Choosing LuggageDo you need high quality airline luggage?
It may be tempting to jump at the cheapest deal on airline luggage you can find, but the quality of the luggage is just as important to your decision. You obviously want to get a great deal, but getting a great deal because the airline luggage is low quality is not worth the added savings. High quality travel gear is well worth a slightly higher price for several significant reasons: longevity, transportation and construction.
Paying a slightly larger cost to get higher quality airline luggage will be worth it in longevity alone. High quality luggage will resist dents in hard bags and tears in soft bags. It just won't wear out as quickly. The higher cost, therefore, will be paid off in the future by the fact that you don't have to buy new low quality luggage every year or so.
Choosing high quality airline luggage will also make transporting your bags much less of a headache. If your bag has cheap wheels, believe me you'll know it. The whole point of airline luggage is to make it easy to carry around your things while you're traveling. Cheap wheels won't do that. And higher quality luggage is all about a great collection of small things that make it better. The last cheap rolling suitcase I had, for instance, had a handle that didn't extend very far, which meant I had to bend over to pull it. Buying a cheap, but low quality airline bag is not worth the backache.
Finally, the advantage of high quality airline luggage makes itself felt very clearly when the bag's construction is put to the test. Have you every found yourself in a situation where you end up repacking and stuff doesn't quite fit? So you have someone help you hold the lid down and force the zipper closed. That's a viable solution on high quality luggage. On cheap luggage, however, chances are good that the zipper will break. Then how will you transport everything home?
The choice is clear. Spend a bit of extra money to buy high quality airline luggage in the short term, and you'll save much money and heartache in the long term.
