, on par with soft-sided competitors of the same size.

I recently spent a week dragging the Crossroads up and down grimy subway station escalators, thumping it across cobblestones, and scrunching it into overfull overhead bins during a trip to London, Paris, and Brussels. The blue 700D nylon on the front and sides looks just as fresh as it did out of the box while the molded polycarbonate shell on the back has a few well-earned battle scratches. The two extra-large fixed wheels are rolling as smoothly as ever and hopped up curbs so well that I grew to favor them over smaller spinner wheels. The Crossroads has a half-dozen well-placed pockets and sturdy zippers that didn't give me any anxiety even as I tugged them hard while smooshing down to fit souvenirs into a carry-on with 8 days of clothing. —Martin Cizmar

Best Bag for a Lifetime

Do you only want to buy one suitcase and never think about it, ever again? Briggs & Riley is one of the few companies with a lifetime unlimited warranty. I bought a Briggs & Riley carry-on as my first and only post-college purchase. Right now, it has lasted over 20 years. Periodically, I bring it into the one Briggs & Riley-approved dealership in my town to get a zipper pull put back on, and it's fixed for free in a few days. Its components are top-of-the-line. The face fabric is a heavy-duty ballistic nylon that’s water-repellent and abrasion-resistant. After having been dragged all over the globe, from the Philippines to Turkey to Iceland, the gleaming red is just as bright.

The low-profile wheels nor handles have never broken. The grab handles are also luxuriously smooth and padded, and there's an interior folding garment bag for my husband's suits. The only downside is that at 9.3 pounds, it’s pretty heavy.

★ Alternatives: If you need an absolutely bomber-tough rolling suitcase and don't mind its 9.6-pound weight, the Pro Front-Access Carry ($799) will stand up to more abuse than most rolling bags, with its aluminum frame and 70-percent-recycled polycarbonate body. WIRED reviewer Chris Haslam says it's his favorite rolling bag in years. Jancer also likes Travelpro's Platinum Elite carry-on ($315) , which he calls one of the most high-end polycarbonate bags on the market.

Reece Rogers

Best Backpack

When I reviewed the Cotopaxi Allpa in 2018 ( 9/10, WIRED Recommends ), it had only recently launched. Now, a half-dozen years later, it is one of the most popular travel backpacks that I see online and in airports all over the world. It's a combination of a camping backpack, a suitcase, and a soft, frameless duffel. You can splay it open like a sandwich to pack it easily; access items through a side zip; put it on your backpack and secure its weight with a sternum strap; or squash or stomp it into any overhead compartment or corner of your car trunk. The use case for this bag is extremely specific—the same people who are bopping around Thailand for several weeks in one backpack are not the same people trying to look professional at a work conference. But it is sturdy and comfortable.

★ Alternative: I took the Ekster Packable Duffel ($250) on several weekend trips this spring, and found that it more than upheld its claims of being built for “smoother journeys, on and off the grid.” This travel bag converts from a backpack to a duffel, with two separate compartments that also splay open for easier packing. The 600-denier exterior and water-resistant zippers are so sturdy that when we ran out of space in the car, we lashed it to the roof rack with surf straps and drove for hours in the rain. It, and its contents, remained pristine.

Best Convertible Bag

Every serious traveler knows the name of Seattle-based Tom Bihn, manufacturer of bomber bags that will last you a lifetime. The Aeronaut 45 is the classic Tom Bihn convertible carry-on, which the size of the maximum allowable carryon bag on a plane.

You get everything from a Tom Bihn bag that you pay for. It’s made of incredibly sturdy 1050 denier ballistic nylon with bombproof YKK zippers and has both hidden backpack straps and an extremely comfortable cross-body strap. This is commerce director Martin Cizmar's bag, and he's tossed it around and lugged down rough streets and through crowds where roller bags are a liability. He owns two and the first lasted for more than a decade. This is the bag that both and I would only fly with if we didn't have to constantly test other bags.

Best Personal Item

Some airlines are not content with charging you extra for checking a bag and now charge you for overhead bin space . The Tom Bihn Trinity ( 7/10, WIRED Recommends ) addresses that problem by providing a space for you to pack everything you need while still fitting underneath the seat in front of you. As the name suggests, it has three main compartments and three ways to carry—either as a briefcase with padded grab handles, a backpack, or as a shoulder bag with two attachment points.

It has three main compartments which can be arranged to your liking; for example, on one of the side compartments, you can zip a water bottle holder into place or unzip it for more room. It wasn't quite as versatile as I expected; I found that I prefer a small duffel with one main compartment that I can organize as I like. However, it does fit under the seat in front of me, even with clothes, laptop, and four (four!) hardcover books that I somehow stuffed inside it.

Best Work Bag

I've been traveling a lot for work and for family reasons in the past few months, and the bag I prefer for my personal item is the Lo & Sons O.G. 2, which is the larger version of the brand's Nouvelle purse ( 8/10, WIRED Recommends ). It comes in a medium and a large version; the medium is adequate as an everyday bag, but the large turns it into a versatile work/travel bag. It’s low-profile and has both smooth leather grab handles as well as a shoulder strap. I have kicked it under plane seats and around airports, and the nylon doesn't show any damage. There's a hidden separate compartment if you spill water on yourself, and it has sturdy feet so you can put it on an airplane bathroom counter and dig for your makeup without it falling over or getting the bottom of the bag too disgusting. The toothed zippers do tend to crinkle and snatch at your knuckles when the bag gets overstuffed, but I suppose you could always, uh, avoid overstuffing your bag.

★ Alternatives: We have plenty of recommendations in our guide to the Best Laptop Totes , but we love Lo & Sons. The Catalina Supreme Tote ($338) is also great for weekend trips. Again, there's also a bottom compartment for a pair of shoes, or anything else you need to keep separate.

The Best Hiking Daypack

The Camelbak A.T.P. is so useful that I’m always startled to realize it only has a 20-liter capacity. I have it in the 100 percent recycled white color, which saves water and only emits half the greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating the dying process. It’s a panel loader, which means you can unzip the top and see exactly where everything goes, like a duffel. This is convenient when packing for trips—I was able to fit clothes, a Dopp kit, and electronics for an overnight trip. (I know these types of zippers fail more often than top loaders, but it does make it easier to arrange and sort items near the bottom of the pack.)

I particularly like how narrow it is. It fits my back and goes under airplane seats that even my children’s backpacks can’t. The bottle pocket has a zipper that makes it expandable so it can fit a little coffee thermos or my giant Yeti water bottle . Exterior compression straps also help squeeze my clothes even smaller. This is a great backpack if you want something that looks sleek enough for a work bag but is durable enough to take on a weekend trip to Yosemite.

★ Alternative: I also love the Patagonia Black Hole Backpack ($149) . This 25-liter bag is the perfect combination work/adventure bag. The suspended 15-inch laptop pocket clips shut, and the rest of the pockets are thoughtfully placed. It’s extremely light (a little over a pound) and is made from 100 percent recycled ripstop fabric.

Best Duffel Bag

The Big Haul ( 8/10, WIRED Recommends ) is our favorite duffel because it hits the right balance of robust build materials and pockets without being too heavy to lug around all day. The standout feature of the Big Haul series, which comes in 28-liter to 120-liter options, is the ability to easily reposition the carrying straps, which feature plastic fishhook-style ends that slip into fabric loops. You can connect one strap end-to-end or double up on two straps in an H pattern for more stability with heavy loads. Adding and removing the straps isn't super fast, but it's not difficult, either, and six low-profile loops seems less intrusive than six rattling plastic buckles.

Two small interior pockets and an exterior pocket keep small things organized, and its water-resistant fabric is thick and tough without being stiff. All the sewing around the grab handles feels very robust too. Padded backpack straps hide away under a padded pocket on the top of the bag. This means that when you sling the Big Haul over your shoulders to give your arms a rest, your back is against the relatively clean top of the duffel, rather than a wet, dirty bottom side that's been set down on the ground. The current iteration of the Big Haul is also made with recycled nylon. What's not to love? —Matt Jancer

★ Alternative: For slightly more money, the classic duffel in this category is the Patagonia Black Hole Duffel ($159) , which also comes in a variety of colorways and sizes. You can either carry it by the grab handles or with the shoulder straps, and it's made from 100 percent recycled polyester with a TPU-film laminate. I (Adrienne) have had the 40-liter version for almost 15 years now and the laminate has yet to peel. It also fits as a carry-on on flights.

The Best Expedition Bag

If you like outdoor sports, you probably need a good expedition bag—that is, a huge, burly duffel that you can just throw all your pointy ice axes, trekking poles, or camp chairs into that you can take anywhere and everywhere. Reviewer Matt Jancer's expedition bag of choice is the Red Oxx PR5. He's used it for whitewater paddling trips and to lug mountain climbing equipment from coast to coast without a single frayed thread. Everything about Red Oxx is overbuilt. The zippers are huge, its thick pieces of nylon webbing are robustly sewn, and chunky metal rings hang the detachable carrying strap. All that said, it's not abominably heavy. At 3.4 pounds it's still lighter than many wheeled bags.

★ Alternative: If you've ever gone to a popular outdoor destination, like Yosemite or Everest, you've probably seen stacks of North Face Base Camp duffels . This is the quintessential expedition bag. My own personal bag is the OnSight Tarmac EPO , but the company no longer exists; I also have a Mountain Hardware duffel ($180) and after 20 years, the coating has finally started to peel.

Best for Camping

We love everything from Rux; I'm currently testing the waterproof adventure tote ($150) and I use it for everything from my climbing gear, to picnic gear, to bringing my kids' roller skates and soccer balls to the park. I have also leaked an entire water bottle in it and it stayed contained and out of the bottom of my car.

But for camping (or any outdoor pursuit, really), what you need is a Rux storage system , which, as the artist and filmmaker Van Neistat puts it, will help you kit your shit . It holds its frame shape, which means you can stack and organize inside of it just like a box, but it folds down like a bag for easy storage once you're at your destination. It's also light and waterproof and comes with a wide array of accessories . This is an upgrade for everyone who currently sorts their camping, climbing, or snowboarding gear in a series of $5 plastic totes and stacks them in their trunk.

The Best Aluminum Suitcase

Perhaps you've seen those Instagram-friendly, shiny aluminum suitcases and wonder whether it's worth the investment. Aluminum is extremely durable and can be machined with precision. That means it will protect your belongings better, and you can close them with latches instead of zippers. Your suitcase will last longer and be more secure— zippers are pretty easy to break into —and generally have fewer points of failure.

In my opinion, the cost-benefit analysis generally weighs against them. Aluminum suitcases are usually heavier and won't flex as much if you have overpacking tendencies, and I find them painfully conspicuous. Any suitcase with a decent warranty policy will painlessly cover any repairs. If you must have one, we like Arlo Skye's the Frame. Arlo Skye was founded by alumni from Louis Vuitton and Tumi, and reviewer Matt Jancer says that everything about the Frame screams robust quality, from the leather grab handles to the combination-lock latches. It also comes with a removable battery bank and has a few more liters of carrying capacity than the similarly-sized Away. The main disadvantage is that the interior organization is a bit lacking.

★ Alternative: Do you want the benefits of an aluminum suitcase without the drawbacks? You might want to consider Monos's Hybrid Carry-On ($325) . You won't fool anyone into thinking you've shelled out for a 100 percent aluminum suitcase, but Jancer notes that it's only a pound or so heavier than the competition and the aluminum frame offered better protection than any 100 percent polycarbonate suitcase that he tried.

A Good Emergency Go Bag

To be clear, any bag here could be considered a go-bag—even a grocery bag works when you have to leave the house imminently. But reviewer Nena Farrell used Calpak's duffel for an emergency surgery, and she is kicking herself for not getting it sooner. It was big enough for everything from makeup bags and extra outfits to a massive book and Nintendo Switch, and was comfortable to carry thanks to the large straps.

The shoe compartment was big enough for sandals and slides, but not big enough for shoes with an ankle. It was also a great place to stash haphazard Ziplocs of emergency toiletries and medications. There are some side pockets inside too, plus an exterior side pocket and a pass-through panel to place it on top of your luggage. It was a great hospital companion, but Farrell can't wait to take the Luka somewhere a little more fun.

Other Bags We Like

Not every good product can snag a best-in-category title, but there are several more bags we've tested that get our thumbs-up.

Osprey Ozone 40L for $280 : At 4.47 pounds, Osprey claims this bag is the lightest carry-on suitcase. It's also made from 400D recycled bluesign-approved nylon and is treated with DWR. This bag is light enough to easily hoist above my head and has also been checked multiple times.

Gregory Alpaca 40 Duffel for $140 : This duffel weighs a scant 2.7 pounds, but the water-resistant fabric and extraordinarily beefy (though plastic) buckles make it a solid bag for adventuring. There's an exterior pocket for storing shoes or dirty clothes. The backpack straps don't tuck away for storage—you have to unclip them—but might be the most well-padded, comfortable straps I've encountered on a duffel. Exterior daisy chains and an interior zippered pocket round out the impressive features list.

Land's End Waxed Canvas Duffel for $180 : Most duffel bags these days are made of nylon, and while it's tough to call a material that's been popular since the 1940s “modern,” nylon bags don't have the old-school charm that this waxed canvas bag does.

Eagle Creek Cargo Hauler 40L for $149 : This bag weighs 1 pound, 13 ounces, which is only slightly heavier than air. It also has backpack straps that stow away in a front pocket.

Skyway Epic Carry-On for $160 : At 7.1 pounds, the Epic is an average weight. The handle is a wee bit more finicky than our top pick, and the Travelpro's wheels glide a little more nicely. Still, the Epic is a solid choice.

Target Signature Weekender Bag for $81 : Looking like a cross between a duffel and a handbag, the Weekender has a structure that product reviewer Louryn Strampe says can become overfilled, so keep that in mind if you plan to bring it onto a plane as a carry-on. She appreciates its durability and the many internal pockets for organization, though, and its rather long five-year warranty.

Solgaard Carry-On Closet Plus for $345 : It's a tiny bit over what most airlines list as the maximum dimensions, but the difference is so small that it's accepted 95 percent of the time. WIRED reviewer Louryn Strampe praises its optional clip-in closet clothing organizer, which makes for efficient packing. The built-in TSA lock is easy to use, and there's an internal power-bank pocket. This suitcase is included in our Favorite Recycled Products guide.

Samsonite Outline Pro Carry-On for $200 : This is a hard-side, four-wheeled spinner carry-on made from an outer shell of durable polypropylene. Standout features include an interior fabric made from 100 percent recycled plastic bottles and a “WetPak” storage pocket for keeping damp items separated from the rest of your luggage.

Adidas Defender Duffel for $40 : If you're looking for an inexpensive duffel that'll handle some light-duty traveling, this is a good way to save $100. The fabric is significantly thinner and less sturdy than that of other duffels in this guide, and it lacks backpack straps. But for taking on the train or tossing into a car trunk, it'll do the trick.

Bags We Don’t Like

Some bags just aren't worth the asking price, especially with so many good alternatives at all price points.

Peugeot Voyages Carry-On Spinner for $595 : What a price tag for a plastic-case suitcase. You can see where Peugeot tried to imbue the Voyages with some luxury, such as the metal riveting and built-in travel locks, but the case felt no more solid than a budget hard-sided bag, and the USB charging port felt cheap, like an outlet you'd find built into a seat in an airport terminal.

Eagle Creek Caldera Convertible International Carry-On for $469 : At 6 pounds, 2 ounces, this bag is a bit heavy. There's a zip-off 19-liter backpack that you can separate from the rest of the 37-liter bag, but when they're zipped together, the combined size doesn't meet carry-on restrictions.

Ebags CTS Carry-On Spinner for $200 : This one wasn't awful, but there are much better options for the money. Its hard plastic sides felt more brittle than the hard-sided plastic Away suitcases. The handle rattles a lot and it didn't roll quite as smoothly as other bags.

A Few Travel Accessories

Once you've got your bag, you'll want to pack it with a few more useful items:

Apple AirTag for $24 : If you have an iPhone, it's one of the best ways to keep a digital eye on your bags. Drop an AirTag into an interior pocket to make sure you and your luggage are reunited at your destination. Don't have an iPhone? We suggest the Chipolo in our guide to the Best Bluetooth Trackers .

Eagle Creek Specter Pack-It Cubes Three-Pack for $35 keep everything inside your bags organized by allowing you to separate it into different cubes, so you won't ever have to hunt through seven pairs of socks to find your bathing suit again.

Calpak Clear Cosmetics Case for $75 : Calpak’s viral clear cases come in three sizes and a ton of colors for the edge trims. Reviewer Nena Farrell loved the small size for my gym bag and traveling with a smaller carry-on bag, while the medium was a great size for my daily makeup or larger suitcases.

Troubadour Buddy 2.0 Tech Case for $75 : You probably need a case to organize your spare charging cables and power banks. I've been testing this compact, waterproof, and recycled bag that fits neatly into my personal item.

UrPower Portable Steamer for $24 beats a travel iron because it's far lighter and you don't need to hunt down an ironing board at your hotel. WIRED reviewer Medea Giordano and I both have been using UrPowers for years. For a tiny thing, it's powerful and effective at steaming practically anything. You just need to refill it often.

Samsonite Manual Luggage Scale for $15 is handy when you're packing a heavy bag for an upcoming trip. Use it to weigh your luggage and make sure it's within the weight limits. International airlines are sticklers for carry-on weight, and even American airlines will be unforgiving about weight for checked bags.

InCase MacBook Sleeves for $50 will keep your laptop from bearing the damage caused by airport security lines. Travel through an airport without a case and it's only a matter of time before a bare laptop or tablet picks up nasty scratches and dents. Check our guide to the Best MacBook Accessories for more.

How to Pick the Right Size Bag

Every airline sets its own dimensional requirements for carry-on baggage, so if you want to be safe, you should check your airline's requirements before packing. But broadly, they're split into two categories: domestic and international.

Domestic flights by US airlines (and a few others) have standardized on 22 x 14 x 9 inches.

International carry-on bag sizes tend to be about 21 inches tall and a bit narrower, but they're all over the place. It's tough, because many international airlines will measure your bags at the airport and reject anything even slightly bigger than the allowed size. If you fly outside the US a lot, you may as well buy a bag sized for international flights.

You'll also want to check each airline's weight limits. They vary wildly, but some international airlines restrict you to 15 or 20 pounds, including the weight of the bag itself. For example, there are some East Asian airlines that limit carry-on bags to 11 pounds. Once you subtract 6 or more pounds for the bag, you're not left with much wiggle room to put stuff inside.

When to Remove Battery Banks

Battery banks, also known as power banks, are a travel must-have. Whether you're using a tablet to watch movies on your flight or relying on your phone to coordinate rideshares, hotel check-in, and handle your boarding passes, you've got to keep those devices charged and topped up. Many bags offer a removable battery bank that slides into a special pocket or notch of the suitcase.

For carry-on luggage on a flight in the US, you're allowed to bring a lithium-ion battery of 100 watt-hours or less. You don't need to remove it from the suitcase's pocket if you're storing your bag in the overhead bin.

Lithium-ion battery banks are not allowed in checked luggage. If you check your bag or have to gate-check it, make sure to remove the battery bank before you give your suitcase to the gate agent. Slip the battery bank into your purse, backpack, or pocket for the duration of the flight.

Matt Jancer

Scott Gilbertson

Brenda Stolyar

Adrienne So

Christopher Null

Nena Farrell

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The 11 Best Rolling Duffel Bags of 2024, Tested and Reviewed

We tested 30 bags to find the best rolling duffel for every trip.

In This Article

Jump to a Section

• Our top picks
• Others We Liked

Our Testing Process

• Tips for Buying

Other Bags We've Written About

• 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

New travel gear can quickly add up, so it’s important to invest in the right pieces that will last a long time, especially for luggage and other bags. To help you in this journey, we set out to find the best of the best when it comes to rolling duffels, combing the market before ultimately putting 30 products through a battery of tests.

We packed them to the brim to test their capacity. We went over them with a fine-tooth comb to consider design features big and small. We pushed them, pulled them, and steered them every which way to test their maneuverability. We then took a baseball bat to them to test durability (seriously). And, above all else, we considered all of these tests, and their respective price tags, to consider what total value these bags offer.

It was tough work, but somebody had to do it — and that’s how we landed on these final 11 rolling duffels. We found the perfect pick for anyone traveling light, a standout for camping trips and other outdoor adventures, and so forth.

Best Overall

Patagonia wheeled duffel bag.

Backcountry

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

It’s incredibly spacious and durable.

Because it’s so large, some may struggle with maneuvering it.

Get on board with the bag that travelers around the world swear by: Patagonia’s Black Hole Duffel, which comes in a 40-liter, a 70-liter, and an unbelievably spacious 100-liter version. We tested the largest size which features a large main compartment that makes it a cinch to pack whatever gear you throw its way, as well as a zippered side pocket and mesh pockets for smaller items you want to keep separate. Packing quickly, we found that we had so much room to spare during tests. If we were to roll the clothes or even use packing cubes, we could fit double or triple the number of items.

The bag is also highly weather-resistant, crafted from a coated ripstop material made from 100 percent recycled fabric, lining, and webbing — exactly what you want to pack for a trip to Antarctica . The durable, oversized wheels performed well during our maneuverability tests, but we did dock half a point because this is a very, very large bag that smaller individuals may have difficulty moving around, especially in crowded spaces. We also noticed, after regularly using the bag for two months, that it sometimes falls over when fully packed because it is front-heavy.

The Details: 9.3 pounds | 32.6 x 16 x 13.7 inches | 100 liters

Travel + Leisure / Jessica Juliao

Travel + Leisure /Jhett Thompson

Best Weekender

Samsonite weekend wheeled duffel.

Samsonite 

• Capacity 4.5 /5
• Portability 5 /5

Easily carry this bag with its top handles or crossbody strap when it’s not possible to roll it along.

It’s a smaller bag that’s likely best for shorter trips.

Not every rolling duffel needs to be an enormous 100-liter behemoth for carrying the bulkiest, heaviest gear — sometimes it just needs to be big enough for a weekend getaway or a quick business trip. This reliable Samsonite falls solidly into the latter category. It has so many things that business travelers in particular will enjoy, including a front zippered pocket with an integrated USB charging port, a front pocket with a tech organization panel to keep your things in order on the fly, a padded tablet sleeve, and even a removable wristlet. After six months of regularly using this bag, we loved that you can carry it with the handles, shoulder straps, or by rolling it, so you can stay comfortable and mobile throughout the day. The bag is hassle-free due to a retractable push-button handle and sturdy wheels that moved easily over a variety of surfaces. When you’re ready to go at a moment’s notice, this weekender is, too.

The Details: 4.8 pounds | 21.8 x 12 x 12.5 inches

Best Checked

Ebags mother lode checked rolling duffel.

• Design 4.5 /5
• Portability 4.8 /5
• Value 4.7 /5

It has two compartments that are both very deep.

The top compartment’s opening is slightly small relative to its size so you may need to stuff items in fully.

We were pleasantly surprised by just how spacious this 29-inch rolling duffel is, easily able to fit clothing for a weeklong trip with room left over. It’s complete with two large open compartments that are deep enough for packing large loads, two compression straps, and several internal and external pockets for stowing smaller goods including shoes. There is even an expansion zipper to add a few more inches of space. It may not have eye-catching style, but it’s all-in-all a simple, solid bag that (more than) gets the job done. We especially appreciated the large, substantial wheels, durable material, and sturdy handle which makes this duffel a solid choice for a checked bag that makes it to baggage claim and beyond.

The Details: 12 pounds | 29 x 17 x 15 inches

Best Organization

Ogio terminal travel bag.

• Design 4 /5

There’s tons of room thanks to internal and external compartments.

It’s on the heavier side when empty.

If you love built-in organization, this bag has multiple compartments ideal for two weeks’ worth of clothing, shoes, accessories, toiletries, and more that can fit far more than needed. We also appreciated the variety of external handles which make loading this bag into a car or onto a luggage rack a cinch. After six months of use, we think it's the perfect size — large, but not bulky. It gives off major “campfire couture vibes” so we love the idea of taking this bag on an outdoor adventure or road trip, which could call for a wide range of gear, and a need to lug it beyond just using the smooth-rolling wheels.

The Details: 10.6 pounds | 16 x 13 x 29 inches | 95 liters

Best Budget

Travelers club upright rolling duffel bag.

• Portability 3.8 /5
• Durability 4.7 /5

It has very sturdy handles, especially considering the affordable price tag.

It's too big to fit in the overhead bin.

When we packed this duffel with two weeks’ worth of winter gear, there was plenty of room left over. The main compartment was much more spacious than we originally thought, and we especially loved the variety of exterior pockets which made staying organized a breeze. The handle, while sturdy, is on the thinner side and the wheels are smaller than some others on this list, which made maneuvering this bag over carpet, cement, and through tight turns marginally more challenging. After traveling with this bag regularly for six months, we love like how it rolls, but found that it's too big to be used as a carry-on item and must be checked. But, for under $50, you’ll have a hard time finding a better rolling duffel, and it comes in a wide range of colors for an option that will stick out at baggage claim, too.

The Details: 8 pounds | 30 x 12 x 13 inches | 77 liter

Travel + Leisure / Jhett Thompson

Best Splurge

Tumi large split 2-wheeled duffel.

• Value 4.5 /5
• Durability 4 /5

It maneuvers very well across different environments.

The exterior picks up dust easily.

They say that travel is about the journey, not (necessarily) the destination, and packing a Tumi bag is always an enjoyable part of any journey. In fact, after regularly using the bag for six months, we found that it can fit many weeks' worth of clothing while keeping gear and accessories organized in individual pockets. The fabric and the zippers are substantial and luxurious, and the bag easily held up for multiple bat whacks and drops from a high table. We were especially impressed by how easily it maneuvered over a variety of different surfaces, and noted how smoothly the oversized wheels worked on uneven carpeting, too. This rolling duffel also has enough compartments to satisfy any organization enthusiast, with two sides including one with added compression straps to hold clothing securely. The price tag may be steep, but this bag’s looks and performance make it a worthy investment.

The Details: 11 pounds | 16 x 30.3 x 14 inches | 98 liters

Best Water-resistant

Osprey transporter wheeled duffel 90.

• Design 3.5 /5
• Portability 4.5 /5

It’s an ideal bag for inclement weather and rough handling conditions.

There is no handle to carry the bag horizontally.

Torrential downpours and even the errant sidewalk puddle don’t stand a chance with this water-resistant rolling duffel that even has rainflaps for added protection against the elements. It’s made of extremely durable TPU fabric with a DWR coating to shed water, snow, and other moisture away. It has a large capacity with compression straps to easily fit more than a week’s worth of clothing as well. After using the bag regularly for six months, we found that it also rolls so easily, whether traveling over carpet, sidewalks, or any other surface and is a perfect simple bag for any trip.

The bag did lose points for its exterior handles — there are only short handles on the sides (along with the rolling handle) which would make it easy to pull a bag off the conveyer belt but awkward to lift it high when fully packed. Still, after taking a bat to it, there was zero visible damage to the wheels, frame, or fabric when finished. Overall, it’s an excellent, durable option for protecting your gear during the most intense of adventures.

The Details: 7.5 pounds | 31.5 x 17.3 x 13.8 inches | 90 liters

Gonex Rolling Duffel Bag With Wheels

The bag is like a half-suitcase, half-duffel with a structured bottom and flexible top half.

The bag itself is on the stiffer side.

There’s a fine line between budget and value options — and we feel like this Gonex rolling duffel bag delivered quality at a very competitive price point, stacking up to many of the more expensive bags at a fraction of the cost. It’s a long, stiff bag but we had no issues going through our obstacle course and over rougher surfaces. Even after six months of frequent use, the wheels move with élan and the handle was easy to hold. We loved the design, too — it’s like a half-suitcase, half-duffel with a structured bottom half and a fabric upper flap, plus easy-to-adjust straps on the sides to secure the contents even more. We were also impressed with the sturdiness of this bag, including the structured bottom half, which makes the bag extra durable.

The Details: 10.5 pounds | 16 x 15 x 33.4 inches | 100 liters

Best for Gear

Thule chasm wheeled duffel.

• Portability 4 /5

The main compartment is basically just one giant, super-deep pocket that's perfect for large items.

The bag is so large it can be difficult to roll.

For anyone who wants a large-capacity bag with a simple design, the Thule Chasm wheeled duffel is the perfect choice. If you're packing for a long trip or one that involves bringing a lot of bulky items, this is a great option thanks to its large compartment that is easy to pack. There's also an additional pocket on the top with a mesh opening between it and the main compartment, as well as two mesh zipper pockets on the lid to keep smaller items organized and secure.

The handle works well, but the bag is so bulky, the best way to transport this bag is by rolling. We found that the wheels glide quite smoothly, but the bag can be unwieldy due to its size, so it may not be best for those who know they're likely to move in a hurry. Throughout our tests, we found the bag to be extremely durable with no damage to the bag after we hit it with a bat. The outer seems exceptionally tear-resistant and thick, so great for anyone looking to get the most out of their luggage.

The Details: 10.2 pounds | 15.4 x 16.9 x 32 inches | 110 liters

Best Lightweight

Eagle creek cargo hauler.

• Maneuverability 3 /5

It’s the lightest bag we tested and it even includes a packing cube and convertible backpack straps.

After using this bag for six months, we felt it can be cumbersome and isn't suitable for light packers.

This bag is proof that when it comes to luggage, bigger can, in fact, be better. It packs an astonishing 130 liters of volume (which is rare to find, even in bags two or three times its weight), yet manages to clock in at a positively featherweight four pounds, seven ounces—making it one of our favorite lightweight luggage options. But just because it’s big doesn’t mean it doesn’t pull its own weight — it’s constructed from an abrasion-resistant material that’s designed to last, and is water-repellant for anything from rain to sleet and snow.

Our favorite thing about this bag was that it also converts to a backpack, which can justify the fact that it won’t stand upright (as you wouldn’t want a hard frame pushing into your back if carrying that way). We can see this bag being an excellent choice for a safari bush plane with weight limits, or any instance when you wanted to start off with a featherweight bag before loading up your gear into the bag and the included packing cube.

The Details: 4.4 pounds | 34 x 13.75 x 15 inches | 130 liters

Best Carry-on

Vera bradley foldable rolling duffel bag.

 Amazon

• Value 4.6 /5
• Durability 4.6 /5

After six months of regularly using this bag, we're in love with the hefty bottom compartment that’s great for packing shoes.

We docked half a point for capacity because the bag is a little small.

The ideal carry-on is one that not only performs well, but looks good doing it, too. This bag manages to do both. It’s made from ReActive, a lightweight, durable, water-repellent material made from recycled water bottles, and folds down neatly for storage when not in use. There’s an interior curtain that can be zippered to separate the top and bottom compartments to keep you organized, and the main compartment also features one mesh slip pocket for smaller items. In fact, we packed enough items for a several-day trip in the top before realizing there was room at the bottom for at least four more pairs of shoes. Plus, this being Vera Bradley, the bag also comes in a few stunning patterns as well — so in a sea of black carry-on bags, you’ll be sure to stand out.

The Details: 10 x 20.5 x 12.5 inches | 5.6 pounds

Other Rolling Duffels We Liked

Some rolling duffels we tested couldn’t quite earn a spot on our list, but had standout features that may meet the needs of some travelers.

Briggs & Riley Baseline Large Two-wheel Duffel : This luxury rolling duffel definitely delivers on the style front. We especially liked that it had both a large duffel section and a flat packing section, but it is on the more expensive side and only had one exterior pocket.

Travelpro Bold by Travelpro Check-in Drop-Bottom Expandable Rolling Duffel : This rolling duffel is made from a rugged, water-repellant and stain-resistant polyester fabric and comes with a reinforced telescoping handle, but it’s incredibly bulky and may be difficult to store.

In our quest to find the best-of-the-best wheeled bags, we combed the marketplace and narrowed our top selections down to 30 rolling duffels that then underwent a vigorous luggage testing process over a six-month period. We weighed them with luggage scales while empty before filling carry-on-sized duffels with a week’s worth of clothes and checked-size duffels with closer to two week’s worth of clothes (and used the same items for each sample bag, to compare how the exact clothes fit bag to bag). We considered organizational and storage features such as padded sleeves, compression straps, pockets, and external daisy chains. We obsessed over how every single zipper opened and closed, too.

The tests continued with how these bags might perform in the real world. We rolled the duffels back and forth across a range of surfaces to test them for maneuverability, on everything from smooth lab floors to high-pile carpets. We even set up an obstacle course to make sure these bags can turn on a dime. We examined how much the external handles helped us move the bag from car to curb and back again. And, perhaps most fun of all, we took a baseball bat to each bag to test them for durability. Ultimately, we rated each bag on a five-point scale in a number of categories and the top performers are the ones you see on this list.

Tips for Buying a Rolling Duffel Bag

Check your airline’s size requirements.

Even the perfect rolling duffel won’t be much use to you if it doesn’t meet your airline’s size requirements for carry-on or checked bags, so be sure to check online before committing to a new bag. This is especially important when it comes to carry-on duffel bags . It’s also worth mentioning that since duffel bags lend themselves to being stuffed to the brim, you may want to consider how much your bag weighs, especially if it’s on the larger side.

Consider pockets, compartments, and other organizational features

With a roomy duffel bag, you may be tempted to go with a “more-is-more” mentality when it comes to packing, especially with the higher-volume duffels that have truly enormous main compartments. But it’s worth considering the smaller stuff, too. Different models of bags come with different varieties of internal and external organizational features such as zippered compartments, padded laptop or tablet sleeves, or even included packing cubes. It all depends on how organized you’d like to be, and how much you’ll depend on your bag itself to keep you organized.

Look for multiple carrying options

A duffel, once packed, can vary widely in terms of bulk and weight, and a good bag will keep up with you in a variety of environments. You’ll want to make sure your bag can be carried in multiple ways, whether that’s by hand via a top handle, by its telescoping handle as it’s rolled down long airport hallways, or perhaps by convertible backpack or crossbody straps for other alternatives.

Look for durable materials

The right duffel bag can last a lifetime, especially if you buy one made from the right materials. This is the kind of bag you’ll probably be checking at airports, throwing under buses, and really putting through the ringer in terms of durability, so look for materials that are up for the challenge. Ripstop fabrics in particular are extremely durable but also lightweight, and products coated with DWR or other weather-resistant coatings are an added bonus.

There’s no right or wrong answer here. But for shorter business trips or weekend getaways, something carry-on sized with a maximum of 40 liters in volume, such as a weekender bag , is probably enough. If you’re packing for a week or more, or looking to pack bulky camera equipment or the like, look at bags upwards of 100 liters in size.

Duffel bags are spacious, flexible, lightweight, and easy to carry. They don’t always have the same structural support or protective elements of a suitcase, making them best for things that can’t necessarily break in transit. So, if you’re just traveling with clothes and soft goods, a duffel bag is a good choice for you.

The first step is always to read the manufacturer’s instructions — but most duffel bags can be cleaned with a damp rag, perhaps with a little soap or white vinegar, and then allowed to air dry fully before being packed again or stowed away.

We've given plenty of other impressive rolling duffel bags a whirl — some of which we've covered in the past . These picks stood out because of their durability, quality materials, and impressive capacity, and we think they're worth considering,

Ektronik Rolling Weekend Duffel Bag : Made from durable, water-resistant nylon, it fits under most airplane seats yet offers ample space for a one-to-three-day trip.

Rains' Texel Check-in Bag : Those who frequent destinations with plenty of precipitation (whether that’s ski resort snow or tropical rain) would do well to invest in a fully waterproof duffel. The Texel Check-in Bag from Rains is a great option.

Eagle Creek No Matter What Rolling Duffel Bag XL : When size matters, choose the Eagle Creek No Matter What Rolling Duffel Bag XL. With a massive capacity of 130 liters, it pushes the boundaries for the maximum size allowable by most airlines but should offer enough room for just about anything you want to pack.

Why Trust Travel + Leisure

For this article, contributor Todd Plummer used the T+L team’s testing insights as well as his own research to compile a list of the best rolling duffel bags for travel.

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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.

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I think I read somewhere that large bags have to be checked in at a cloakroom when visiting the Kremlin, what counts as a large bag or do all bags have to be checked in? Do you need to do this before you queue for tickets?

We had small backpacks and they had to be handed in. Then you go and queue for your tickets.

Handbags (ladies' purses and small camera bags) are permitted, but backpacks and larger bags must be checked. When you go through security, the officer will glance inside your handbag to make sure all is OK.

Checking my husband's backpack was no problem. The check room outside the Kremlin is large. There were no lines either at check in or at pick up.

Leave them at the hotel if you can. AIM.

we were in the Kremlin 10 days ago and we had to check out backpacks. The one thing to remember is the bag check in closes at 6 p.m. so it is up to you to make sure you are back at the baggage check by that time. Also, towards the end of the day, the line to retrieve items can be quite long because everyone is waiting until the last minute to pick up their bags. Depends on how crowded they are

This topic has been closed to new posts due to inactivity.

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Trans-Siberian Railway Prices

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Home » Prices and Trans-Siberian Tickets » Trans-Siberian Railway Prices

Ticket prices for the Trans-Siberian Railway also depend on the current ruble exchange rate.

Is the Trans-Siberian Railway expensive?

Before starting on your Trans-Siberian Railway adventure you naturally want to know what the entire trip will cost. Although this sounds like a simple question, it is pretty difficult to answer. The Trans-Siberian Railway price of travel depends on the following factors:

• Which travel class do I want to use? The price for a first class ticket is about three times the price of a 3rd class ticket
• Am I willing to buy the tickets myself and assume responsibility for the organisation of the trip?
• How many stopovers do I want to make? The more breaks, the higher the total price.
• What sort of accommodation do I want? Will it be a luxury hotel or will a hostel dormitory be sufficient?
• What tours and excursions would I like to go on?
• What is the current exchange rate for rubles?

Basically, everything from a luxury to a budget holiday is available. If you buy yourself a 3rd Class nonstop ticket at the counter, a few hundred Euros will cover the price. All you will experience is a week on the Trans-Siberian train and will see nothing of the cities on the way. There is, however, any amount of room for upward expansion. Everyone makes different choices about which aspects they are willing to spend money on. I personally prefer to save money on accommodation and railcar class, visit as many cities and do as many trips as possible. To enable better classification of your travel expenses I have contrasted two typical traveler types. In the third column you can calculate the total cost of your own journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Please keep in mind that these are only rough estimations and not exact prices.

The all-in costs seem fairly high at first. However, they cover everything and it is quite a long journey taking four weeks. Many people forget to consider that when looking at the list. We should also deduct the running costs for food and leisure at home. I think most visitors to this page will classify themselves somewhere between the two categories, that is around the € 2,000 – € 2,500 range. When comparing these prices with other travel packages, you get the impression that it is hardly worthwhile travelling individually on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Please keep in mind that most packages last no more than 14 days and you are herded like cattle through the most beautiful locations.

If you spend less time on the Trans-Siberian Railway you will, of course, pay less. I chose this particular travel length because I prefer not to do things by halves. If you fulfill your dream of travelling on the Trans-Siberian Railway, enjoy it and don’t rush things. But it’s up to you, of course. Try playing around with the form a bit to find the appropriate price for your trip.

• Trans-Siberian Railway Tickets »