Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler What luggage to buy?

I am looking to buy some new luggage for our trip to mexico in june. Any advice on types of luggage to look for? Should I consider buying online?

Thanks.

ebags has good prices. Also check steepandcheap.com. You have to check it often but they do have a lot of rolling luggage from good vendors like North Face. Most are <$100, <$200 for the bigger ones.

I used to travel 100K/year. I learned very early that if you want luggage to last, you get what you pay for. I used to swear by TravelPro and Tumi, but they're $$$. You find others now that are much cheaper. I also used to swear by hard-sided, but now that airlines are so strict on weight, I prefer softside and use the weight for my contents and not the luggage itself. Expandable is also good, so you can have extra space for souvenirs when you come home.

I like the roll on/carry ons that have the zippered backpack that attach. Some of those fit in overhead bins. PLUS, if you're a guy, you can 'cheat' the single carry on rule by connecting them together when you go through gates and the detach them to fit in the under/overhead storage.

I've had decent luck with Land's End. And they've got a warranty that you can't beat--lifetime and no questions asked.

I have mostly Skyway luggage and Delsey, both very good.

Ken makes a great point. Pick a brand with a lifetime warranty.

There's a lot of satisfaction getting a 10 year old bag fixed/replaced because the zipper broke.

Don't buy black...much easier to find your bags coming off the belt that way.

Thanks for all the advice. I ended up going with a cheap 3 pc american traveler set that was on sale at JC pennies for $79.99. What I got will work great for this trip, and I will look into buying some nicer luggage when I return.