All guides

Each guide answers one buying question and shows the figures behind the answer.

3 guides

Wide crop of orange soft-sided wheeled suitcases piled on top of one another, handles and wheels visible

How to choose

Carry-on or checked: which suitcase to buy first

Cabin case or hold case, hard shell or soft side: the four numbers that decide which suitcase to buy first, and why tare weight beats the price tag.

Updated 11/3/2026 · 10 min

Photo: Sachi Gahan · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Scuffed tan leather suitcase plastered with hotel and shipping-line labels, a price tag tied to the handle

Budget and prices

What a suitcase actually costs per trip

Divide the price by trips rather than years, add repairs, bag fees and customs duty, and the cheap case is often the expensive one. Full arithmetic shown.

Updated 11/3/2026 · 9 min

Photo: Bryan Ledgard · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Open leather case holding a folded striped shirt, a wristwatch, a hip flask and a spirits bottle

Packing and load

Packing to a weight limit without weighing twice

Weigh the empty case first, then build a weight budget item by item. The arithmetic that keeps a cabin bag under the cap and the hold bag under 50 lb.

Updated 11/3/2026 · 9 min

Photo: Angelina Litvin linalitvina · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons