Best luggage brands revealed in new Consumer Reports survey
When it comes to luggage, ConsumerReports.org subscribers are a pretty happy bunch. Of 7,000 luggage-owning respondents to a recent luggage survey* conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, 61 percent of said they did not have any issues with their primary piece of luggage, and 78 percent said they are “completely to very” (highly) satisfied. Indeed, 93 percent said they would be very or somewhat likely to recommend the brand of luggage they are using.
For our suitcase Ratings, which included responses from 3,485 respondents to the luggage survey and that reveal the best luggage brands, we gained sufficient data to rate 10 different luggage manufacturers: American Tourister, Briggs & Riley, Delsey, Eagle Creek, Kirkland, Ricardo Beverly Hills, Samsonite, Travelpro, Tumi, and Victorinox.
Of of the 10 different brands of suitcases that respondents said they use, Samsonite is currently used by the highest percentage of subscribers (33 percent), followed by American Tourister (15 percent) and Travelpro (12 percent).
However, brand popularity did not always correlate with brand satisfaction, as American Tourister landed at the bottom of the chart with a lower score than almost every other rated brand and mediocre scores across the chart. Check our Ratings to find the best luggage brands.
Check our luggage buying guide and Ratings to find the best luggage brands and advice on selecting bags that meets your needs.
Function trumps form
The results also indicate that respondents value function over form. More than one-half of our luggage owners chose durability (59 percent) or wheelability (58 percent) as one of three most important luggage attributes, and about one-third named easy to carry/transport (34 percent) or weight (32 percent). In contrast, appearance (6 percent), brand name (2 percent), and matching set (1 percent), were low down on the list.
Further, the top problems people had with a piece of luggage they replaced were function related rather than brand or style related. In 36 percent of cases, the reason was worn or damaged material; for 28 percent it was a broken zipper; 24 percent named difficulties with maneuverability; 21 percent cited malfunctioning wheels; and 17 percent named problems with the handle
The survey was conducted in February 2015 asked Consumer Reports Online Annual Active subscribers to respond to an online survey. Our results include 7,001 total responses regarding all types of luggage and more than 200 brands of luggage.
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