I needed a new suitcase for our recent trip, and ended up getting one for DS also. Colors for the carousel were a consideration, so we got aubergine! So I’m going to nudge you to creep out of your comfort zone to a brighter color. Ours are Samsonite Freeform expandable 28” spinner.

DS and DH mocked me a bit for getting new for the trip. Son kept assuring me our old 30” wheeled case was fine(it’s over 30 years old). In retrospect they were both so glad. Better wheels, so much lighter, better zipper, TSA locks.

If traveling involves planes and you check your luggage, another vote for dark but not black. Me trying to spot my black bag amoung a sea of black bags reminds me every time I am a moron. 😆 Meanwhile my poor old eyes see every red, purple, and blue bag the second they pop out.....

I have an olive Eagle Creek bag (24”) that is very easy to spot on the carousel. It is more the color of the first B&R bag you posted. I love that bag when I need to check a bag. Lightweight and easy to roll around even tho it is not a spinner.

You could pick up a luggage protector - they come in a wide range of prints and even clear vinyl..

That way you can enjoy the look of your suitcase while at home or in a hotel yet it would be somewhat protected while in transport. I've never used one but some are lightweight and could be slipped on just before travel.

Our bags are navy and I slip an elastic band around the suitcase to help identify them on the carousel.

DS uses something similar to these:

https://zinmark.com/products/luggage-strap-high-elastic-suitcase-adjustable-belt-bag-bungees-with-buckles?variant=36565892464791

Yes, you all know what I mean! I do like black it just is so hard to pluck from a sea of black. I don't love jewel tones so the reds, navy, purples don't really appeal. Like Outside, I always found the green easy to spot on the carousel ..

I got my first piece in 1986 -- back when London Fog still had great hardware and used leather trim. I also thought it looked like the beautiful Hartmann luggage with a smaller price tag. I traveled a lot back then and they stayed nice until I swapped them out for wheels/spinners in about 2015. Most of the pieces still looked great-- there were no rips or tears and the leather was in a good shape. A few pieces had black marks but that is to be expected. They were just too big and clunky and I was too lazy to keep using them. It broke my heart to get rid of them though-- I probably had 6 pieces total?

If the Bric's color is similar to this, I will be very happy. The photos on ebay and amazon are closer to this color.. the photos on Bric's and other retailers are closer to the dark green.

Maire-cate, luggage straps! I should have thought of that-- perfect idea no matter what color I get!

I really like the olive/tan combo.

DH is the carousel bag retriever and I am ”the spotter” …Easy to discern luggage tags coupled with belt bag straps.

We rarely check our luggage-so a "sea" of black isn't a problem for us. We recently checked our luggage, first time in years, and I would guess about a third on the luggage carousel was black. I have the same big red last name "initial" tag on each of our luggage, that is easily to spot.

I would love to have a cream and saddle-but I know I'd be sorry.

Could you order a small Bric's piece such as this from Az to check the color and then do the free return?

Olive Bric'scrossbody

I like the olive and tan a lot!

Get what you want. But a cover for when it is checked. It's not that expensive if it gets ruined in a few years.

Yes, Mtn -- I saw the covers on Bric's but I have it stuck in my mind that you purchased a cover and had some kind of issue with it? Maybe it was something minor I blew up in my mind/poor memory?

I saw a few travelers with plastic covers on my last trip.

Pretty sure I am going to order tonight/this weekend.

I would get whatever I could see easily. DH would not remember what it looked like so it would be up to me to point out. I would definitely buy a cover. I immediately thought of a garbage bag before I realized you could get covers. I am seriously opposed to getting a whole bunch of marks on my luggage. At least until I'm over the first Mark or scratch. I hate the first Mark or scratch reality or not. :-)..

We have Victorinox soft sided luggage mainly because I was able to buy them in a color that wasn’t black — ours are dark plum. DH still has a hard time spotting them so I recently ordered these tags, yes, in orange!

orange is what i was thinking too... orange or neon pink lol

Here is my Lipault. Soft , so holds a bunch. Modetate use for 10 or more years, mostly several times year to NYC and one to Europe on planes, trains, etc. I love the chocolate brown. It got a tiny puncture on a recent trip .I emailed the company for repair info , on my dime. No reply. Not an issue for now. Oddly, one zipper pull broke in half. Although,

Zipper is metal , but not the pulls, and some are now frosty colored. (??) Looove your gray with brown, but , yeah , the cleaning issue. I do also like the lighter olive.

( oops oops, excuse my toes that need work🥴) Next to last is matching tote

Thanks for the photos, Martinca -- I do love the brown! Unfortunately I don't like the colors in the largest size Lipault .. the best colors are in the smaller bags.

I am not a minimalist packer/traveler. I think I need to accept that and buy accordingly lol.

Those are some gorgeous pieces of luggage! I can see why you can't decide.

When we got new luggage (probably about 10 years ago) we went with purple, thinking about spotting it on the carousel. Still happy we did that, but next time you carousel watch, take note of how much purple is out there! There's a lot. We certainly can spot purple easily against the sea of black but there sure is a lot of purple luggage out there.

DH does the straps around them which helps to identify them and also serves as a little bit of additional security for not being tampered with. (they take some extra effort to open).

I've also noticed that only about a third of luggage on the airport carousel is black. I bought new luggage at the Cabazon outlet mall recently and got a British brand, but I can't remember the name. The luggage is a dark teal, and it has a very distinctive raised geometric pattern on it, and so it is very easy to identify. This pattern has been discontinued, and that should make it more unique.

have it stuck in my mind that you purchased a cover and had some kind of issue with it

Yes. The plastic liner got a rip in it the first time I used it and Bric's would not replace it, which I was pretty miffed over since protection is the thing's only function in life.

Then, on a later trip, my bag come off of the carousel nekkid. I can only assume that the bag was inspected and they forgot to put it back on.

I think this issue of being able to find a bag on the carousel may be a bit overrated. As someone who routinely travels with 10+ checked bags as a family, I find it pretty easy to TAG our less distinctive bags to ID them.

fair enough, Mtn -- a bright tag or straps would definitely help me.

I haven't ordered yet-- but mostly because I am annoyed by complications with my work schedule/travel plans.

I always use a brightly colored or unusual tag on a checked bag, even if I use my olive colored bag. You would be surprised how many people are color blind, especially to red & green which reads gray to them.

OutsidePlaying DH has red-green color-blindness.

@Irish2, One of our grandsons does too. His parents didn’t even realize it until he got to high school and was trying to match his clothing and was asking if things matched ok. They finally put it together and had him tested. It was fine as long as he wore jeans, khakis and some school or sports t-shirt.

@OutsidePlaying

My MIL whom I like very much would always point to her husbands family for any physical negatives i.e. poor eye sight and needing to wear glasses at a young age. It seems like DH has Mom to thank for his color blindness.

And some of us have vision impairments and travel alone. I need every advantage I can give myself. 😆 My next bag will be floral. I will hate it but at least I will be able to see it.

@Funkyart Did you ever order your luggage and if so what did you end up choosing?

Hi, @Irish2 .. yes, I ordered the Bric's luggage in Olive and I really didn't like the color. It is dark and masculine looking imo... which is what I feared. I will return it.. in fact, I need to get on that this weekend!

I admit that I am picky so I think I need to see the luggage in person. In the meantime, I may pick up something inexpensive for my next trip or borrow from a family member.

Are you looking also? Have anything in mind?

@Funkyart Thank you for responding so quickly! I was asked about luggage while I was @ my Zumba class (We have basic black 😉) which reminded me of your search. Aruba next month and DH already has half of his ”things” ready to go. Pulls up his ”winter travel “excel spreadsheet and checks off items.

Ha.. if i was going to Aruba, I might have already packed too!

I definitely thought the olive looked masculine, even though I carry a dark green purse. The navy is swoon worthy. Classic color and more suited for women than men.

Get the gray. You'll love the gray. Spray it with Scotchgard or similar before you use it. I'd much rather have a color I love with a couple of scuff marks than a dull or ugly dirt hiding color. If it gets too dingy and you can't clean it to your liking, donate it and ask for a new one some birthday or holiday. Or buy yourself a new one. Life it too short to drink bad wine or carry luggage you don't love.

I have that luggage in pale pink. I bought a cover for it, which ripped. Then another time when I checked it, it came back w/o a cover. A leather case gets a "couple of scuff marks" and looks fine. IMHO these look awful dirty.

They are very roomy and very light though.

As I was leaving my house for a trip, the collapsible handle on my rolling carry-on luggage broke. Fortunately, we were traveling by car so I didn’t worry about it because I wouldn’t be rolling it around very far. At my destination, I shopped for luggage at Belk and TJMaxx. My main criteria was that it was lightweight, I didn’t care about the color or the brand. I ended up with a nice blue piece from TJM.

Side story: Belk doesn’t have the prices on their luggage. You have to roll each one over to a scanner or download their app to use your phone to scan. I found that be mildly annoying. I don’t want your app, particularly if it restarts the too many emails from you that took multiple unsubscribes to make you stop.

Had the olive been the lighter verion of the photos, I would have been happy with it-- but alas, the true color is the darker one. I think olive green is a lovely color for a woman.

I am not a navy girl -- and I can't distinguish navy from black unless I am very close and the lighting is very bright.

I grew tired of luggage shopping. I'll pick it up again after a week or two.

@sushipup2, I do believe the oh-so-very-hip Mr. Larson might be a spammer.

I do believe so, bbstx!

But I am interested to know what if anything @Funkyart ended up with.

DH's large checked suitcase finally fell apart on our last trip. On arrival at our destination we noticed there was a slight crack. Hoped it would make it home in one piece, which it did. But while wheeling it out of airport to our Lyft one wheel fell off. We need to replace it. I really hate spending a lot of money on luggage. That one was not expensive. Bought off the big A. It lasted about 6 years, I think. I keep debating whether to buy something similar or invest in something better.

Because you commented on a old thread. And are a guy on a predominately female forum.

Hi @jsk ... initially I purchased the Bric's canvas but returned it immediately. I was frustrated and put the shopping aside for a few months... enough time for my sister to give me the Away Carry On Flex and I fell in love with it -- i continue to be impressed with how much I can fit in it and the flex is such a great feature for that "little bit more" I always seem to add at the last minute!

I have since bought the medium flex and the large (not flex)-- probably didnt need both but Away tends to drop colors with little warning and this color (clay) really works for me.

Sorry this is the photo i have in reach-- away carry on flex is on the left. I sometimes carry the mz wallace tote on the right as well.

Funky that combination of Away and MZ Wallace bags is stellar! love those two complementary pinks!

If you're here often you'll discover that it happens all the time.

Thanks for answering @Funkyart. I am going to look into that.

Well, at least the spammer brought this thread back up because I have a question or two.

I bought the Quince 21-inch Expandable Carry-On Hard Shell Suitcase. It arrived today. I bought the olive because it was available and thought it was an ugly color online but in person it's really more of a pearlescent sage.

I have never flown with just a carry-on before. I'm going to LA for a few days and figure I should stop overpacking and trim down. I threw in my basics and really think it will work.

So what's the problem? It's kinda big, no wonder everything fits fine. It's like 1/2 inch in all directions larger than 22x14x9. Many airlines are okay with a larger carry-on, but it looks like Alaska isn't and that's what I'm flying on. If this would ultimately need to be checked, there's really no point in my keeping it, since I have a roomier check-in bag.

Grrrrr. Anyone here fly Alaska and find the overheads can accommodate slightly larger carry-ons?

In many cases, it matters not what will "fit;" because they have a template they test it in, and that template is sized based on the dimensions they allow. They don't always pay attention, but it's a risk. Most agents can tell just by looking or even recognize brands.

Bah. I don't really need this Quince case if I have to check it. I have perfectly serviceable old TravelPros and I don't care that they're unfashionable.

Kind of annoying that the market bags as "carryon" that aren't always.

At least Quince gives me 365 days to return. I may just sit on it for awhile, take my old bag to LA and see what's going into the overheads. I have never had a hard side bag before (not sure what they're called). Feels like a well placed hammer blow could break it. Also miss the zippered pockets on the outside.

Bunny - I just had the same experience last week and the manufacturers don't make it easy when they refer to a bag as a carry-on and it's larger than the US regulation 22 x 14 x 9. I always check my bags when I fly and take a soft zippered bag that I stow under the seat. I needed a carry-on since DS and I are heading into NYC tomorrow and staying overnight. However we're taking the train so I didn't have to really worry about the size. One of the web sites that I read said these bags are usually OK as long as you don't run into an agent on a bad day.

I looked at the hard side but decided against it since it doesn't have any exterior pockets and I don't think I'd like a clam shell design. I ended up buying another TravelPro, the ones I have are about 10 years old and have held up great. They're been on more trips than I have since my kids used to borrow them.

If you're interested in the hard side the NYTimes reviewed one with locking wheels.

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/aer-carry-on-review/

maire_cate, I decided to return the Quince bag. My TravelPro's will outlast me, plus padded exterior pockets. The wheels are the old pull type, but I don't mind.

I think the 2 wheeled bags work better on stairs and cobblestones. But for a real splurge TravelPro Platinum has a hard shell with an exterior pocket.

Sorry, i havent been onlne much-- I imagine the carry on flex is too big for overhead bins (at least when "flexxed"!) but i don't use the carryon bag as a carryon. Much like Maire-Cate, i took mine on the train to nyc and it was the perfect size for a 5-day stay. I also used it on a couple of 2-night trips.

When travelling by plane, i use a carryon with a strap so that I can use my hiking poles to navigate the airport with no depth perception. I check the medium flex or the large.