Choosing the best luggage for international travel can be daunting with so many options available. The Travel + Leisure team rigorously tested nearly 700 travel bags to help you find the perfect fit for your needs. From carry-ons and checked suitcases to duffels, weekenders, and backpacks, we’ve evaluated them all.
In our New York City lab, we simulated airplane conditions, lifting bags into overhead bins and fitting them under seats. We tested durability with baseball bats and maneuverability through obstacle courses. This guide prioritizes spacious checked bags for generous packing and compact bags suitable for international size and weight limits, which are often stricter than domestic requirements.
Whether you’re planning a two-week European vacation or a quick trip on a budget airline, our list has something for every traveler, including collapsible suitcases and portable garment bags.
Our Top Picks
Here’s a quick look at our top luggage choices for international travel:
- Best Overall: July Large Luggage
- Best Carry-on: Away The Carry-On
- Best Medium Checked: Travelpro Maxlite Air Medium Check-In Hardside Spinner
- Best Large Capacity: Briggs & Riley Extra Large Trunk Spinner
- Best Carry-on Backpack: Cotopaxi Allpa 35L Travel Pack
- Best Duffel: Patagonia Black Hole 40L Duffel Bag
- Best Softside Carry-on: Antler Soft Stripe Carry-On
- Best Softside Checked: Samsonite Elevation Plus Large Softside Spinner
- Best Foldable Suitcase: Lipault Foldable Plume Cabin
- Best Suitcase With Brakes: Aer Carry-On Max
Detailed Reviews of the Best International Travel Luggage
Best Overall: July Large Luggage
July Large Luggage at July.com
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Why We Love It: This suitcase offers the largest capacity on our list and includes a compression system for maximizing space for your international travels.
What to Consider: At 10.5 pounds empty, be mindful of weight limits when packing.
The July Large Luggage is perfect for long international trips when you want the comforts of home. Its spacious design easily holds two weeks’ worth of outfits and shoes. As the largest bag in July’s lineup, it features a durable built-in compression system to keep clothes secure. It also includes zippered pockets, a laundry bag, and a water-resistant nylon lining.
During testing, the wheels glided smoothly over various surfaces, and the adjustable handle suited different heights. The outer shell withstood multiple drops and baseball bat hits without denting or damaging the contents.
The Details:
- Type: Checked suitcase
- Dimensions: 30.25 x 19.75 x 12.5 inches
- Weight: 10.5 pounds
- Capacity: 110 liters
- Material: Polycarbonate
- Wheels: 4 dual spinner wheels
Best Carry-on: Away The Carry-On
Away The Carry-On at Away Travel
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Why We Love It: Its compact size easily fits in overhead bins while offering surprising packing space, ideal for international trips.
What to Consider: It’s not expandable, limiting flexibility for overpacking or bringing souvenirs home.
Away is a leading luggage brand, and The Carry-On is a great option for international travel. Its compact size and ample packing space make it ideal for navigating international airlines. Despite its capacity, the bag remains light and easy to lift. It rolls smoothly over carpet and tile.
Organizational features include a 50/50 clamshell opening, a compression panel, straps, and zippered pockets. The hardside polycarbonate shell proved durable in our tests.
The Details:
- Type: Carry-on
- Dimensions: 21.7 x 14.4 x 9 inches
- Weight: 7.5 pounds
- Capacity: 39.8 liters
- Material: Polycarbonate
- Wheels: 4 dual spinner wheels
Best Medium Checked: Travelpro Maxlite Air Medium Check-In Hardside Spinner
Travelpro Maxlite Air Medium Check-In Hardside Spinner at Travel Pro
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Why We Love It: Built-in compression panels and a 2-inch expander maximize space in this medium-sized checked bag.
What to Consider: The handle’s limited adjustability may not suit all travelers.
A medium checked bag, like the Travelpro Maxlite Air, is versatile for many trips. It easily accommodated our packing lists thanks to compression panels. The 2-inch expansion offers extra room for longer trips.
Lightweight and maneuverable, it features smooth-gliding wheels on various surfaces. Durability testing revealed only minor scuffs, with contents remaining well-protected.
The Details:
- Type: Checked suitcase
- Dimensions: 27.5 x 17.5 x 11 inches
- Weight: 8.5 pounds
- Capacity: 89 liters
- Material: Polycarbonate
- Wheels: 4 dual spinner wheels
- Special Features: Expandable
Best Large Capacity: Briggs & Riley Extra Large Trunk Spinner
Briggs & Riley Extra Large Trunk Spinner at Amazon
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Why We Love It: This trunk is the largest bag on this list and can easily be shared by multiple people.
What to Consider: Because it’s so large, it may be hard to stay within your airline’s weight limit when packed full.
For a large checked bag that ensures your belongings’ safety, the Briggs & Riley Extra Large Trunk Spinner is an excellent option. Dubbed an “absolute monster” during testing, its 123.9-liter capacity and 32.5-inch height make it ideal for long trips or family packing.
The 80/20 lid reveals two deep compartments with compression panels and zippered pockets. Despite denting during durability testing, the polycarbonate hardside shell offers ample protection. It remains surprisingly easy to wheel, even when packed.
The Details:
- Type: Checked suitcase
- Dimensions: 32.5 x 16.5 x 15.5 inches
- Weight: 10.4 pounds
- Capacity: 123.9 liters
- Material: Makrolon polycarbonate
- Wheels: 4 dual spinner wheels
Best Carry-on Backpack: Cotopaxi Allpa 35L Travel Pack
Cotopaxi Allpa 35L Travel Pack at Amazon
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Why We Love It: This backpack offers ample packing space and comfortable carry.
What to Consider: Its minimal structure requires strategic packing to avoid sagging.
The Cotopaxi Allpa 35L Travel Pack effectively replaces a carry-on bag. It opens like a suitcase for easy packing and has a relatively unstructured style. Several zippered pockets and compartments aid organization, including a 15-inch laptop pocket.
Made from TPU-coated nylon with a rain cover, it ensures your belongings stay dry. Handles on all sides ease lifting. Padded back and waist belt enhance comfort during travel.
The Details:
- Type: Carry-on backpack
- Dimensions: 22 x 12 x 10 inches
- Weight: 2.94 pounds
- Capacity: 35 liters
- Material: Recycled 840D TPU-coated nylon, recycled 840-denier ballistic ripstop nylon, recycled ripstop polyester lining
Best Duffel: Patagonia Black Hole 40L Duffel Bag
Patagonia Black Hole 40L Duffel Bag at Amazon
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Why We Love It: Versatile carrying straps enable use as a backpack and duffel.
What to Consider: The glossy exterior might not suit everyone’s style.
The Patagonia Black Hole Duffel functions as a carry-on or personal item and converts into a backpack. It features a 40-liter capacity, a spacious pocket under the lid, and external zippered compartments. The rugged, ripstop fabric is thick and water-resistant, and it’s made from recycled materials. It collapses into a small inner pocket for easy storage.
The Details:
- Type: Carry-on Duffel
- Dimensions: 19.7 x 12.5 x 8.5 inches
- Weight: 2.1 pounds
- Capacity: 40 liters
- Material: Recycled polyester ripstop with a recycled TPU-film laminate
Best Softside Carry-on: Antler Soft Stripe Carry-On
Antler Soft Stripe Carry-On at Antler.com
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Why We Love It: This ultralightweight bag is just over 4 pounds when empty, making it easy to carry on international flights.
What to Consider: The zippers and wheels could run more smoothly.
If you prefer softside luggage, the Antler Soft Stripe Carry-On is among the lightest options available. Weighing just over 4 pounds, it’s ideal for airlines with strict weight requirements. Its compact size demands mindful packing, but its flexibility enables squeezing in extra items.
The carry-on features a flap opening, one main compartment, and two large pockets. While zippers and wheels could be smoother, it remains a top recommendation when weight is a priority.
The Details:
- Type: Carry-on
- Dimensions: 21.7 x 13.8 x 8.3 inches
- Weight: 4.19 pounds
- Capacity: 32 liters
- Material: Recycled polyester
- Wheels: 4 dual spinner wheels
Best Softside Checked: Samsonite Elevation Plus Large Softside Spinner
Samsonite Elevation Plus Large Softside Spinner at Samsonite
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Why We Love It: More flexible than most hardside bags, this softside bag expands even further for overpackers.
What to Consider: The handle can be difficult to adjust.
This spacious suitcase from Samsonite has interior and exterior pockets to keep items organized. Its softside construction naturally expands, with a 2-inch expander. Despite its weight at 10 pounds, it’s easy to pull. The thick exterior fabric is tear- and scuff-resistant.
The Details:
- Type: Checked suitcase
- Dimensions: 29.8 x 20 x 11.5 inches
- Weight: 10 pounds
- Special Features: Expandable
- Material: Recyclex
- Wheels: 4 dual spinner wheels
Best Foldable Suitcase: Lipault Foldable Plume Cabin
Lipault Foldable Plume Cabin at Lipault-usa.com
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Why We Love It: This bag compresses flat enough to fit in the bottom of a checked bag for extra souvenirs.
What to Consider: It only has two fixed wheels.
Packing a foldable bag for souvenirs is convenient, but those bags often lack structure. The Lipault Foldable Plume Cabin offers a serious extra-bag solution. Aside from the back skeleton, it’s fully compressible. You can fold it down to a remarkably flat size. While flattened, it feels sturdy. Two large zippered pockets and an exterior pocket offer storage.
The Details:
- Type: Carry-on
- Dimensions: 21.7 x 14.6 x 8.7 inches
- Weight: 5.2 pounds
- Material: Nylon
- Wheels: 2 standard wheels
Best Suitcase With Brakes: Aer Carry-On Max
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Why We Love It: The easy-to-use brake system prevents the suitcase from rolling away in busy places.
What to Consider: It’s fairly large and may not fit in the overhead bins on smaller planes.
Crafted from durable polycarbonate, the Aer Carry-On Max features an ergonomic handle with four settings. Its standout feature, an integrated brake system, is easily enabled with a button. This is useful on public transport or inclines. Inside, find a zippered compartment, a Y-shaped compression pad, and a hidden pocket.
The Details:
- Type: Carry-on
- Dimensions: 22.7 x 15 x 9 inches
- Weight: 8.4 pounds
- Capacity: 48-liter
- Material: Makrolon polycarbonate
- Wheels: 4 dual spinner wheels
- Integrated break system
Most Durable: Samsonite Uplift Hardside Carry-on
Samsonite Uplift Hardside Carry-on at Amazon
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Why We Love It: This bag is strong but still very lightweight, making it ideal for international travel.
What to Consider: We wish there were more pockets for organization inside, but packing cubes can help.
This carry-on from Samsonite is compact and lightweight at just over 5 pounds. Even though it’s lightweight, it stood up supremely well after being hit repeatedly with a metal baseball bat, save for a few scuffs. The zippers ran smoothly with zero snagging, and the wheels rolled well. It also has a few handy features to make travel more convenient, including expandable sides; an ergonomic carrying handle; and a built-in, TSA-approved lock.
The Details:
- Type: Carry-on
- Dimensions: 22 x 14 x 9 inches
- Weight: 5.07 pounds
- Special Features: Expandable
- Material: Polycarbonate
- Wheels: 4 dual spinner wheels
Best Packable Backpack: Bellroy Lite Daypack
Bellroy Lite Daypack at Amazon
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Why We Love It: This backpack is well padded and durable but squishes down to a small size for easy packing, adding versatility to your travel gear.
What to Consider: We wish there were sleeves or pockets on the outside for a water bottle.
Packable backpacks are great to tuck into a suitcase for extra storage when heading home from vacation, but many are flimsy and lack structure. This isn’t the case with the Bellroy Lite Daypack, which is well-padded but able to lie quite flat when empty. During testing, we were able to fit our entire packing list for a day out with room to spare. The main compartment has a few organizational features for small items, including two elastic pockets, a zippered pouch, and a laptop sleeve.
The Details:
- Type: Personal Item Bag
- Dimensions: 18.9 x 10.6 x 7 inches
- Weight: 12.4 ounces
- Material: Nylon
- Special Features: Water-Resistant
Best Rolling Duffel: Eagle Creek Cargo Hauler
Eagle Creek Cargo Hauler at Amazon
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Why We Love It: You can choose to either roll or carry this duffel, and it comes with a handy packing cube for easy organization.
What to Consider: There’s no frame to support the bag, so it won’t stand up on its own.
Designed with an extremely large capacity, this 130-liter rolling duffel is spacious enough to fit multiple weeks’ worth of clothing with ease. Heavy-duty external compression straps keep everything in place, while extra rugged wheels are made to ease the pain of lugging heavy loads across campsites or through the airport. We loved the storage bag that’s included, which you can use as a packing cube to help keep things organized.
The Details:
- Type: Checked Bag
- Dimensions: 34 x 13.75 x 15 inches
- Weight: 4.44 pounds
- Material: 800D nylon dobby, 1680D ballistic polyester, recycled 200D polyester
Best Trunk: Paravel Aviator Trunk
Paravel Aviator Trunk on Tourparavel.com
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Why We Love It: It has deep, spacious compartments, and the option to add on packing cubes with interchangeable labels, for easy organization during your international trip.
What to Consider: You have to pay extra for the packing cubes, which could add to the overall cost.
The Paravel Aviator Trunk is a dream for organization. With a 95-liter capacity and packing cubes, you’d think packing two weeks’ worth of clothing inside this spacious trunk would get messy, but there are plenty of special features to keep everything in its rightful place. The suitcase’s interior features a 70/30 split, with the shallower side featuring two zippered pockets. The deeper side is perfect for holding the packing cubes.
The Details:
- Type: Checked Suitcase
- Dimensions: 31 x 16.67 x 13.88 inches
- Weight: 12.3 pounds
- Material: Recycled Polycarbonate and Vegan Leather
Other Luggage We Liked
Here are some other pieces we can recommend for some travelers, although they weren’t quite suited for our main list:
- Tumi International Dual Access 4-wheeled Carry-on: Dual-access compartments are convenient for accessing your belongings, but ultimately we docked points as they eat into the main compartment space in this compact carry-on.
- Arlo Skye The Frame Carry-on: This carry-on is compact yet spacious and comes with a removable charger, but the wheels and handle didn’t function as smoothly as some other bags on this list.
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- Peak Design Travel Backpack: Generously sized and comfortable to carry for long periods, this is a great backpack for outdoor enthusiasts. However, the sporty aesthetic may not appeal to everyone’s sense of style.
- Beis The Small Carry-on Roller: This little bag provided a decent amount of packing space for its size, and we thought it would be useful for staying organized on short trips. That being said, the wheels didn’t roll smoothly, and it was hard to maneuver.
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- Delsey Paris Cruise 3.0 26-inch Trunk: We loved how this trunk is split 80/20, which is ideal for separating your wardrobe from accessories, shoes, toiletries, and more. We also appreciated how there’s a handy weight indicator built into the handle to help you avoid overweight baggage fees. Our main gripe with this trunk, however, is that we wish there were more pockets and compartments to keep everything organized.
- Calpak Hue Trunk Luggage: Though we love the Paravel Aviator trunk in our main list above because it has better organizational features for a long trip, this is another great trunk option for a lower price — and it’s expandable.
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Our Testing Process
The T+L team tested nearly 700 carry-on and checked suitcases, and other travel bags including backpacks, duffels, and more in our New York City lab. We recreated an airplane set to best test carry-on bags just like we would on a real plane. Our first task was weighing the bags ourselves to make sure they were in line with their product descriptions, and then we performed a range of tests to assess the capacity, design, value, and durability of the bags. We also took careful note of their maneuverability, portability, and how comfortable they are to carry. We packed each size with a different amount of clothing and toiletries, from a week’s worth of essentials for a checked bag to two days of clothing for weekenders.
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To see how the bags would perform in a real-life setting, we rolled them around on a variety of different floor types, including an obstacle course designed to test their maneuverability. We also hoisted them into overhead bins on our mock airplane, slung them over our shoulders, and stuffed them under real airplane seats. Next, for durability testing, we shoved each piece off a high countertop repeatedly and struck it all over with a metal baseball bat in order to evaluate potential wear and tear. The pieces that earned the best feedback in all testing categories were selected for this roundup. After our initial tests, we continued to see how the bags fared over the course of six months in the real world.
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Tips for Buying a Suitcase for International Travel
When choosing luggage for international travel, keep these tips in mind to ensure a smooth and stress-free journey:
Choose a size that’s right for your travels
Consider your trip length and packing habits. Short trips or light packers may prefer a carry-on, backpack, or duffel bag. Longer trips or those needing more options should consider a larger carry-on or checked bag.
The standard domestic carry-on size is 22 x 14 x 9 inches, but international airlines often require smaller bags. Always check with your airline to avoid gate-checking your bag.
Look for lightweight construction
Lightweight luggage helps maximize your weight allowance. Softside suitcases made of polyester and nylon are often the most lightweight, while hardside shells made of polycarbonate, polypropylene, and ABS are great options as well. Standard carry-ons weigh around 7 pounds, with lighter options ranging from 4.5 to 6.5 pounds when empty. Checked suitcases typically range from 8-11 pounds.
