Best Luggage Reviews in 2020

Are you looking at purchasing a new luggage or backpack for your next travel adventure? Before making this purchase, it is important to ask yourself a couple of questions such as where you are going, how long will you be gone for, and what you need to bring. Once you answer these and a couple other questions, you can determine what sort of luggage you will want to bring.

How Many Times Will You Change Locations

This is an important question when choosing the luggage. If you will be staying at an all-inclusive resort for an entire week, then it’s very easy because you unpack your bag when you arrive, and pack again when you leave a week later.

However, if you are moving locations every day, then you need to take this into consideration. You want to make sure it is easy for you to find the clothes or items you need, without having to take your whole bag apart.

You also need to know how you are getting from one location to another. If you are walking or taking public transit, you may want to consider a backpack. Backpacks are much easier to bring around in a city. Especially in cities with cobblestone roads, lugging around a luggage can be a tiresome effort, compared to having a backpack on your back. However, if you are changing locations every couple days, but are getting around with the help of a private bus, then you will only need to bring the luggage down to the hotel lobby, and leave it with the bus.

Therefore, as a rule of thumb, if you are changing locations less than every 3 days, and are taking public transit, then a backpack is better. It avoids the hassles of pulling the bag on uneven or muddy roads. However, if you are staying in one place for longer periods of time, a luggage may be the better option because luggage are easier to organize.

Is Your Bag Unique

Far too often, people go for a basic black coloured bag. Unfortunately, bags that look like this have a much better chance of getting picked up accidentally. This is especially true at airport carousels or when bags are offloaded from a bus. Therefore, in order to avoid this mishap, ensure your bad has something unique about it. This could be the colour, or can be a tag that you put on it. Sometimes, simply putting some duct tape on the bag can help identify it, and avoid it being mistaken for someone else’s.

Are there Pockets

Having pockets which are accessible is a must when choosing a luggage. There will be certain documents (such as tickets) you will want to keep handy. Having an outside pocket means you can retrieve these documents easily without having to open up your entire bag. It is also good to have several pockets to keep other things accessible such as chargers and headphones.

How Many Wheels

If you choose to go for a luggage with wheels, one of the questions to ask is if you want 2 wheels or 4 wheels.

Luggages with two wheels can be placed anywhere without the risk of the luggage rolling away. This is especially crucial if you plan on travelling to places where there will be many hills. However, a 4 wheel luggage is much easier to walk around with. The wheels rotate freely, and walking around is much easier than a two-wheeled luggage. The downside with the 4-wheels is also apparent on the bus or metro. You cannot let go for you bag at all otherwise it may roll and hit the people next to you.

Is it a Carry-On

Bags come in a variety of sizes. Depending on how much you need to bring, you may want to try to fit it all into a carry-on bag. Travelling with only carry-on bags means you do not need to spend time to check in your baggage. It also means you do not need to wait at the carousel to collect you bags, and thus there is less chance of your bag getting lost.

One of the disadvantages of travelling with carry on only is that you are limited with the amount of liquids you can bring. Therefore if you carry a large bottle of shampoo, you will either need to put it in a small container, or not bring it at all.

What is also important is to note that the definition of “carry-on” varies from airline to airline. Therefore, it is important to check with the airline prior to boarding to ensure that you are able to bring your luggage as a carry-on

Hard Shell Or Soft Shell?

As the name implies, a hard shell is hard on the outside. This means that the luggage is more robust, and protects your fragile items in case the luggage is dropped or thrown around.

One of the disadvantages of the hard shell is that there are no pockets on the outside to easily access certain things.

With the above points in mind, below are a couple luggage that are good choices:

2020 Best Luggage Reviews

Osprey Ozone Wheeled Carry-on 42L/21.5″

This is a small backpack, but has many great features. Firstly, it is a backpack. So when you are walking on cobblestone roads, or on muddy roads, you do not need to worry because you can keep the bag on your back.

What is cool about this is that it can be used as a roller bag. So if you are tired of carrying your bag around, you can roll it around instead.

This bag is also small enough that it can be used as a carry on. It has a couple pockets on the outside so you can easily access the things you need frequently.

Pros:

• It’s a backpack
• It can also be a roller-luggage
• It’s got the outside pockets

Cons

• It’s smaller than other bags and has limited space

Get the Osprey Ozone Wheeled Carry-On.

NACATIN Internal Frame 70L Backpack Water-Resistant Hiking Daypack Backpacks

This is a large backpack, and is great for anyone looking for a longer term travel. It is designed to be worn comfortably, so you can walk around for long periods of time. It has about 65L of space, which is enough for a lot of items. There are several pockets on the outside for the important things you need to access.

This bag also has a bottom pocket, meaning you can keep some items on the bottom of the bag, and can access them without needing to empty all the contents of the bag.

Pros

• It’s big and has a lot of room
• It’s well designed to to carry around comfortably
• Several pockets to keep things organized and accessible

Cons

• You must always carry it around

Get the NACATIN Internal Frame Backpack here.

Rockland Luggage 4 Piece Set, Charcoal, One Size

You may not want to purchase the entire set, but this is an example of a 2-wheeled luggage which is good. The first good thing is the colour. Even though it is mostly black, the orange strip makes it stand out, and lowers the chance of it getting mistaken for someone else’s luggage.

There are pockets in the front where you can keep your travel documents and your chargers.

The various sizes means your can choose to purchase a carry-on size, or you can go for a larger luggage.

Pros

• Orange strip which makes it stand out from the other black bags
• It has Wheels and does not need to be carried except when loading/unloading

Cons

• Two wheels means it’s not as easy to roll around as a 4-wheeler

Get the Rockland Luggage Set here.

Regent Square Travel – Medium Suitcase Softside With Spinner Goodyear Wheels – Luggage Lightweight – Lagoon

This is an example of a 4-wheeled luggage. As mentioned above, the advantage of the 4-wheels is that is it easy to roll around. This one has a nice large pocket in the front, for any travel documents and chargers that may be required. The blue colour makes it stand out from the other black bags.

Pros

• 4 Wheels makes it very easy to roll around
• Outside pocket for documents and other frequently needed accessories.

Cons

• 4 Wheels means you cannot let it rest or it will roll away.

Get the Regent Square Travel here.

Eagle Creek Exploration Series Tarmac

This is another example of a 2-wheeled luggage. It has two separate pockets (one big and one small) in the front so you can store different articles.

Pros:

• Different Colours
• Multiple outside pockets

Cons

• 2-wheels means it is not as easy to roll around as a 4 wheeler

Get the Eagle Creek Exploration Series here.

AmazonBasics Hardside Spinner Luggage – 28-Inch

This is an example of a hard-shell case. Hardshell cases are more robust than softshell cases. One problem is that they do not have the exterior pockets, meaning anything you want has to be kept inside and thus it is not easy to get any small item

Pros:

• More robust and durable than softshell cases
• 4-wheels for easy maneuverability

Cons

• No access to outside pockets.

Regardless of which luggage you choose, it is important that it fits your type of travel. A large luggage allows you to carry more items, and is perfect for one-destination trips. A smaller bag is better when you change locations several times. Backpacks mean you can carry them on any type of terrain, but also mean that you need to carry them on your back at all times.