My most recent tour was the longest I'd taken in a while and by the end my suitcase was more fatigued than I was. Surviving the airplane luggage experience is one thing but I find that my suitcase takes much more punishment being transferred into and out of hotels while on tour - especially the smaller hotels without "service" elevators. I've seen hotel porters try to twist bags out of tiny elevators and other such abuse.

What I would like to know is what's a reasonable life expectancy for suitcases that are used for coach touring. The repairs that my bags have needed have both been to the handle mechanisms - once to the handle itself which decided it didn't want to go up and down anymore and one to the plastic collar piece that sits around it where it goes into the bag. (Both repairs were covered under my 5-year warranty, fortunately.)

It seems you are right. They take a beating being transfered in and out of hotels. Ours only seem to last about 3 years. I always take super glue and duct tape. One year our zipper broke on the botton part on our 2nd day. I glued the zipper and put duct tape over the end. I lasted the remainder of the 2 1/2 weeks. I have tried different brands and this time I got a 4 wheeled one which I really like. It gives the zipper on the bottom more room from the floor. The zipper is what usually goes on ours.

One suitcase I had lasted only one trip of seven weeks. The handle got stuck and could not be pushed back in and the zipper broke.

The suitcase I took on my last trip lasted two trips. It finished up this time with a big gash through the fabric on the bottom side. I don't think it will last another trip. I would love to buy a hard shell suitcase, but these weigh quite a bit more and since you are only allowed 20kg you really want to have the lightest possible suitcase. I think you are right, they take more of a beating when being moved from one hotel to the other on coach tours. I would welcome advice on a more robust suitcase, so long as it is still quite light.
GEN

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Gennevive,

I've taken the same Samsonite softsided suitcase on my annual overseas trip since 2001. 8 trips and it's still as good as new.

you really are lucky. We've gone through several samsonite suitcases. In our case it was always the zipper. I am trying a lightweight duffel bag this year. Hope I am not sorry.

I'm just about ready for a new one. My handle came off completely when I picked up my luggage after a cruise to Alaska. The whole thing flew off and hit a woman on the arm. Oops. She gave me a dirty look, it was embarassing. That was in 2004. I've been using it and pulling it by the leather hanlde, but the rest of the suitcase is getting pretty beat up.

I was going to say "You get what you pay for" so not to buy the 4 piece luggage set for $100 but some of you have even had trouble with more expensive brands like Samsonite. When I took my brand new Air Canada luggage last year it took a beating, up and down stairs to the subway, tugging and lifting trying to get it on the trains and banging along the cobblestone streets since we never took a bus or a taxi. Great workout and kept off any extra pounds from creeping on I thought I was hooped when a wheel got caught in the crack going into an elevator. That was a panic situation as it was wedged in and I couldn't get it out but finally managed to. Some of the European hotel elevators are so small that they will only hold one person and a large piece of luggage so it was difficult attempting to squeeze the two of us in and our luggage. We are not large people but sometimes we just wouldn't fit so we rode separately to eliminate the struggle. My handles took a beating also but no mishaps but after hearing these luggage horror stories I'm tempted to put a lightweight, foldable duffel bag in the bottom of my suitcase for emergencies.

I'm one of those who bought a 4 piece luggage set - in 2000 - for $100. It has survived close to 100 round-trip flights so far -- including several tours - with no problem. [I even watched airport baggage staff in Amsterdam fling it around on the runway! ] It's got a few scrapes but continues to return home in usable condition.

I did buy a new bag this year, though -- the old one was just too heavy - especially with weight restrictions these days. The new bag weighs less than half the old one -- it worked very well on the recent BB tour of Germany - arrived home without a scratch!

My Air canada luggage has now been on 3 trips and is in great shape - but I am wanting to buy a new, much lighter set before next September's trip. The Heys luggage seems much lighter but doesn't get great reviews from Consumers. Does anyone have lightweight luggage that they would recommend? Marion

Hi Grandma,

It's a Heys bag (Cruzer 2) which I've now had repaired twice. The bad news is that it needed repairing twice and the good news is that Heys did it under warranty and I live within driving distance of their Mississauga headquarters.

Because of their service, I purchased - from their website - their Hybrid set as a wedding gift for friends. It's the lightest luggage I've seen. Unfortunately, I've only seen it listed as sets on their website and it is not inexpensive.

My newest question has to do with the 4-wheel bags. I saw them at the airport when I was picking up a friend and thought how great they are for wheeling your own bag around. I'm just wondering how well they service the coach tour experience.