Do you prefer hard or soft luggage? Travellers care—a lot
Summary
It is the question that reliably fires up frequent fliers. Even luggage CEOs admit to picking favourites.
Forget window seats versus aisle seats. The most contentious debate in travel is what type of suitcase you should buy.
The popularity of hard-shell luggage has exploded over the past decade. It has been driven by advances in material technology that made hard-sided suitcases more durable, and the rise of direct-to-consumer brands like Away. Hard-sided bags tend to cost more than comparable soft-sided luggage.
Fans of each luggage category aren’t quiet about their preferences. Hard-shell die-hards regularly cite the durability and aesthetics of their favorite suitcases. Soft-sided aficionados appreciate the flexibility a fabric-encased bag provides.
Even luggage executives who sell both types hold strong convictions on which they favor.
Away co-founder and CEO Jen Rubio says she tests every product her company releases, including its new line of soft-sided luggage. When testing the softer bags, she says they worked great, but she found herself missing her hard-sided ones. She has grown accustomed to organizing her belongings to fit the hard bags’ clamshell design, with two main compartments. Like most soft-shell bags, Away’s options have a single main compartment.
Richard Krulik, CEO of luxury luggage company Briggs & Riley, likens hard-shell bags to “shiny new objects" that appeal to people who follow trends.
“I own the company, so we have a little of everything, but when I grab a bag for myself, it’s usually a soft-sided bag," Krulik says.
Companies have data to support both cases. Hard-shell suitcases used to account for only 25% of American sales for Samsonite, with the rest going for soft-shell bags. Now the opposite is true, says David Oksman, the company’s vice president of marketing and direct to consumer.
Away, a brand synonymous with hard bags, added soft-sided luggage after seeing internal research suggesting more than 90 million U.S. travelers preferred that type of bag.
The Away effect
Niki Verma worked as a consultant for eight years, traveling almost weekly. At the start of her consulting career, Verma relied on a soft-sided Samsonite suitcase similar to the suitcases her parents used when she was a kid. Two years in, she switched to an Away hard-sided carry-on.
“It leveled up my game," she says. She felt the bag looked sleek and professional, and its design made organizing easier. She stores clothes on one side of the bag, with toiletries, shoes and her hair straightener on the other. The inflexible sides also prevent her from overpacking.
Verma, who now works in strategy for a financial-services company in Chicago, travels less but still swears by Away bags. She’s even managed to convince her parents to switch to a hard-top suitcase.
The pendulum swing is largely generational. Many hard-side luggage fans say they don’t want their suitcases to resemble the bulging bags with bulky zippers that their parents owned.
“It’s like the difference between tapered jeans and flared jeans," says Dan Henry, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney who prefers hard-shell luggage.
Not everyone is making the switch. Raj Mainthia, a tech company employee in New York, dislikes the way hard-sided bags are typically organized.
“I don’t get the argument that a hard shell is much more durable," Mainthia says. “I’ve never had issues of durability unless a bag is over 10 years old."
Flexible options
Flexibility means different things for hard-sided and soft-sided devotees. Henry, the hard-shell enthusiast, regularly travels overseas on work trips and often tacks on a few vacation days. The clamshell opening of his hard-sided luggage lets him pack work clothes on one side and leisure attire on the other.
“The dress shirts, the blazers and the trousers all end up in the zipped-up side and then I just get to ignore that for the remaining days," he says.
When Nate Call goes on business trips, he must allot space in his luggage for souvenirs for his four children between the ages of 1 and 9.
“My experience has been the soft shells are just easier to jam-pack full of whatever I want," says Call, CEO of a Salt Lake City consulting firm.
Product reviewers maintain that the debate between hard- and soft-shell bags isn’t straightforward. Many travelers consider hard-shell bags to be more durable because the outer layer isn’t prone to tears like fabric bags, is impervious to water and can be easily cleaned. But Consumer Reports testing has shown that many soft-sided bags are just as durable, if not more so, says Tanya Christian, senior home content manager at the consumer review publication.
She says the best guides for durability are the brands—high scorers on Consumer Reports tests have included Away, Rimowa and Eagle Creek—and the materials used. Some fabrics are more durable than others, just as some plastics are more shatterproof.
“There’s no hard and fast rule," Christian says.
Theresa Regli, a media management strategist in London, prefers hard-sided bags for business trips. But when she went on a safari over a decade ago, the tour operator required her to pack her belongings in a soft-sided bag. The duffel she bought then has stood the test of time, and she often brings it on ski vacations to the Alps.
Some travelers have both hard- and soft-shell bags buried in their closets. Chicago-based flight attendant Hannah Kimmel uses the standard black, soft-sided luggage most flight crews swear by when traveling for work. On personal trips she switches to a hard-sided pink suitcase that allows her to show off more personality.
“I love sparkly, crazy colors," she says. “I love to walk the airport with a bright pink suitcase."
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Write to Jacob Passy at jacob.passy@wsj.com
