Luggage Sets, and How Many Pieces Are Really Suitcases

DB and TB Are Not Suitcases

DB is a duffel bag and TB is a tote bag. They are the soft nylon bags that come thrown in with the set, and in most listings they count as pieces.

DB Slash TB Slash Twenty Slash Twenty Four Slash Twenty Eight

That string is copied word for word from the title of one of the best selling listings in the category (Coolife, ASIN B0BMTCSRSB), and it is the whole reason this page exists. In the catalog we reviewed, 67 of 72 listings state a number of pieces and only 36 give measurements. Put the two side by side and the pattern shows:

• "5 piece ... (DB/TB/20/24/28)" (B0BMTCSRSB): three suitcases, a duffel and a tote.
• "6 Piece ... (16/20/24/28/DB/TB)" (B0GF24L72Y): four suitcases, a duffel and a tote.
• "5pcs ... 20"/24"/28"" (B0HBBCTK3F): three suitcases and two bags the title never names.

So the main column of this table is not the advertised piece count. It is the number of wheeled suitcases, and next to it the ratio between the two figures. A 3 piece set with three suitcases scores 1.00. A 6 piece set with four suitcases scores 0.67. A 5 piece set with three scores 0.60. Each count is checked by ASIN against the sizes, the listing images and the product details, never taken from the title, because the title count is exactly the figure being tested.

All pieces are cases0.70 to 0.99Under 0.70

Three Suitcases Sold as Five Pieces

Usually three. The duffel and the tote are counted apart in their own column and taken off the suitcase count; they are not left out, because they are part of what arrives in the box and part of why buyers get the comparison wrong. These are the sets in the table that inflate their count the most:

3 casesUnder 0.70

Does the Small One Pass the Cabin Sizer

The US cabin limit is 22 x 14 x 9 inches, measured with wheels and handle included, the same way our carry on luggage table measures every single case. The advertised size of a suitcase is the body only, and the wheels and handle add about two inches.

• The standard trio in the catalog is 20/24/28. Its 20 inch case comes to 22 or 22.5 inches overall: it scrapes through or it does not.
• The 21/26/30 trio, also in the catalog, has no piece that passes at all.

A set without one compliant cabin piece is the worst case and the least visible one, because nothing in the listing says so. Each row gets a resolved yes or no.

Sets in this table with no piece that passes the cabin sizer, the worst case and the least visible one:

• Amazon Basics 3-Piece Hardshell Luggage Set, sizes 21/26/30, smallest 23.0" overall
• Traveler's Choice Pagosa Hardshell Expandable Luggage with Spinner Wheels, sizes 22/27/30, smallest 24.0" overall
• Eeeza Carry On Luggage Set Suitcase 3 Piece, sizes 20, smallest 23.6" overall
• SwissGear Sion Softside Expandable Spinner Luggage Durable Lightweight Travel, sizes 21/29, smallest 23.0" overall
• ALYIAMXL 3-Piece ABS Hardshell Luggage Set, sizes 20/24/28, smallest 22.1" overall
• Eeeza 3 Piece Hardshell Luggage Set, sizes 20, smallest 23.0" overall
• Samsonite Winfield 2 Hardside Luggage with Spinner Wheels, sizes 20/24/28, smallest 24.0" overall
• Wrangler Smart Spinner Hardside Luggage, sizes 22/26/30, smallest 24.0" overall
• Travelers Club Chicago Hardside Expandable Spinner Luggage, sizes 22/26/30, smallest 22.0" overall
• Travelers Club Midtown Hardside 4-Piece Luggage Travel Set, sizes 22/28, smallest 26.0" overall
• Travel Select Amsterdam Softside Expandable Luggage with Rolling Wheels, sizes 21/25/29, smallest 23.0" overall
• AnyZip Luggage Sets 2 Piece Aluminum Frame Carry On, sizes 20/28, smallest 21.3" overall

Has a compliant cabin pieceNo compliant cabin piece

Does the Big One Clear Sixty Two Linear Inches

The checked limit on US airlines is 62 linear inches, length plus width plus height, and 50 pounds. A 28 inch suitcase adds up to about 58 and passes. A 30 inch case adds up to about 63 and does not: that is an oversize fee of 100 to 200 dollars per flight, every flight, on a suitcase that was sold as part of a bargain.

All pieces under 62 linear inHas an oversize piece

The Twenty Four Inch Piece Almost Nobody Uses

The 20/24/28 trio dominates the catalog, and the 24 is the piece left over. It does not go in the cabin, and next to the 28 it does not justify a second checked bag. In most trios the suitcases you will really use are two, which is something no seller will ever tell you. The table counts the pieces that each do a job of their own: one under the seat, one for the cabin and one for the hold.

Of the 276 sets with sizes in this table, 167 include at least one suitcase that does no job the others do not already do. Of the 138 sets with three suitcases, 138 come down to two you will actually use.

Two piece 20/2820/24/28

Price Per Suitcase, Not Price Per Set

The median set in the catalog we reviewed costs $115.99. Divided by three suitcases that is $38.66 a suitcase; divided by the five advertised pieces, $23.20. The second figure is the one buyers work out in their heads, and it is false. The table publishes the price per wheeled suitcase, with the set price next to it.

Under $35 a case$35 to $60Over $60

Do They Nest, or Do They Take a Whole Closet

A set of three or four hard suitcases that do not nest takes up a whole closet for the rest of the year. Each row says whether the listing states that all of them nest, some of them, or none, and most listings do not say at all, which the table also shows rather than assuming.

Nests fullySoftside

Expandable, Again

It is the same trap as on a single carry on. The small piece complies with the expansion zip closed and stops complying when it opens, and on the large piece the expansion adds depth to a case that may already be close to 62 linear inches. Both verdicts in this table are worked out closed.

In this table 165 of 295 sets are sold as expandable. In 110 of them the small piece passes the cabin sizer closed, and only closed. In 61 the large piece is already over 60 linear inches before the zip is opened.

ExpandableTSA lockSpinner wheels

What We Exclude From This Table

Each listing is checked by ASIN, never by its title. Left out:

• Single suitcases. Cabin size ones have their own table.
• Travel backpacks sold on their own.
• Organizer and packing cube sets with no suitcase.
• Toiletry and cosmetic bag sets.
• Soft bag sets with no wheeled piece at all.
• Luggage covers, locks and scales.
• Any listing from which neither the number of wheeled suitcases nor their sizes can be worked out, because without those two the main column stays empty.

The bags inside a set are not left out or ignored: they are counted apart in their own column and taken off the suitcase count.