Jul 2, 2008 4:00 pm US/Eastern
3 On Your Side: Best Lightweight Luggage
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
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GENERIC airport luggage
AP
Every day it seems another airline is increasing the fees they charge to check your luggage. Well they are also boosting the price for overweight luggage too, and many passengers are paying the price for over packing. But 3-On Your Side's Jim Donovan shows you one way to save - by switching your luggage.
Have you ever weighed a piece of empty luggage? Even some of the lightest bags weigh-in at 8 to 13 pounds, and when you have a 50 pound limit, you're already starting at a disadvantage. You may want to invest in new luggage in a lighter bag now to avoid paying a hefty fee later.
When the Good Housekeeping Research Institute tested light-weight luggage recently they were looking for certain things. "We looked for durability, the ability to with stand the drop test, ability of the handle to withstand jerking, and of course, most important, packing, and how much the bag weighed overall once it was packed to the max," says Kathleen Huddy of Good Housekeeping.
Weighing in at under 8.5 lbs, the Eagle Creek Hovercraft 25 was the lightweight champion. It is priced around $225. "It easily held clothes for a five day trip, and our testers found it easy to maneuver and very stable," says Huddy.
The $280 Victorinox E-motion Collapsible Trunk was the only duffel that Good Housekeeping recommends. According to Huddy, "Its got a lot of room, but best of all, its collapsible for under-the-bed storage, or storage somewhere in the closet, and it only weighs eight and a half pounds."
The sturdy Briggs & Riley 24" Upright retails for $300 and was the only bag to earn perfect scores in water-resistance and abrasion tests. Huddy tell us "This fabric did extremely well in all of our durability tests."
So what kind of fees are you looking at for checking an overweight bag? Right now Southwest charges the lowest fee, $25 for bags between 51 and 70 pounds and $50 for heavier bags. On the high side, United charges $100 for any bag over 50 pounds and next month that fee goes up to $125, and you have to pay that fee each way!
RELATED LINKS: Eagle Creek:
http://dev.eaglecreek.comVictorinox:
http://www.victorinox-travelgear.comBriggs & Riley:
http://www.suitcase.com
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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