Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is the fourth Briggs & Riley suitcase I have purchased, which should tell you right away that I have been very happy with B&R's luggage. I bought this particular carry-on bag for my wife, and I own the previous version of it, which I purchased 14 years ago. Overall this is a fantastic carry-on bag, but I do have a few issues with it which I will outline below. First, though, let me emphasize something: Perhaps the biggest reason to own a B&R bag is the company’s lifetime warranty. And what makes that warranty so valuable is that it covers any damage that happens to the bag INCLUDING normal wear and tear (i.e. you use it so much that its wheels finally fall off) and damage caused by airlines or other luggage handlers. You don’t see many warranties like that. Having said that, let me get into some of the pros and cons of this suitcase: Pros: 1) It is very lightweight-- even lighter than its previous version, which I also own (I bought this newer one for my wife, and frankly I'm a bit jealous!). But despite its weight the bag still feels quite sturdy. 2) It has a suiter, which is something you rarely find in wheeled carry-on-size bags. 3) It expands easily to a nice “in-between” size for when you need just a little more carrying room but don’t have enough to fill a full-sized suitcase 4) It has handles on three of its sides, which makes it much easier to get it in and out of car trunks, overhead spaces, etc. 5) Instead of having a luggage tag that fastens to a handle where it can easily get torn off, the tag on this bag retracts into a small opening in the back of the suitcase. It’s nice not to worry about your tag becoming disconnected or ripped from your bag. 5) There a “bonus pouch” on the back of the bag between the handle tracks in what would otherwise be wasted space. 6) The bag rolls extremely easily and its wheels are very solid. Even after multiple trips rolling the bag over bumpy streets and sidewalks the wheels have maintained perfect alignment with no wobble whatsoever. Cons: 1) Unlike the previous version of this carry-on, the suiter in this bag is NOT removable. You can unzip and remove the suiter’s lower portion if you don’t need the suiter, but that’s it. This bag’s predecessor had a suiter that could be completely removed, which has several advantages: First, it is easier to put garments inside the suiter when you can take it out of the suitcase and lay it flat. Second, when you reach your destination you can remove the suiter and hang it up with your suit (or dress) inside it (the previous version had a hanger built into the suiter). I’m guessing B&R made this modification because this design requires less material and therefore makes the bag lighter, but I still liked the old removable suiter better. 2) The suiter is not quite wide enough for most men’s suit jackets, which means you have to do some creative folding of the sleeves so the jacket’s shoulders don’t get too creased. Admittedly this isn’t really a “fault” of the bag because the suiter can only be as wide as the bag is tall. But it's still annoying, and I reserve the right to whine about it. :) 3) The expansion mechanism (see my photo) is easy to use, but it doesn’t allow the suitcase to lock into any specific expanded positions. You have to grip the interior levers to expand the bag, but if you then apply gentle pressure from outside the bag it will contract again. In other words, how expanded the bag stays depends on how full it is, not on where you “set” it. I suppose this is a nice feature in that the bag only stays as expanded as it needs to for how full it is, but I liked being able to lock my bag fully expanded if there was something inside it that I didn’t want to get too crushed. 4) While the retractable design of the luggage tag does help prevent it from being torn from your bag, I do worry about how hidden the tag is (it is located on the back of the bag between the handle tracks). If the bag became lost, someone trying to contact its owner might not see the tag if they didn’t look thoroughly. Despite these quibbles I am very pleased with this suitcase, as I am with the other three B&R bags I have purchased. If/when I need to add to my luggage armamentarium down the road I will almost surely buy another B&R bag.