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Travelpro
Cyber Week starts today, November 24, 2023, and there are plenty of great Black Friday luggage deals to help you get a leg up on your holiday travel planning.
We're keeping track of steep discounts on suitcases, backpacks, and packing cubes from Samsonite, Travelpro, American Tourister, and other top retailers. These brands have made it into our best luggage and best carry-on guides — written by two travel editors who each take more than 50 flights a year — due to their impressive construction, convenient interior design, and overall durability.
This is a great time to invest in a quality suitcase set. One of the best deals we've seen is 40% off the Samsonite Centric Hardside Expandable suitcase, our top pick from our guide to the best carry-on bags. We love this bag, which is already affordable at its normal price. Today's sale brings it down to just under $115. That's a great price to pay for a piece of luggage that will likely last you decades.
If you are scouring the internet for other items, take a look at our selection of the best Black Friday deals.
We're specifically highlight deals from our guide to the best carry-on. Each suitcase has been tested both using standardized tests and also hands-on traveling experience from two travel editors who each take more than 50 flights a year.
We've pulled out deals from our favorite luggage brands in our guide to the best luggage. Each of these brands makes reliable and thoughtfully designed suitcases that will keep your items safe in the plane's cargo hold.
Not all trips require a roller bag, so we're also outlining Black Friday discounts on picks from our guides to the best backpack and best travel backpack, along with deals of duffels and packing accessories from our favorite luggage brands.
Soft-sided vs. hard-sided
In general, we recommend hard-sided luggage for most people and especially for checked bags. Hard-sided luggage will keep your items compact and in place and can withstand heavy handling. You may opt for a soft-sided bag if you're an overpacker, since soft suitcases have some stretch to hold more items and are easier to compress to fit in an overhead compartment. To learn more about the differences between soft-side, hard-side, and aluminum carry-ons, check out our guide to the best carry-on luggage.
Size
For carry-on bags, you'll want to stick with a maximum bag size of 22" x 14" x 9", which will fit most domestic and international airline carrier limits. For checked luggage, keep in mind that bigger isn't always better. You may be tempted to buy the biggest checked bag you can find, but extra large bags easily end up over the airline's max weight once packed. A checked bag with max dimensions of 29" x 20.5" x 12.5" will accommodate most trips without being too hefty.
Wheels
We always recommend selecting a roller bag with four wheels instead of two. The extra wheels allow for easier maneuverability.
Extra features
Many luggage brands aim to stand out by offering a fleet of special features. The features we find most useful are built-in combination locks and in-bag compression. Ejectable batteries are popular add-ons, but we find they're not often used and can be a bit of a pain to travel with: Most airlines do not allow these batteries to be checked into a plane's cargo hold.
