All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.
The quest to find the best carry-on luggage shouldn’t be as onerous as your search for the perfect vacation destination—Instagrammable, but not, like, too Instagrammable—but it absolutely is. And though vacation destinations might feel beholden to your limited budget and even more limited OOO days, suitcase options abound at every price point.
The Best Carry-on Luggage, at a Glance
Gotta get to the airport ASAP? Don't run through the airport like a fool—our top picks for the best carry-on luggage are right here.
- The Best Softside Luggage: TravelPro MaxLite 5 Expandable Spinner, $170
- The Best Hard Shell Luggage: Away Carry-On, $275
- Another Solid Hardside Spinner: Arlo Skye The Zipper Carry-On Max, $375
- The Best Duffle Bag, Overall: Lotuff No.12 Weekender, $1,200
- The Best Travel Backpack: Topo Designs Global Travel Bag, $415
- The Best Do-Everything Duffel: Peak Design Travel Duffel, $140
- The Convertible Travel Bag: Patagonia Black Hole Duffel Bag, $159
- The Best Budget Carry-On Bag: Amazon Basics Hardside Spinner, $83
Even the most cursory search for a good carry-on turns up a bewildering mixture of products from established luggage brands to agile fashion houses to venture-capital infused juggernauts. So, we've drummed up a short guide on how to shop for the best carry-on luggage, from indestructible aluminum-shell bags to slightly squishier softside luggage that you can squeeze under an airplane seat, then outlined some of our top-tier winners below.
Your Luggage-Related FAQs, Answered
→ What's the Difference Between Hardside and Softside Luggage?
→ What Makes a Good Carry-On Bag?
The Best Softside Luggage: TravelPro MaxLite 5 Expandable Spinner
Big on practicality and low on cost, the Travelpro Maxlite 5 offers the best value of any softside bag out there. It's the brand's lightest four-wheel spinner suitcase at five pounds, maximizing on maneuverability for when you're sprinting to catch your flight. The cavernous, expandable interior includes tons of weird little zippered sections and mesh pockets for you to cordon off your toiletries, small items, dirty clothes, and shoes from your clothes without busting out the packing cubes. And after you've racked up plenty of miles on those wheels, the Platinum Elite comes with a limited lifetime warranty for repairs and replacements.
The only ding against the TravelPro is its humdrum looks, which evoke the dated carpeting of one of the airports it'll be dragged through. But that hasn’t kept it from becoming a favorite of frequent flyers. If the TravelPro logo looks familiar, it's probably because you’ve spotted it on the luggage of the flight attendants and pilots that spend most of their lives in the sky.
The Best Hard-Shell Luggage: Away The Carry-On
There are plenty of good reasons why the Away team has just about upended the luggage industry since it launched. Instagram-ready looks? Check. Durable shell? Check. Smooth Hinomoto spinner wheels, top and side handles, clothes straps, a mesh zip pocket, a laundry bag, sturdy YKK zippers, and—maybe most game-changing of all—a built-in USB charger so you don't have to screw around with airport outlets? Yeah, check. At just under three hundred bucks and spanning a range of handsome, low-key colorways, Away's carry-on means you don't have to choose between getting something cheap and ugly and spending a rent check on something luxe. For an industry that never really did the low-to-mid-tier thing well, that's a very welcome change of pace. Our testers have taken theirs on planes across the country and halfway across the world, and never run into issues. Provided you do, there's a limited lifetime warranty that'll cover any functional damage.
Another Solid Hardside Spinner: Arlo Skye The Zipper Carry-On Max
The Arlo Skye Zipper carry-on is a winner for a couple reasons. The bag’s polycarbonate shell isn’t as hearty as the fabric on the TravelPro or the aluminum of a Rimowa, say, but we found the suitcase a bit more capable of withstanding regular use than many other hard-shelled suitcases we’ve tested. (It's also much cheaper.) All of Arlo Skye’s carry-on sized suitcases boast internal pockets for organizing your travel gear, including a few zippered areas for separating out dirty clothes and shoes. The company also makes a version with an easy-access front pocket, presumably for a laptop or magazines, but we’d imagine you’d rather store those things in a backpack or tote rather than in the suitcase you're hauling into an overhead bin. Arlo Skye’s luggage features a removable external charger, but unlike the USB port from Away that can only juice up your phone, it comes with a USB-C connection for keeping your laptop charged up, too. Still, the five-year warranty that Arlo Skye offers doesn’t compare to Away’s limited lifetime warranty, which is why the latter is still our top choice for long-hauler luggage that you'll want to keep dragging around a decade from now.
The Ultimate Travel Flex: Rimowa Classic Carry-On
Rimowa, the storied German luggage company founded in the late 1800s, has been a powerhouse in the luggage space for over a century, with a litany of perks to its name: A single-stage telescoping handle, a hinged double latch lock by the main compartment, elastic compression straps with magnetic pull-release fastenings, its signature ridged exteriors, the works. Couple that with some choice collabs with the likes of Dior, Off-White, Moncler, and beyond, and you'll see why Rimowa's become a status symbol among elite travelers and celebs like Rihanna and LeBron James. Each bag will set you back at least a grand, but if you've ever been stuck traveling with a lackluster piece of luggage and thought, Man, I wish my suitcase could do that, chances are Rimowa's can, and masterfully. We went deep on the legacy brand's signature bag here in case you want to hear more about the intricacies of how it maneuvers and exactly how it compares to something more pedestrian like the Away.
The Best Luxury Duffle Bag: Lotuff No.12 Weekender
Lotuff's handsome, all-American No. 12 duffle bag is our favorite of the genre, with all the details that matter (or matter enough to justify this $1,200 price tag). Take the zipper closure for one, which runs from end to end for extra security, and a wide opening that allows you to shove in a glut of your equally fancy sweaters and toiletries without breaking a sweat. Unlike other cheaply-made and poorly-designed duffles, the vegetable-tanned leather also gives it a first-class patina that only gets better with every trip. But should the leather break or that zipper snag, Lotuff will repair it for a fee, so this bag will stay in your family for many, many flights to come. The interior of the bag features a zip pocket for corralling your loose miscellanea, and the bottom of the bag is also reinforced with double leather for durability. With this bag, you're looking at an investment piece that, if you're treating it right, won't ever need to be replaced.
The Best Travel Backpack: Topo Designs Global Travel Bag
Topo Design has built up a loyal following of rugged adventurers over its 16 years of business. The Colorado-based brand is making some of the best mountaineering, hiking, and travel packs and gear in the Mountain Standard Time zone, and we've found its Global Travel bag to be an excellent pack for doing exactly as the name implies. The bag actually offers three ways to carry it—whether you use it as a backpack, briefcase, or shoulder bag—but what it really has going for it is its plethora of pockets and U-shape entry, which means the bag unzips to fold in half.
That means no longer having to blindly and aimlessly rummage through your bag in the overhead compartment for one tiny thing before takeoff. Topo Designs put padding almost everywhere this bag touches your body, which also makes running through the airport with two minutes to board less torturous on your frame. Almost everything about the Global Travel bag has been configured to allow you to customize it with the brand's assortment of packing gear: The daisy chain lets you hook on accessory packs; the sizing of the compartments is perfectly measured to accommodate storage cubes; and attachment clips further turn you into a pack mule for even more baggage options.
The Best Do-Everything Duffel: Peak Design Travel Duffel
If you have duffels reserved for specific purposes—travel, the gym, schlepping your everyday goods—then you have more space than us, friends. Peak Design, a brand that's become famous for its ingenious storage solutions for hauling camera and video gear, makes a travel duffel that fits the bill for every purpose. Available in 35- and 65-liter options (only the former can be used as a carry-on), the Travel duffel is one of the nicer bags we've seen in the sub-$150 price bracket.
There's also something every satisfying about the way the hand-carry straps snap together with a magnet, and if your arms are getting tired, those straps can be work on your back. The extra-wide zipper allows for great access to your goods, and some internal pockets make it easier to know where you've put your chargers, passports, and other miscellaneous travel goods. While the duffel doesn't fold into itself like the Patagonia bag below, it does fold down fairly flat. One of our staffers brings this duffel with him on his travels and stores it in his other carry-on in case the travel shopping bug bites him and one bag isn't enough to get his goodies home.
The Best Convertible Travel Bag: Patagonia Black Hole Duffel Bag
Remember that hapless kid in fifth grade the whole class mocked for showing up with a rolling backpack the first day of school? (People don't forget!) Well, if you still holding onto some secondhand trauma from the incident, Patagonia's streamlined duffel might be good enough to risk straining your back to carry. Late last year, Patagonia updated its popular line of Black Hole bags, swapping out the high-gloss finish for a new matte look that makes good on the eco-conscious brand's commitment to sustainable sourcing. Aside from the new 100% recycled thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) finish, essentially everything about this bag is the same. While we miss the look of the OG bags, we're happy to say the duffel loses none of the specs or details that made the originals so damn great.
The body fabric, lining, and webbing are all made out of water-resistant recycled materials designed to keep your valuables dry, while two padded straps make for an easy switch if you'd rather sling it over your shoulders like a carry-on backpack. The bag's handles are also specially reinforced to make for comfortable hand-carrying so your lower vertebrae will hold up fine no matter how far your terminal is from the gate. Best of all, the whole thing folds into itself for storage. With all due respect to your childhood classmate (who you definitely owe an apology), sometimes carrying your bag just looks cooler than wheeling it around.
The Best Truly Budget Carry-On: Amazon Basics Hardside Spinner
We've all been there: You forgot to pack for your trip in two days, and wait, you don't have a suitcase. Take advantage of that Prime membership burning a monthly hole in your credit card statement, and scoop up the most popular carry-on Amazon from its namesake brand. With over 45,000 overwhelmingly positive reviews to its credit, this 20-inch hardside spinner has earned more than its fair share of compliments like “perfect for the price,” “light and sturdy,” and “great, all-around suitcase.” For an suitcase that costs less than a Benjamin, this spinner is built pretty well and features everything you'd want from a quality spinner: an expander, interior zippered pocket with additional storage, and smooth-rolling wheels for breezing through that moving walkway like you're The Flash.
4 More Carry-Ons We Like
We've also assembled a number of other worthy alternatives that'll help you jet off in style, even if you're on a Frontier budget. These may be slightly less accessible or less well-rounded than our top picks—and some of these we haven't had the luxury of testing ourselves—but they boast many of the same features you'd hope for in a well-traveled suitcase, from easy-gripping telescoping handles to a roomy, organized interior.
Perhaps no other suitcase brand on the planet has the same name recognition as a Tumi, the workhorse luggage of choice for business travelers, and plenty of celebrities, since it first came on the scene in the ‘70s. Beyond the absolute basics—trustworthy zippers, a bevy of pockets and dividers, and locks for keeping everyone else out except the TSA—this shellacked spinner has style in spades. Add to that a Lever Lock system that fully enables your overpacking tendencies, and Tumi's tracing system (in case you ever lose sight of your bag), and you have hardly any reasons not to scoop one. The polished diagonal ridges on this spinner give it some subtle Rimowa vibes, too, without entreating you spend more than $1,000.
Upgrading from the $30 Carhartt duffel you've had since college to something slightly more distinguished? North Face's base camp bag is the next logical progression, with a similar rugged style for outdoorsy folks, plus a water-resistant, recycled exterior that can handle a little dirt and distressing. It's extremely generous with a 50 liter capacity for tucking in gear, clothes, and beyond. Plus, the price point at under $150 is just right. It's probably the next best thing if for some reason Patagonia's high-vis logos aren't to your liking and you'd prefer something stealthier to haul your stuff into the great outdoors or onto the main cabin.
In the war between direct-to-consumer suitcases, Away is the clear winner by sheer popularity. But for anyone trying hard to not cave into peer pressure, Monos makes a comparable hardside suitcase that doesn't scream Instagram-obsessive-millennial. It's built with nearly the same specs as Away's carry-on and features nearly all the same design details from the interior compression, included laundry bag, 360-degree spinner wheels, and ribbed exterior. It's a whole Andrew Jackson less than the Away if that's enough to sway you to shop a suitcase from a lesser-known brand.
Help your suitcase stand out in a sea of black nylon by copping a polycarbonate spinner in robin's egg blue. Floyd's retro carry-on spinners are inspired by ‘70s skating culture (peep the wheels!), with a breezy, laid-back sensibility that’ll help ease you into the vacation mindset. The glaringly orange, well-apportioned storage section inside only amplifies the brand's ethos of good vibes and great design. If you want swervier luggage that doesn’t look like everyone else's in the terminal, this one's a solid bet that perfectly blends high-vis colorblocking and design chops.
What's the Difference Between Soft and Hardside Carry-On Bags?
Hardside luggage used to be a bit of a novelty. If you had any 15 years ago, you might have been one of the few people in the airport hauling around their characteristic sleek shells—which made finding your bag at the luggage carousel a lot easier. But as these models started to become available in polycarbonate plastics, hardside options become just as ubiquitous as their soft shell counterparts.
On the other hand, the main advantage of soft fabric luggage is its durability. That might seem counterintuitive because shouldn't something with a hard protective shell last longer? But in our experience, after the same amount of use, softside luggage looks more or less like it did when you bought it. Think about it: If you toss a soft fabric cube back and forth against a wall for a year, it might look a little bit busted on the corners, but its stretchy-soft surface would probably absorb much of the impact. But if that cube was made out of a thin, hard substance, you'd probably see a dent or nick in the paint basically anywhere it hit the wall.
That said, a bunch of fabric luggage options (save for the super expensive models) leave a lot to be desired aesthetically. Even when they're new, pulling a fabric suitcase behind you makes you look, at best, like someone who knows their way around a day planner. At worst, especially when they're covered in all sorts of metal rivets and extra zippers, they can look dinky—the tuxedo T-shirt of things to put your clothes in. So it makes sense that hard shell luggage almost always looks much better. Their glossy shells catch the light nicely as they float alongside you. And in recent years, companies have gotten a lot better at making them as durable as can be.
Fabric luggage does have one other advantage over hard shells, though. Thanks to their stretchiness, soft suitcases tend to be a little bit more accommodating to over-packers, while still maintaining the same carry-on size. You'll find it a little bit easier to actually zip them shut, even when they're filled to the brim with extra pairs of clothes. Hard shell suitcases offer a lot less give in terms of packing space, which makes them less than ideal if you tend to accumulate endless tchotchkes while you're traveling. It might not be a dealbreaker, but still something to consider.
What Makes a Good Carry-On Bag?
Size: According to the TSA, carry-on size restrictions vary by airline, but generally, the dimensions max out at 22 by 14 by 9 inches. Another important number to note regarding carry-on sizes is the capacity, usually denoted in liters. Considering size restrictions, the most capacity you'll have is around 40 liters, which is good for a week-long trip, but we did find one duffel bag that has a 50-liter capacity but can fly under the size restrictions because of its shape.
Style: Rolling bags, suitcases, luggage—those are probably the most popular style of carry-on bag. They easy to move around and don't require a rock-hard body to transport around the airport. However, some folks might prefer a lighter-weight duffel bag or backpack to trek into the great outdoors or keep close at home for short weekend sojourns. It all depends on where you're traveling, how much you're hauling, and
How We Tested
We here at GQ have been scanning the wild world of luggage retailers to find the carry-on bags you can comfortably roll up the cobblestone steps of Lisbon, zip-line with through the canopies of Belize, or begrudgingly leave at the gate on the way home for your nephew’s “graduation” from elementary school. We’ve combined our knowledge of the best luggage across a range of prices, styles, and construction types—ones that we've taken on planes, trains, and automobiles—to figure out which offer the best combination of solid construction, useful features, and magnificent looks.
We also added some runner-ups that we haven't had the pleasure of testing, but think combine the right features, price point, and reputation to go toe-to-toe with other contenders in their price range. Not so into the Away? Spring for a slightly more innocuous Monos. Want a heritage bag without blowing more than a grand? Tumi's got your back. After all that, here are our top picks that we’d be happy to drag behind and beside us on every single one of our upcoming trips.
