Luxe Luggage
Inspired by Amanda | June 2022
Luxury Luggage
For those with the travel bug (and it does seem to be an incurable, lifelong affliction), quality luggage is essential to maximizing your travel experience. I’m a lover of travel and adventure as well as fine goods and quality craftsmanship, so luxe luggage is a bit of a love language for me.
Switching to Hard Shell
Amanda is looking for recommendations for hard-shell luggage options for her family. They’ve used soft-sided luggage in the past and are open to making the switch. Amanda, a woman after my own heart, does not hide or apologize for her status as an overpacker. I stand by the notion that the hard shell options below will still allow the appropriate (inappropriate) amount of goods as the designs maximize interior space. Not many wasted inches here.
Tumi All the Way
There are a million options for luggage, but my experience with searching, reading reviews, and actually using various cases keeps me coming back to the expensive-yet-worth-it Tumi luggage. Some features of note:
TSA Locks: you can set your own combo, but TSA agents have master locks to open them if needed, so it’s no hassle to you
Tumi Tracers: God forbid you ever have to use it, but these metal plates each contain a 20-digit ID number that can be registered on the Tumi website in case of loss.
Tegra-Lite: several of the options I suggest (And the ones we own) are Tegra-Lite material, the same material as certain types of body armor, NASCAR race cars, and NFL protective gear. They’re light and pretty darn tough.
Where to Buy Luggage
If you can’t or don’t want to go see a brick-and-mortar shop, I love Zappo’s for so many reasons (I admire them as a company, for one), and I like ordering from them because of how quickly they ship, their super easy return policy, their integration with Amazon Prime, and their selection of items. Most of the links you’ll see below are via Zappo’s, and you can see all of their Tumi luggage options here.
Top Picks
First, I hope the colors don’t seem sexist! I think it’s helpful for a couple to have two different colors when traveling so you don’t mix up the suitcases.
For a carry-on:
The International Carry-On in Blush; the size is right, the color is memorable but not obnoxious, and it’s super durable. Bonus: it’s currently on sale.
The International Expandable Carry-On in Iron; this is the same size as the blush bag, but it expands. We will often travel with this bag (a similar model) as a carry-on on the way over, and then expand it and check it (souvenirs) on the way home.
Note: The titanium one is gorgeous, but literally three times the price of the regular carry on. Only worth it for the extreme style points, but probably not from a technical standpoint.
For checked luggage:
This really depends on what size you want here, but any of the options below are great. They are listed below in order of capacity. Things to consider:
The biggest Tumi is actually the lightest and least expensive. It’s no-frills and has a huge capacity. Be careful not to overpack it with heavy things, or you’ll regret it at baggage claim! We use ours strictly for clothes (no shoes or toiletries).
I’ve never seen the rolling trunk in person, but I am SO jealous of the design with the little pop-up shelves. I may ask Santa for this one! It’s available at Saks (not Zappos) at the time I’m writing this. I’ve had good experiences with their shipping and customer service though.
Note: these are affiliate links and I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them at no additional cost to you. It’s the regular link, it just shows them that I pointed you in that direction.
