I have this problem as well Coppachick, so will be interested in any replies. At the moment I use the old type with a simple pull handle, as the ones with a frame which stand upright as too heavy. Jenny

Hi, what about wheeled holdals, we used to use cases but find these much lighter. We bought ours from Matalan a while ago & they have an extension zip if needed.

Hi
Last year we bought holdalls - live in the Merseyside area so got ours from T J Hughes. Seems to get loads more in and lighter as well.
Only problem was one of the wheels got damaged on the return - have a tendancy to get stuck on the conveyor belt (hubby fixed it though). This year we have only paid for 15kgs pp as hubby says we WILL travel light!!!!
Hope this helps
Irene

I would love to be able to use one of these wheeled holdalls but i take too much, I tried toning it down this year but my case weighs 8kgs before anythings in it. I lalways have the tag "Heavy Baggage 25ks" attached at the airport, coming back it weighed 30kgs....................don't ask me how??? It mat of had something to do with the fact I had all the wet towels and swimwear in, late flight

I'll watch this thread with interest.

i got a new one from Matalan a few weeks back, I got it in pink but i noticed they did have black & blue suitcases too.
I think mine is 28" but not sure how much it weighs without stuff in!

Have just got 2 tripp lite suitcases.They are are the hard shell type. 84 cm and 4.3 kgs.Their sale has just started.You can order online if you have a card you should have had some vouchers for more discount.The cases were £45 each if you have £100 sale you get £15 off. Had to buy a dress to make it up to £100 lol.But gotta have something to put in the case. You can return stuff back to the shop if you have one local.Will let you know what they are like when they come.

a friend who is a travel agent
has told me that before very long the airlines will stop passengers using the shell type suit cases
coz they cant pack in as many cases in the hold of the plane
could be why they are on offer every where

Hi everyone

We are having abit of a dilemma at the moment over suitcases...Whether to buy cheap and cheerful ones that wont matter if they get trashed by the baggage handlers or whether to splash out and treat ourselves to a "good" set of cases that "should" last for years....

We have had previous cheap and cheerful cases trashed 2 times out of our last 4 holidays - but insurance company/airline were in both cases (no pun intended!) ok about paying out compensation.

I am also thinking that a good set of cases is more likely to withstand knocks and as before if the worst does happen we can always claim off insurance? - Im confusing myself now

Whatever we decide over cheap vs expensive it will certainly be a soft body one - last year when our case got broken on the way home from cyprus the customer service rep at the airport said the hard bodied ones were more likely to be broken as there is less give in them.

We are going to lanzarote this year and as thats where our other case got broken a few years ago this is why we are trying to decide what to do....Sorry this has been so long but if anyone has any thoughts on the subject I would appreciate your input
Fatcodycat

We bought 2 Carlton hard bodied cases in 1993 for £50 each to go on a month long tour including Australia. They have since been all over the world 3-4 times a year and apart from a few scuff marks are still in good condition.

I wouldn't have soft bodied cases again as the vinyl type ones can rip. MIL has a fabric one and has only been abroad a handful of times yet the case had a tear in it.

The only down side of the hard bodied cases is that they can be harder to pack. With the soft ones you can feel where there is a space and move your stuff around and there is a bit of give in them if they are packed solid.

luci

I have used the same Carlton hard case since 1997 and its still as good as new , as well as being rather vibrant in colour and easy to spot off the carosuel

My partner spent over £100 on a key loackable Delsey case and this was bought in 1988 - Nver given any probs and has stood the test of time - Delsey have replaced the key lock a few times too.

I would never buy cheap cases again.

When I flew to Majorca last month I saw on the carousel an extremely expensive hard shelled case that looked brand new but was totally smashed in down one side.
I have had cheap and expensive and they all seem to last about the same amount of time, at the moment I use a very cheap fabric one, have been using it for about four years now and it gets some hard wear as a lot of my holidays include between 4 and 12 flights each time.
Yes fabric ones can get torn but in 45 years of travelling I've only had one torn case and two broken locks. The hard shelled ones are probably stronger but I like the expander facility on the newest soft ones so you can buy a few extra things when on holiday..

Thanks for the replies guys

I think we will invest in some good cases - we go on holiday at least once a year and my husband goes away and on courses alot for work so think we will just bite the bullet and buy ourselves some good ones.

We always make sure our travel insurance covers our cases for damage anyway so if the worst does happen we can always claim the money back!

Have a look in TK Maxx, they have alot of top quality named luggage as well as a lot of rubbish.

We have bought a wide selection from there some good and some not, we have two Antler cases bought there which are going well at the moment.

Dave

I got mine from TK Maxx for £48. It's a Titan one and I love it. It has fold over adjustable lockable flaps that keep all your clothes in one place.

http://www.shopeezee.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=SE-TITAN-927402&PARTNER=NT

I got the grey and blue one. At the bottom where it shows you the suit holder you can remove that easily if not required. £139 on that link

Thanks for replies - I will check out TK Maxx at the weekend

I've had the same old fabric cases for around 10 years, and they are still in pristine condition, but that is probably due to the fact that i travel by coach!!!

Seems the airports really don't treat them with much respect

Hi,

I bought a Tripp suitcase from Debenhams several years ago that has done me well. Got it during the sales so I think it was reduced from £100 to £50ish.
Debenhams have a sale on at the moment....you can see what they have on offer at http://debenhams.guided.atomz.com/?q=suitcases. some really funky pattens available too.

I once saw a poor girls case had sprung open on the carousel...knickers everywhere and at that point I vowed to buy new luggage!! Did make the mistake though initially of buying one of those really big cases. What a waste of time and energy. Far too big, then too heavy even when empty plus being so huge it got damaged almost straight away. A nice medium soft one does for me but I am always on the look out for more!!

I'm not a woman who covets handbags really but could be swayed by nice luggage!!! It's always handy of course to see how much the cases do weigh when empty as with more airlines restricting luggage weight to even lower you could end up losing half your allowance through case weight alone.

I bought a set of 3 suitcases from TESCO and then a separate smaller one back in 2004 - nothing expensive at all and they have been FAB! They will be used for holiday number 4 in a few weeks time and still look as good as they did when I got them.

We use the medium to small size cases and they always have a luggage belt around them 'just in case' - can always remember seeing someone's smalls spilled out of a mashed up suitcase years ago

Thanks for the replies

We once made the mistake of buying a HUGE suitcase thinking "great ,we will get everything in here" but when it was full it weighed 45kgs even my husband could hardly lift it - theres no way it would have got on a plane! we had to repack into smaller cases and left the big one at home.

We will check out debenhams at the weekend too (thanks for the link squirrelchops) I like the patterned and pink ones on there but dont think hubby will be so keen on those!!