Consumer Reports does the hard work for you putting luggage through a series of tough tests to find some budget-friendly picks.
Consumer Reports says its luggage tests mimic the airport experience and everything in between, such as dragging, dropping, and pulling the bags to simulate someone traveling with a piece of luggage. Their tests find that you don't have to spend a lot to get a quality bag.
Testers fill the luggage with fabric to simulate a bag packed with clothing and then run it along a conveyor belt studded with obstacles for thirty miles.
To check handle strength, a machine lifts the weighed-down bags 5,000 times. The test checks for resilience by applying 220 pounds of pressure to the top and sides of the baggage.
There is also a simulated downpour to see how much moisture is getting through the zipper and seems of the luggage.
To assess maneuverability, men and women of different sizes wheel the luggage over curbs, stairs, and sidewalks.
For quality construction, you can't go wrong with the Samsonite Outline Pro Carry-On Spinner, priced at $140. It outperformed models costing hundreds more. A nice feature is that the handle can be expanded and raised to six different positions.
The hard-shell Amazon Basics 21-Inch Hardside Spinner for $70 skips the bells and whistles for about half the price, but still offers solid performance.
If you're looking for a soft-sided carry-on, consider the top-scoring TravelPro Maxlite 5 21" Carry-On Spinner, priced at $145. It offers excellent resilience and very good construction.
A final travel tip from CR: If you often check a bag, it may be worth it to have a tracker on it to give you peace of mind. That helps you locate it in case you ever lose it.
CR says if you're packing breakables, a hard-shell piece of luggage is the way to go. Soft-sided, on the other hand, is more lightweight and can flex and compress into tight spaces.
And no matter which type you choose, check the dimensions of your luggage to make sure it meets your airline's carry-on requirements or plan on checking your bag.