Thread: Shopping for luggage

After receiving a $35 Amazon gift card for my birthday, I recalled needing new luggage and thought a great way to use it is save a few dollars on new upright bags with wheels. Unfortunately, most bags have only one picture on Amazon so I could not find a good one on the website without being able to look inside all of them. I had to visit other websites that only sell luggage to look for more photos, details, and reviews and hope Amazon sells those bags. Talk about being frustrated. I am sure many good bags out there are available and I cannot buy any of them because their insides are not pictured. The most important part of a bag after wheels - which they seem to all have these days - is the interior features. I don't want to go to the mall and buy one there when those stores, which have a little bit of everything, carry a very small selection of rolling upright bags for higher prices. Does anyone else have the same problem?

I usually cruise the internet first, looking at different luggage and prices. When I decide on a type and price I'm willing to pay, then I go to Amazon with fingers crossed. If they don't carry it, I wait for the company involved to have a sale and keep checking back.

Garry

I go to the mall, check out the suitcases at the luggage store and at a couple of big stores, like Macy's. Once I find what I'm looking for, I write down the name and model number, then go home and do some shopping online. I don't need to look at pictures, because I already know what I want and it's just a matter of finding the best price. But I don't usually buy anything sight unseen because pictures (inside or out) can be very misleading.

And as one person already stated, I always tell people to pack half as much as you want and it'll be twice as much as you need.

We've done short cruises and long trips with the same suitcases. In fact, we spent 32 days traveling around Europe, which included a 12-night cruise, and we spent 30 days traveling around Europe, which included a 14-night cruise. Both times we had one suitcase each and that was all we needed. Actually, we still took too much stuff!

Size is important because the bigger the suitcase, the more apt you are to have it weigh too much. Doesn't take much to reach the 50 pound limit and being overweight or adding a second suitcase can really cause your fees to add up very quickly.

Pete

By going to a bunch of websites to get all of the information I needed I narrowed down my list to the TravelPro Crew 8 and two Samsonite bags: Aspire GRT and DKX. Maybe I will like one we see at the mall, but so far, those seem to be the best that can be abused in Europe.

Edit: Samsonite's Aspire Sport also looks good. I don't see a lot of differences between the soft-side rolling collections by Samsonite.

After checking prices on Amazon for both the 21 and 25 inchers, clicking on the blue squares, and talking to Mom about the typos to figure out exactly what I was looking at, I got my gift certificate, worth $35 because of my age, and ordered them. For both bags the total was only $135.98 before my gift card was applied. That total was almost a dollar cheaper than just the carryon at Macy's (which has a 50% off sale right now). I am very excited about my new luggage, which should arrive on February 9.

What I love about the Delsey Helium Fusion Lite bags:

1. Truly lightweight - the carryon weighs less than 8 pounds.
2. A shoe pocket, two mesh pockets, and another pocket inside.
3. Two outside pockets - one big, one small.
4. Grab bar on the bottom instead of just two feet.
5. Straps in the lid to support a folded dress or dressy top.
6. Piggyback strap inside the small outside pocket.
7. Two stops on the pull handle, which works well.

In some ways the Samsonite DKX is better - a TSA-friendly bag, more comfortable carry handles, and a wetpack for my swimsuit. However, these benefits are less important than weight and I like the suiter (dresser for me) feature better on the Delsey.

Now I just need to get used to having a button on my pull handle - not as easy as it seems because I never had one before.

Today, Mom saw two big boxes on the front porch with the name Delsey in big letters. Of course, I had no reason to put off looking at, opening, expanding, lifting, carrying, pushing, and pulling both bags. They are even better than the one I tested at Macy's. I can't accidentally use the wrong zipper because the expansion zipper is red - something I had never seen before. They have two keys, so I don't have to worry about losing one. My only complaint is so far I am struggling to put the pull handle down but that probably is a result of never having a button on it before.

Congratulations on getting your new luggage so quickly!
Glad to hear that you are well pleased with them. You'll get used to the button in no time at all.

This is the 21-inch bag:
Amazon.com: Delsey Luggage Helium Fusion Light 21 Inches Expandable Carryon: Clothing

This is the 25-inch bag:
Amazon.com: Delsey Luggage Helium Fusion Light 25 Inches Expandable Upright: Clothing

You got a great buy on those two pieces!! Did you buy the blue? So much easier to spot among the multitude of black ones.

Originally Posted by Char

You got a great buy on those two pieces!! Did you buy the blue? So much easier to spot among the multitude of black ones.

That is why I bought the blue ones. I told Mom I will never use any black luggage again. She agreed any color is better than black if you are flying.

Last night she ordered the same bags.