The Guide to Lightweight Luggage

I’m sure I’m not the first to suggest to you that light luggage is a good thing – we’ve all heard the “pack light” mantra. But even aside from the fact that it sucks to carry around a huge, heavy suitcase, airlines are now cracking down on oversized baggage, which means overweight luggage can get hit with big surcharges, fees, and other unpleasant things. And many of the best brands of luggage are so heavy that, even if you carry on, you may need a fork lift just to get it up into the overhead. But fear not, intrepid travelers. I’ve got some recommendations for light luggage that is still just as durable heavier brands, and suggestions for how to pack to minimize the weight.

But first...

Baggage Restrictions – A Quick Survey

I spot-checked the checked luggage rules for a number of different airlines – I focused on Southwest, United, American, British Airways, and Ryan Air, which seemed to be representative. All the airlines had basically the same regulations, except for Ryan Air, the Ireland-based European budget carrier, which was much more restrictive. These are their regulations for flying Coach – if you are lucky enough to fly Business or First Class, they allow you a little more leeway.

Checked Baggage Limits

All the major airlines (except stingy Ryan Air) allowed Economy class passengers to check two pieces of luggage. The maximum size for a checked bag on all these carriers is 62 linear inches (length + width + height). The maximum weight is 50 lbs, or 23 kg.

Ryan Air is an ultra-budget carrier, and gives its passengers a free checked baggage allowance of zero – each piece of checked luggage costs about $8, with a maximum allowed weight of 15 kg, or 33 lbs.

Oversize/Overweight Baggage

When your baggage clocks in over the weight limit, the airline hits you with a big fee. For bags between 50 lbs and 70 lbs, this fee can vary from about $25 to $50. When you get up past 70 lbs, the airline usually tells you that you have to ship it by air freight, which starts getting ridiculously expensive. Since they barely make any money on your £10 London to Barcelona flight, Ryan Air charges an extra £5 ($10) for each kilo you go over the 15kg cap. So if you’re flying with them (or EasyJet, or other budget Euro-carriers), you’ll definitely want to keep it light.

How to Lighten Your Luggage

There are just two possible ways make your baggage lighter: Lighten what’s inside, or lighten the bag itself. Here are my picks for the best lightweight luggage, followed by a few tips on bringing down the weight inside of them.

Lightweight Luggage - Best Picks

Every pound counts when 50 lbs is fine, and 51 lbs costs you money. Especially when a bag like Tumi’s LXT 28” upright weighs in at 22 lbs empty – that’s practically half your weight allowance used up on the bag itself! Here are my picks for luggage that is lightweight, but still good quality, so you know it won’t fall apart in the middle of a trip. You may notice a slight Eagle Creek bias – they really are the best when it comes to light, functional, and tough suitcases.

GoLite TraveLite Luggage: Wow. Just wow. When you pick this stuff up, it's hard to believe you're even holding a rolling suitcase in your hand. That's how light it is. GoLite has been making ultra lightweight outdoor gear and clothing for a while. This is their first foray into luggage (right now they're only doing carry-on size bags), and we have to say we're impressed.

Eagle Creek Hovercraft Luggage: This stuff is the perfect combination of tough construction and light weight . Their largest bag, the 28 inch upright, weighs just 10 lbs – way, way less than any other bag its size. And it still has all the the Eagle Creek quality (and lifetime warranty!).

Osprey Wheeled Bags: Osprey has been making cutting-edge backpacks for trekking and traveling for more than thirty years. Their wheeled luggage (some of which can be carried like a backpack, too) brings all of the features you want in a trekking pack to a wheeled bag. It's light, tough, and easy to use.

Timbuk2 Wheeled Bags: These guys built their reputation making heavy duty, functional messenger bags for San Francisco bike messengers. They have recently taken that know-how and applied it to a new line of wheeled luggage. And it's really, really light - just a shade heavier than the Hovercrafts. Plus you get Timbuk2's hip styling, with the shovel-grip mono handle and swappable skateboard wheels.

Use Travel Clothing

So, once you have the lightest possible suitcase, you can give yourself a little extra insurance by making sure that what’s inside is lightweight too. Travel clothing, like the stuff made by Ex Officio and Columbia Sportswear, is designed to be a lot lighter than normal clothes. It also packs down smaller, so you can get the same amount of clothing into a smaller (and lighter) suitcase.

Pack Light

I’ll end this little article with what can be the easiest and the hardest way to keep the weight of your luggage down. Don’t pack so much crap! You probably don’t need five pairs of shoes. Or three different sport coats. And maybe you can leave that portable coffee maker at home. Know what you’ll use, and what you won’t. Check out this travel outfitting guide for some suggestions on how to pack everything you’ll need in one carry-one size bag and one small day bag!