I am new here and I am so glad I found this site, you guys are a wealth of knowledge to say the least! My question is we usually check our bags in but now that my youngest is 7 we have decided to do carry on, looking for some recommendations on what you think are they best carry on’s for my husband and I we are flying AA?
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I have a Travelpro Crew 21" spinner that is very light and easy to use. I’ve used it on all the majors including AA. A lot of professional fliers use Travelpro. DH uses a shoulder-strap bag by Red Oxx called The Boss. It is almost indestructible, but more expensive. Wheels do take up a little space, spinner wheels take up more, but I find it worthwhile. Often he sets his bag on my wheelie and tows the whole thing together.
We only travel with these two bags, although sometimes we do check them on the flight back home where it’s not as big an issue if they get lost or delayed.
When the kids were little we had two indestructible Eddie Bauer roller boards- OMG those babies were heavy! They were our go-to bags for over 20 years, I still have the pre-TSA lock from one of them. But we would sit the kids on them and roll the kid & bag through the airport, easy-peasy! Two years ago, the wheels literally fell off- first one bag, and then the other. So we were forced to modernize.
RIP bags, job well-done!
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I been using a Ricardo Santa Cruz 6.0 21" spinner (from Kohl’s). We generally fly AA, but have taken Southwest too.
My wife a Samsonite 21" she uses when flying for work (she goes AA) and a 20" Samsonite she did use but now our son uses.
Either of these are great for our son ( now 10) to pack for the week, along with his back pack for his pad, head phones, neck pillow and blanket (yeah he still likes taking his Mickey blanket to Disney, it’s been with him on 11 trips and counting since he was 1.5 yrs old).
I end up taking my 21" and my back pack on the plane. The 21" isn’t full, but has my park gear (including rain suit and sandals in case), snacks and when we get to resort my back pack goes into the 21" and gets locked while Bell Services hold it till our room is ready. I use my 25" for my clothes. It too usually isn’t full unless we are going over winter months when i pack jeans and sweatshirt just in case.
I fly a lot for business and have the Travelpro Crew 21" spinner also. It’s perfect. Has aged better than my past Samsonites - don’t remember which specific Samsonite models but they were the higher end ones.
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I have an Away Bigger Carry-On and I love it. I travel all the time for work and always carry on. The Bigger Carry-On suitcase
I was looking at the Travelpro Crew 21" and this might seem like the way to go. There are so many rules and regulations with sizing and this one seem to fall perfect with sizing restrictions. Thank you all so much!!
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So when I saw the title of this thread I thought @longwalk had created a Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young discussion…
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People will talk with us meeting like this…
But is nice to avoid checked bags. as the song says:
Rejoice, rejoice, we have no choice but to carry on 
We now return to the regularly scheduled discussion…
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I’ve recently done a lot of suitcase shopping. A lot of reading. This is what I’ve learned:
It seems like, according to both customer reviews and articles that samsonite and american tourister are the best buys for the money. (Neither of which I bought actually and we’ll see if I’m sorry later.)
If you plan to travel internationally, especially on smaller airlines in foreign countries, you’ll want a 20" rather than 21. If not, or not imminently get the bigger one.
The soft sided luggage seems to weather abuse better than hard-sided EXCEPT they all seem to have zipper issues. (I bought a luggage strap and I’m hoping for the best.)
If you have a lot of discretionary income, those high end Delsey suitcases looks sweet. On the low end, I think American Tourister and Samsonite are better buys.
Finally, Shop Disney has some disney themed bags on sale. I think the minnie mouse dots one is nice.
Those look awesome. Pricey but awesome. Did it come with an umbrella?
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Another Travelpro family. I tried one first and loved it. Slowly added one for each family member. We have the Maxlite instead of Crew which are little less expensive.
I have an American Tourister hardsided roller - the kind with 4 wheels. Love it!!
Do be aware that even with carry-on sized bags, if you are on a puddle jumper you will have to gate check it because those bins will not accommodate. I even had to check a LeSportSac duffel that always fits once. And if you are on a full flight to MCO (almost always they are) and are in a late boarding group you may have to gate check it.
But those are two different things- gate-checking and checking at the gate.
I was also looking at the hardsided American Tourister, I am on the late boarding group but if they gate check it I don’t think I am charged at that point 
I should be working but for the past day or so this is all i’ve been doing luggage research work is overrated anyway
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Buying luggage is fun because you get to imagine all those trips on which you’ll be taking your luggage.
But what I’m getting at about gate checking is that there really are two different types. They go by the similar names, however it is very important to know the difference or you might lose your bag.
These are my naming conventions, I have no idea what the real ones might be but at least when I talk with my family we understand what’s going on with the bags:
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Gate check- this is when the overhead bins are too small. I don’t mind this too much. They take it from you at the gate, then give it back to you right when you get off the plane. Just make sure you take valuables out first, like computers. And don’t forget to pick it up right as you deplane.
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Checking at the gate- this is when the overhead bins are full. They take the bag from you but you get it back at the luggage carousel. This defeats the whole purpose of carry-ons for me.
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Not the way the desk agents use it.
Correct. If they have to check the bag at the gate for any reason, you are not charged. At least with JetBlue or American (the two lines I fly most).
I have also had bags checked at the gate because of space and they were brought to the ramp and I did not have to go to the luggage carousel. So that can vary.
Yes they call everything by the same name because it’s easier, but to them it is the same thing. It’s not the same thing to the customer. You have to know where your bags are going to be. As I said, it’s my own naming convention. YMMV.