I travel up to 300 days a year, and sometimes spend a lot of my time living out of suitcases on the road; a lot of air travel, a lot of checked luggage, a lot of moving, different hotel room every night. It's got to hold up.

I see a lot of four-wheel "spinner" luggage that fails. It's cheap, with small wheels, doesn't hold up, wheels get knocked off, often has no bearings, cheap plastic, etc.

Get something with inline skate wheels that can be user-replaced. If the luggage is designed to have replaceable wheels, it's designed to last.

Travel pro makes fairly reasonable, decent luggage. Someone else noted luggageworks; it's expensive, and it's heavy. It also holds up to a decade of hard use and travel.

The other part that fails with a lot of luggage is the telescoping handle.

I've had several samsonite bags which failed at the zipper and at the handle. I'm not impressed with them at all.

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:
Don't buy luggage with four wheel ("spinners"). Use two wheels.

This confirms what I suspected. Thank you.

Huh, it’s odd. I had all Tumi expensive luggage, it’s heavy and bulky. I ditched it for the Delsey spinner luggage.

I find it faaaar easier to handle and manage moving around the airport. In fact, it’s so much better that I’d seriously question whether anyone who says not to use them has actually tried them. I was dead set on two wheels too. Figured I’d hate the spinners. My wife wanted them so I caved.

You don’t have to drag them awkwardly behind you. They glide so effortlessly next to you, in front of you or behind you. They don’t tip over in line...just better in every way really.

I was worried about the wheels too. It seems like they’d break off, but they haven’t been an issue at all. Besides, if one would happen to break off, you simply use it like a two wheeler. What happens in a wheel breaks on a two wheeler?...S. O. L.

I would try one bag of the spinners...just once. I was shocked how much better traveling with them is.

quote:

Originally posted by esdunbar:
Huh, it’s odd. I had all Tumi expensive luggage, it’s heavy and bulky. I ditched it for the Delsey spinner luggage.

I find it faaaar easier to handle and manage moving around the airport. In fact, it’s so much better that I’d seriously question whether anyone who says not to use them has actually tried them. I was dead set on two wheels too. Figured I’d hate the spinners. My wife wanted them so I caved.

You don’t have to drag them awkwardly behind you. They glide so effortlessly next to you, in front of you or behind you. They don’t tip over in line...just better in every way really.

I was worried about the wheels too. It seems like they’d break off, but they haven’t been an issue at all. Besides, if one would happen to break off, you simply use it like a two wheeler. What happens in a wheel breaks on a two wheeler?...S. O. L.

I would try one bag of the spinners...just once. I was shocked how much better traveling with them is.

What you said makes a lot of sense to me. The only thing I wonder is if they are as good outside the airport where surfaces won't be as smooth? How are they with curbs, parking lots, and anything else you might run into going to the rental car counter or your hotel room?

They just roll right along man. I can’t speak for all brands, like I said I only have Delsey brand, but no issues on other surfaces.

I travel more than my family, but what’s great is they are so easy to push/handle, that my young kids can easily push their own bag. They couldn’t drag a regular suitcase behind them.

The 8 and 5 year olds handle their own case from the parking lot to check in. Little man is only 3, so I take his.

If need be, I can easily handle 4 full size suitcases. It’s only an issue when it isn’t wide enough for me fit them all throug ( say between two parked cars). I could only handle 2 of the old kind.

quote:

Originally posted by esdunbar:
They just roll right along man. I can’t speak for all brands, like I said I only have Delsey brand, but no issues on other surfaces.

I travel more than my family, but what’s great is they are so easy to push/handle, that my young kids can easily push their own bag. They couldn’t drag a regular suitcase behind them.

The 8 and 5 year olds handle their own case from the parking lot to check in. Little man is only 3, so I take his.

If need be, I can easily handle 4 full size suitcases. It’s only an issue when it isn’t wide enough for me fit them all throug ( say between two parked cars). I could only handle 2 of the old kind.

Thank you for the information! It sounds like they really make life easier. I'll try the Delsey softside I found on clearance.

I'd question whether anyone that uses spinner cases travels much.

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:
I'd question whether anyone that uses spinner cases travels much.

Why? Just the wheels coming off as you stated above?

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:
I'd question whether anyone that uses spinner cases travels much.

What models of spinners have you tried?

quote:

Originally posted by esdunbar:

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:
I'd question whether anyone that uses spinner cases travels much.

What models of spinners have you tried?

About a dozen different kinds.

With the degree of travel that I do, most of it international, I can't have a bag break down, and it may be a long while before I can get back to the US to get another bag or see about repairs. It's got to work, and it's got to hold up to a lot of abuse.

My kids have all had spinners, against my advice. In fact just recently I was warning my daughter against picking up a spinner, and happened to be talking to her on the phone about it as I walked through an international terminal. One of the small wheels was broken off a bag that a woman was moving; she tried to pick up the wheel and pulled her hand back; it was too hot to touch.

I see failed spinners constantly, all over the world. They have tiny wheels, they don't roll over sidewalks, hotel carpet, or other surfaces well, and when moving multiple bags at a fast clip across large airports like Atlanta or Heathrow or Dubai where there's some distance and not much time, those stupid little four wheels are only a liability.

I have a main suitcase, plus a wheeled catalog case, plus another bag that slips over the handle of the suitcase, and each of the wheeled cases take inline skate wheels that are easy to replace and have almost no friction. They go up stairs easily, over debris including rocks, cracks in sidewalk, etc. I can check them a thousand times and they won't break, or fail. They don't get hot, even under the weight of 70 lbs of clothes and gear.

When I go on the road, it's typically non-stop for about 45 days at a time. I just don't have time for breakdowns, especially in luggage.

I've tried a lot of other brands in the past; most of them, I think, and had varying degrees of success, but have yet to see a spinner that holds up to real use. It's it's a trip here and there, maybe. The family vacation, not too big a deal, perhaps. But I've seen extended use and abuse on my bags; I've even had one ripped in two (showed up on the conveyor belt literally ripped in half. I've dragged my bags through every major airport terminal in the world and a lot of not so major ones, from Shanghai to Sydney to Bagdhad to Kabul to London to LAX. I've dragged them through sand to tents and CHU's in the desert, ratty Siberian haunts, the streets of Anchorage, and had them tossed around in Lagos, Nairobi, Capetown, and Perth. I've not got much good to say about spinners, and it's getting harder to find luggage that isn't a spinner; not because the spinner is good, but because they're popular...and not because they're popular with people who truly use their luggage to it's fullest, constantly. It's popular with casual users, and I suspect that it's mostly due to availability, rather than utility. I see a lot of them fail, though.

quote:

I've dragged them through sand to tents and CHU's in the desert, ratty Siberian haunts, the streets of Anchorage, and had them tossed around in Lagos, Nairobi, Capetown, and Perth.

Lol ok, if that's your basis for your opinions on luggage that is helpful. I don't think our travel requirements are remotely similar.

The luggage you'd like for your uses would likely be undesirable for me.

The context for our opinions is always important for those asking for them.

quote:

Originally posted by Ackks:

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:
I'd question whether anyone that uses spinner cases travels much.

Why? Just the wheels coming off as you stated above?

Here's a capsule summary of the differences in use: 4-Wheel Spinners Versus 2-Wheel Rolling Luggage: How Do I Choose?

The quibble I'd mention about that article is "...from the taxi to the door, through security and all the way to your seat on the plane, you’ll be able to maneuver around whatever obstacles you encounter along the way." Yeah, unless you encounter broken surfaces. Then you're going to be picking that thing up, because the smaller wheels won't roll over them nearly as smoothly.

Or the escalator-style ramps we encountered at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, where they'd have been only too happy to roll

Thank you all for the additional information. I should have stated in the OP that I only travel once or twice a year. I'm concerned about the durability of the spinner wheels for checked luggage, but children being able to handle their own bags is a plus. Having to pick them up over broken surfaces doesn't excite me either. I'll have to think about this one for checked luggage, but I'm absolutely buying spinners for carry on bags. It will make our lives a lot easier getting to a connection in large airports like Atlanta.

We were making our first trip to Europe last year, about this time. I needed new luggage. Considered a number of different manufacturers, including several recommended here in an earlier thread.

I ended up going with L.L. Bean Sportsman’s series luggage. I had owned a weekender bag from the same line, as well as a garment bag (that I don’t use anymore), and found that they were very durable. I bought a Pullman and a carry-on size bag, both wheeled of course, and I think I made a good choice.

Keep in mind that on uneven surfaces spinner luggage can be pulled along using only two wheels for greater stability (just like two-wheeled luggage), and then put back on four wheels for smooth surfaces.

Most damage to spinners that I've seen are more attributed to the abuse they sustain on the street rather than how they get tossed around by baggage handlers. Pulling a spinner on two wheels, puts all the strain on the caster mount and not on the wheel bearings.

My general rule is, if most of your travel is in built-up, modern areas, a spinner is fine. Lots of smooth, paved surfaces, elevators/escalators. If you're traveling in older areas, that has cobblestone, stairs and hills, then go with a two-wheel roller.

Briggs and Riley. Great stuff, great warranty. Well worth the price of their bags. I've been using a B&R roll aboard for 16 years, and its holding up very well. I have a slightly newer one that is a couple of inches bigger but I hardly ever use it, as I do shorter trips and don't want to carry the extra weight. Same bag for 16 years as a cargo dog is pretty impressive, well worth the initial investment.

quote:

If you're traveling in older areas, that has cobblestone, stairs and hills, then go with a two-wheel roller.

That seems like pretty sound advice to me. +1

Parking lots with cracks, sidewalks, etc...spinner will handle fine. But a cobble stone road/sidewalk? yeah, gimme a two wheeler for that.

For the way I travel, I go from some parking lot to the airport check in.

Once I land, I go from the airport to the rental car lot.

My next stop is the hotel/house.

That's my context.

If I had to walk down jacked up roads and such with my bag, my opinion might be different. Honestly though, if that's the case, I'm taking a cab/shuttle/etc.

If a cab/shuttle/etc doesn't exist...I'm not vacationing there or doing business there.

Another luggage works/purdyneatluggage user here. You can get them with a metal or a polymer frame depending on weight preferences.

Most pilots use the metal frame, however I’ve been quite happy with the polymer frame.


PS: I’ve owned them all TravelPro, Tumi, Briggs and Riley, etc.- and the win is for luggageworks (over all of them, primarily because I traveled so much. No more - don’t miss it.)

For what it's worth, I've had the polymer frame bags, and they've been smashed in transit, with the polymer shattered.