Best Carry-On Suitcases (2026): Away, Rimowa, Tumi

Summer is right astir the corner. We’re headed retired connected adventures and bringing our worldly with us. Here are each the tech and tips that WIRED Reviews recommends for your travels.

There is a surprisingly robust debate among predominant travelers astir whether it's champion to transportation connected a suitcase oregon to cheque it. Sure, checking a container saves you from worrying astir abstraction restrictions and confusing information requirements, needing to tote your suitcase into a bath stall with you, and sweating astir snagging overhead bin abstraction erstwhile you board. But you request lone 1 really bad acquisition with checking luggage to person you to debar doing truthful whenever imaginable successful favour of being a carry-on purist. My mentation of that incidental occurred astatine the Delta antagonistic successful Dulles International Airport and astir made maine miss my flight. (In fact, I'd similar to not adjacent use a carry-on! But that's different communicative entirely.)

I alert much often than I'd like—short enactment trips, cross-country flights to sojourn family, and planetary abrogation hauls. I've tested countless carry-on suitcases and person present enlisted my household members to assistance arsenic well. These are the champion carry-on suitcases that we've recovered that volition acceptable beauteous overmuch immoderate traveler's needs.

Don't spot thing you like? Check retired our buying guides to the Best Travel Totes, the Best Laptop Backpacks, and the Best Toiletry Bags. Here's our usher to packing your carry-on correctly.

Updated May 2026: I wholly overhauled this portion with caller picks, caller write-ups for existing picks, and updated FAQs. I besides checked links and prices to guarantee the astir up-to-date information.

Best Overall

Does it astonishment you that I didn't prime the iconic Away polycarbonate carry-on, that gorgeous colorful portion that jump-started the full direct-to-consumer luggage question from 1 of the fewer affluent-millennial–coded companies to person weathered aggregate scandals and economical storms successfully since its founding successful 2015? Sometimes it surprises me, too. Multiple WIRED staffers ain the hard-sided carry-on due to the fact that it's good-looking and reasonably priced. However, I similar the brand's Softside Carry-On. In general, I similar soft-sided luggage due to the fact that it shows scuffs little easily, won't crack, and is much flexible if I overpack.

With respect to this circumstantial soft-sided case, it besides has a small much flexibility than its hard-shelled relative regarding enactment options. It has exterior pockets, but they're cleverly hidden. The straps compress a backmost sheet implicit fractional the suitcase, truthful your worldly is squeezed down evenly. There's a proprietary interior stabilizer to assistance support it balanced—it ne'er tipped implicit connected its front, adjacent erstwhile I was trying to descent tote bags oregon backpacks onto the grip portion rolling it down a rickety aluminum gangway ramp. It has 3 exterior handles, not conscionable two, truthful you tin fling it astir immoderate which way. Also, the bag's illustration and hardware are pleasantly understated. There's nary elephantine shiny logos oregon disfigured integrative zipper pulls, and each the disposable colors are attractive.

The nylon is besides water-resistant; past year, I sat (sadly) with my Softside successful the rainfall successful the Philippines, waiting for a ferry, and it kept its contents dry. Unlike different carry-ons that falsely measure themselves arsenic tiny capable for planetary carriers, the Softside's dimensions are accurate. I've flown connected aggregate planetary flights with it to Europe and Asia without issue.

Best Value

In each erstwhile versions of this guide, I person recommended a Travelpro suitcase for this category. But this year, Bagsmart's latest carry-on suitcase shocked maine with its beardown value. I picked the 20-inch mentation to trial due to the fact that it comes successful a yellow mango color that's conscionable plain gorgeous. While this 1 whitethorn not walk the requirements for carry-on size connected each fund oregon planetary airlines, it's disposable successful a 19-inch version that should enactment universally.

Both my 8-year-old and my 11-year-old conducted suitcase-racing tests and commented connected however smoothly the four-way spinner wheels rolled compared to overmuch much costly suitcases. The Getaway besides ne'er toppled guardant off-balance, which Travelpro suitcases person an unfortunate inclination to do, successful my experience. The retention options are identical to other, overmuch much costly suitcases, with respective interior zip pockets and a compression panel. It's expandable and has a TSA-combination lock. It besides comes with a fewer amusive accessories, similar a luggage tag and a portion of nylon webbing that you tin clip to the extracurricular if you extremity up having to cheque it.

About my lone ailment is that the telescoping grip is simply a spot wobbly, but its worth is astonishing for astir the $150 mark. (It besides comes successful a somewhat pricier front-opening mentation ($170) with a padded beforehand compartment for your tech.) If you're unwilling to ditch Travelpro, I urge the Maxlite Air V2 ($160), which comes successful astatine astir the aforesaid terms constituent but weighs astir 2 pounds less. It's besides expandable, the wheels rotation smoothly, my manus fits successful the handle, and the interior is made from 100 percent postconsumer recycled integrative bottles.