Myself and my family have had our Away suitcases for 6+ years now. They’ve been well loved and traveled hundreds of thousands of miles, but they’re becoming tired. I originally bought them when Away had just started and got a screaming deal out of it. Unfortunately, the build quality of the newer ones has gone downhill from what I’ve seen and the corporate culture has been a bit questionable, so I’m looking to a new brand.

I want to get us all new cases for the long haul, and I keep hearing about Briggs & Riley being the way to go. I’m happy to pay for it if they’ll last, and it seems like they are quite serious about backing up their product.

Those of you who have B&R cases, what are your thoughts? We’re all also used to hard-sided, but are open to going back to soft side if those are made better. What specific cases do you recommend? Do you find Tumi/Monos/Hartmann/another brand to be better in the end?

I’ve read great reviews, but need recommendations from some serious frequent flyers before putting in $2K a person in luggage. 😂

Thanks for the insight as always!

Can you keep it expanded? Or is it designed to expand and compress back to its default size? Seems like a lot of room I could use only just to push it down. I imagine a luggage filled with compression packing cubes would be too firm to really push it down much which is why im asking. Do you find compression packing cubes to still be helpful with this luggage or are they redundant? The bag compresses by reducing by 30%. Compression cubes themselves already compress down by 15-30%.

I have been trying to decide between Briggs and Riley's Large Baseline Spinner versus their Medium Baseline Spinner as a checked bag.

I tend to be a bit of an overpacker and for trips that are two weeks (or rarely more), I like to have a checked bag (packing like like I'm going to shit myself twice a day).

Although from my googling it appears the large meets the dimension requirements for international checked luggage (under 62 total linear inches), I am wondering whether the extra space in the Large ends up not inherently being used if you're packing things to the brim because of weight requirements. I understand that this all depends on your packing habits (if you pack fluffy winter stuff it's going to be more within spec than if you're loading up with just jeans and leather jackets or something), but can anyone who has had these bags or anything with similar dimensions provide their experiences?

After nearly 7 years and I dont know how many trips, I am ready to say goodbye to my TravelPro MaxLite4 stuff. I have 4-5 of them in various sizes and its all been great, they've dealt with more than I could have expected, and TravelPro service has been amazing taking care of things like zippers. But now, with all the wheels on their last legs, handles that are ready to break off, etc, its time to move on and upgrade.

I've looked at Tumi, Rimowa and others, but have settled on B&R because of the warranty and service and the fact there is an authorized service center only a few minutes from me for when one day it will inevitably be needed.

We're a family of 5 based out of LA, and as a family, we fly 3-4 times a year, both domestic and international, including ski trips, and take another 3-4 driving trips down to Mexico, up the coast in California, etc. I also travel for work once every 4-6 weeks to various locations, usually short-ish flights throughout the Western US.

I'm going to be purchasing 3 medium spinners, 1 large spinner, and 2 or 3 carry-ons, not sure of sizing exactly yet. I'm a big fan of soft-sided. And generally prefer 4 wheels vs 2 for check-in, and 2 wheels for carry-on, but thats not as critical for me. I do not care about bling or wow-factor at all. I care that the luggage works, is easy to pack, light enough that I can load up to near 50lbs with lots of stuff, and is reliable/durable.

My question is... ZDX or Baseline? I dont pack suits for work, and my wife organizes most but not all of the clothes in packing cubes. Are the extra costs of the Baseline really worth it? I've yet to find any credible in-depth review comparing the two (if one exists, I'm interested to read it), so wanting to get feedback from the experts around here before I make the splurge.