Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This bag is hands-down the best available for the frequent traveler who does not want to check a bag. It is sized and shaped almost perfectly for overhead bins on most US single-aisle mid-size jets (B73x/A32x). For Europe you will want the 20" model instead. In terms of how well it fits overhead, it almost matches the dear departed gold standard, the Samsonite Silhouette 9 SpaceMaster. Had I realized several years ago when I got my Silhouette 9 how much I would come to appreciate and rely on it, I would have purchased two or three extras for spares when the original ran out. Alas, by the time I realized how great it was, they were nowhere to be found, replaced by later models that simply don't live up to the perfect size and very good overall design of that case. So after several replaced wheels and zippers I finally had to let it retire to that great overhead bin in the sky. I searched for years for a suitable replacement, using a series of Tumi, Zero, Briggs & Riley models. They all had their strengths, but none satisfied my travel needs like the old S9. I had almost given up hope that a bag manufacturer would ever get it right again, and had begun to consider having one custom made. Then I saw the Avolve... this is the closest thing I have found to a replacement for the S9. Size-wise it is 90% as good, and always fits without a hassle even when overstuffed. It just doesn't have quite enough curve in the side profile to use every cubic inch of available space like the S9 did. But it is better than any other current model I have seen. It also has the proper chassis design for a four-wheel spinner: A solid bottom plate with the zippered main opening at the top of the case when laid on its back. This design provides a solid, low flex chassis like a good sports car, which promotes smooth and responsive handling while rolling so the bag easily flows with you and responds instantly to a light steering touch on the handle, gliding through airports with minimum wobble or sag. Stay away from the four-wheel bags with the clamshell design, having a zipper right across the middle of the case. These are invariably wobbly, frustrating to maneuver, and they sag when heavily loaded, sometimes even dragging on the floor. Not this Avolve--it feels so smooth and responsive in rolling that you almost forget it's there. It's really effortless to roll along. And in some ways this bag even surpasses the great S9, such as the tighter and stronger feeling handle mechanism, the larger and more useful front compartment (I can easily fit a laptop or bulky sweater in there), though I do miss the S9's clever bottom zipper on the outer compartment that made it so easy to pull out a sweater or jacket without pulling the bag out of the overhead, a feature I have yet to see duplicated. So yes, this is my bag of choice and in use twice a week now for over six months. I can say that it is durable, gives you almost the maxim possible capacity for an overhead roll-aboard, and glides very smoothly. Unless Samsonite miraculously brings back the magical design of the Silhouette 9 SpaceMaster, I will be buying two more of these in case they stop making them before mine wears out. Victorinox created a real winner here.