Best luggage for that late summer escape

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Flying comes with its share of headaches including long line-ups, flight cancellations and delays, so the last thing you want to worry about is your suitcase.

However, if you think you’ve had it bad when travelling, imagine what your luggage goes through. In many cases, when luggage takes a beating, it can lead to broken zippers and damaged seams.

Consumer Reports tested suitcases and subjected them to some of the worst experiences an airport has to offer, to see how well they held up.

“We are dragging, dropping, pulling these bags to kind of simulate what it would be like if somebody was traveling with a piece of luggage,” said Tanya Christians of Consumer Reports. “Our tests find that you don’t have to spend a lot to get a quality bag.”

Testers filled the luggage with fabric, simulating a bag packed with clothing, and then ran them along a conveyor belt studded with obstacles for 50 kilometres.

To check handle strength, a machine lifted the weighed-down bags 5,000 times. This test checked for resilience by applying 220 pounds of pressure to the top and sides of the baggage.

It also simulated a downpour to see how much moisture would get through the zipper and seams of the luggage.

Tests found that four-wheel suitcases are much better than those with just two wheels and let you maneuver through crowds with ease.

According to Consumer Reports, for quality construction, you can’t go wrong with the Samsonite Outline Pro Carry-On Spinner, which costs $270. It outperformed models that are hundreds of dollars more, and a nice feature is that the handle can be expanded and raised to six different positions.

Amazon Basics 21-Inch Hardside Spinner, a hard-shell carry-on, skips the bells and whistles for $127. However, it still offers solid performance.

For a soft-sided carry-on, Consumer Reports suggests the top-scoring TravelPro Maxlite 5 21” Carry-On Spinner for $220. It offers excellent resilience and very good construction.

“If you often check a bag it may be worth it to get peace of mind by having a tracker on your bag. That helps you locate it in case you ever lose it,” said Christians.

It’s also important to check the measurements of a carry-on bag closely to make sure it will be allowed in the overhead bin. If it’s too big, you may have to pay an added fee to check it.

A hard sided bag is more likely to protect breakable items, but a soft sided bag can compress into tight spaces.

When purchasing luggage, you may also want to think about the colour. Black is the most popular, but a red bag may be easier to spot on the airport conveyer belt.