What Are The Best Carry-On Bags? You Tell Me!

An OMAAT reader asked for my take on what the best carry-on bags are nowadays. I’ve never explicitly addressed this in a post, so let me share my opinion, and then I’d love to hear what other think. Let me say from the get-go that I don’t at all have strong feelings on this topic…

There’s no right or wrong approach with carry-on luggage

Suggesting the best carry-on is perhaps like suggesting the best clothes — there’s simply no right or wrong answer. It all depends on your budget, and it also depends on how much you value style and appearance. Personally, I’d like to think that I take a pragmatic approach to luggage, and I care a lot more about how durable and functional it is, than I do about how stylish it is, or how it’s perceived.

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For example, if you travel with any frequency, I think there’s merit to taking either of the below “extreme” approaches:

• There’s something to be said for just buying cheap luggage that won’t last forever, and using it until it’s not usable anymore; after all, even nice luggage will suffer from wear & tear, so buying reasonably priced luggage reduces frustration when you inevitably need a new bag
• There’s also something to be said for investing in great, high-end luggage; after all, some bags will last for a long time, and it’s easy enough to amortize the cost across many trips

Personally, I typically take the latter approach. I consistently keep my luggage for well over five years, and when you consider how many trips I take, that represents a lot of use of bags. I should also of course mention that for some people, luggage is a status symbol or part of their general approach to fashion. There’s nothing wrong with that either. It’s harder to justify the cost, but to each their own.

Here’s one thing I do have strong opinions about, though. For checked luggage, you absolutely shouldn’t invest in nice bags:

• Checked luggage gets beaten up like crazy, and you have no control over that
• The fancier your luggage, the more of a target you’re putting on it possibly having contents stolen, or getting “lost”
• Even if you care about appearances, it’s not like people actually spend much time in public with their checked bags

The carry-on luggage brands that are well regarded

Ultimately it’s impossible to review every luggage option out there. For that matter, the real way to figure out if a particular bag is good is to use it for years, and see how durable it is over time. So I’ll simply share my perception of the carry-on bag landscape, and then I invite OMAAT readers to share their opinions.

After all, this is a situation where firsthand experience from frequent travelers is super useful. It doesn’t matter how good a bag is on one trip, but rather, how good it is over years of heavy travel. Let me share a couple of further thoughts upfront:

• The amount of value you place on overall luggage capacity may vary greatly depending on whether you’re someone who exclusively uses carry-ons, or whether you check bags
• People also having varying takes on two-wheel bags vs. four-wheel bags, and soft-sided luggage vs. hard-sided luggage

With that out of the way, let me share my perception of things…

The best spinner carry-on bags

When it comes to spinner (four-wheel) bags that are hard-sided, Rimowa is considered to be the gold standard. The people who have Rimowa bags generally swear by them, and they’re among the most stylish luggage out there (in a sort of minimalist, aluminum way).

If money is no object, I’ve also heard good things about Sterling Pacific, though have no firsthand experience. The company’s pricing ($1,950 for a carry-on) makes Rimowa look like a deal, by comparison.

For those looking for a lower price point than Rimowa, Away has become really popular, especially with younger people. To be honest, I’m not sure I totally get what people love about Away luggage (if anything), or if it’s just that it’s reasonably priced compared to the likes of Rimowa.

The best two-wheel carry-on bags

Back in the day, Tumi was almost unarguably the best luggage brand out there. However, that’s not the case anymore. The company’s warranty was made worse several years back, and I just didn’t find the luggage to be durable anymore. I used to be a big Tumi customer, but not anymore.

Nowadays I’d say that Briggs & Riley is the highest quality luggage brand out there for soft-sided, four-wheel bags. I made the switch from Tumi to Briggs & Riley in 2019, and still have the same suitcase and backpack that I’ve had since then. You simply can’t beat the quality. Briggs & Riley also has the best warranty in the industry, as products come with a lifetime guarantee. That’s how committed the company is to its quality.

Now, the problem with Briggs & Riley is that I just don’t find the bags to be very attractive. In my opinion they look super outdated and generic. I wish Briggs & Riley would keep its same quality while updating the aesthetics, because it’s an area where there’s huge room for improvement, in my opinion, and I know I’m not the only one who feels that way.

Is there any other brand on the same level of Briggs & Riley in terms of quality, which is worth being aware of? I’ll throw the question out there, because if there is, I don’t know of it.

For what it’s worth, I have the above bag in addition to a Briggs & Riley backpack, which is similar to the one below (the one below is the updated version, since I got mine years ago). I find the backpack to be super functional.

I guess I’m wondering if there’s any other luggage setup I should be considering, that’s perhaps a bit more visually interesting than this? Personally I’m in the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” camp, so unless I see something that I like a lot more, I’ll probably just continue to stick to this.

Bottom line

Everyone has their own take on what the best carry-on luggage brand is, and there’s no right or wrong answer. Rimowa and Briggs & Riley are generally the best regarded, large, high-end luggage brands out there. However, I think there’s also merit to just buying cheap luggage, since it’s going to get scratched up anyway, and then you can replace it in a more guilt-free way.

But those are just my impressions, so I’d love to hear more firsthand experiences from OMAAT readers. I’m 100% sure that the comments on this post will be more insightful than the post itself, since you can’t beat the collective insights of many road warriors.

What’s your take on the best carry-on luggage?