A carry-on bag is like a travel partner. It might seem good looking and easy-going while at home, but once you get a few days or even hours into your trip you quickly realize that it is frustrating, inflexible and ruining your trip. Here are some tips for selecting the bag that will be your trusty travel partner for many years to come.
Rollerblade-Style Wheels vs. Spinner Wheels
Spinner wheels entered the market several years ago and gained a huge a following for their nimbleness and ability to easily navigate down an airplane aisle. After using these bags, cautionary feedback started to roll in. If the wheels are not placed directly on the outer corners, spinner bags can become top heavy and more likely to tip over. Additionally, spinner wheels only work well on smooth surfaces. If you attempt to navigate bumpy sidewalks, thick carpet or cobblestone streets, your spinner bag will quickly turn into a bag you must carry. Despite these detractors, people love them and they seem to be dominating the market.
Rollerblade-style wheels roll along bumpy and uneven surfaces smoothly and quietly. The added benefit is that these wheels generally are set a bit within the suitcase so they don’t stick out and take up valuable inches in your overhead bag dimension limits. However, many of these bags cannot be wheeled down the airplane aisle without banging and snagging the seats along the way. So they can sometimes be a nuisance.
The bottom line: Spinner bags are great if you plan to travel to places with smooth sidewalks and floors. If you plan to go a bit off-road with your bag, rollerblade-style wheels are the way to go. In both cases, avoid wheels that are poorly incorporated into the body of the bag, you do not want the wheels to stick out and take up valuable inches of your allowed bag dimensions. And you do not want a bag that is always tipping over.
Pockets
Outside pockets are a must for quick access to your TSA approved clear plastic bag as there are times when the TSA PreCheck lane is closed or you are traveling internationally. These pockets are also convenient for storing an umbrella or scarf/hat to grab once you exit the airport. Be sure that the pockets are rounded at the top. You want quick access as well as easy re-packing once you are through security. Pockets that have zippers in a straight line are often hard to access and tend to scratch your hand when you are quickly trying to reorganize your stuff at the end of the security conveyor belt.
Size
International and domestic airlines differ in their carry-on size limitations. To ensure that you won’t be caught having to check, it is best to stay within these general dimensions: 22 x 14 x 9 inches. As the airline sample chart below shows, most airlines have similar size restrictions (shown in inches). As long as your suitcase is sold as a “carry on” bag, you’ll probably be fine on most airlines. Maximum weight tends to be around 22 pounds, but some of the Asia/pacific airlines are lower.
Single Rod Handle vs. Dual Rod Handle
Handle style is often overlooked. But a wobbly or sticky handle that doesn’t slide up or down easily can be a huge source or frustration and embarrassment. If you carry a laptop bag, most are designed to slide over a dual handle. On a single rod handle, laptop bags tend to fall to one side when rolling.
Underside Handle
You never know how your bag will need to be placed into an overhead bid (wheels out or wheels first). Many times it ends up wheels out and that means needing a handle on the bottom of the bag for removing it once you land versus grabbing onto one of the filthy wheels that have been dragged through airport bathrooms.
Color
Everyone loves black suitcases since they look professional and they mask the dirt. However, if you don’t want to be the person paged in the airport that you have grabbed the wrong bag out of the overhead, you should consider a different color or attach a unique tag or identifier on your bag.
Detachable Suit Holder
One nice feature on newer suitcase models is a detachable bag for packing a suit. Once your suit is folded and zipped inside, it nests inside the suitcase lid. These seem less relevant nowadays, since more and more corporate environments are going “business casual.”
Skid Guards
Whether you carry-on or check your bag, it will get punished. Likely around the edges where it’s more likely to contact surfaces. This is where skid guards can increase longevity. Instead of rips and tears in the fabric and frame from rough surfaces and rough handling, the hard plastic skid guards will take the damage.
Clearance
Make sure there is good vertical clearance between the wheels when the suitcase is tipped at an angle as you pull it by the handle. Anything less than 1/4” will be a problem. The ground will shred your suitcase in the area between the wheels and expose the frame very quickly. If you travel internationally and encounter uneven surfaces such as cobble stone streets and or loose gravel, your low-clearance suitcase will get destroyed.
Destinations
Some people have different suitcases for different destinations. If you plan on traveling abroad, particularly in old world places, such as small villages and third world countries, bring a heavy duty suitcase with two wheels and lots of skid guards to take the punishment. However, if you’re making a short business trip to a modern city, you probably won’t encounter the same kind of rough surfaces. In this scenario, spinner wheels and a lighter suitcase might suffice.
Compression Lock
Some suitcases have a ratchet-style “compression” lock inside of the suitcase that can be compressed when zipped shut (by pressing down on the lid) and it automatically locks to stay thin. If you tend to overpack, this might be a feature to consider. It allows a few more items to be added and then compressed to fit in the airplane overhead bin. Just keep in mind, more stuff means more weight.
To re-cap, here’s a checklist:
- Dimensions (must be within carry-on size restrictions of major airlines)
- Quality wheels (“rollerblade” type are best; spinners work well only on smooth surfaces)
- Handles (on the side and the bottom)
- Skid guards (on corners, bottom, sides and between wheels—basically everywhere)
- Good clearance (3/8” or more when being wheeled)
- Double rod handle (if you need to rest a laptop bag or purse on top of your suitcase while in transit)
- Stand out color (or personalized accoutrements, such as ribbons tied to handles).
- Zipper pockets on exterior (they always come in handy)
- Detachable suit holder (if needed)
- Compression locks (if needed)
Okay…. So which carry-on suitcases fit our criteria? Here are a few:
EXPENSIVE
If you can justify the price, it’s hard to beat the Briggs & Riley Baseline International Wide-Body Upright Carry-On Suitcase (two-wheeled version, our personal choice). But it will cost you. They also have a spinner version for 20 bucks more. We haven’t owned this brand before but we’re strongly considering trading up soon, especially considering such stellar reviews on Amazon.
MID-PRICED
For those who aren’t ready to spend big on the Briggs & Riley, these two options from Travelpro aren’t too shabby. In fact, many people prefer this brand to all others. Especially airline pilots and flight attendants. And these two models are runaway favorites: (1) the Travelpro Platinum Magna 2 22-Inch Express Rollaboard Suiter and (2) the Travelpro Crew 10 22-Inch Expandable Rollaboard Suiter.
BUDGET
Not everyone is made of money. And most people don’t travel 100,000 miles (or even 50,000 miles) per year. If this this you, check out the Delsey Helium Sky carry-on suitcase. Especially the two-wheeled version (personal preference). Normally, we’d avoid the straight zippers for those outside pockets (for reasons mentioned before), but it’s just a personal pet peeve. We’ve owned one Delsey and we’ve taken it around the world and it never failed us. They also offer the spinner version of the Helium Sky 2.0, if you must have spinner wheels.
SUPER BUDGET
Okay, let’s talk super budget suitcases. Whether you’re a college student living on a beer budget or you’d rather spend your money on your trip than your suitcase, go for the US Traveler Rio Two-Piece Expandable Carry-On. It’s really popular for a reason. It’s low-priced and will get you from point A to point B. Heck, you could buy 10 of these for the price of the Briggs & Riley and replace it with a back-up if it falls apart. (Not that we’d advocate for that approach… it’s not very eco-friendly. Or space-friendly.)
That’s it. Feel free to let us know what you think.
(Image in top right corner of photo mosaic: tristan tan/Shutterstock)
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For Pinners:
