New luggage styles make me happy

I’m like everyone else – I don’t want to pay an airline fee to check my bag, so I’ve become a master of the carry-on luggage.  We all have.  And the overhead storage bins are paying the price as travelers hold up the line of passengers while they try to jam their overstuffed bag into an impossibly small space.

I hadn’t really thought about getting a new roll-aboard suitcase, but I just came across an article reporting on the annual Travel Goods Show in Las Vegas.  Luggage manufacturers are coming up with some really cool new stuff!MSNBC’s article explains:

Some, like the new Baseline CX series from Briggs & Riley can be expanded or compressed with a simple push — perfect for when you buy a bunch of new clothes on a shopping trip — while others, like the new Moda from Biaggi, fold up when not in use to make the most of limited storage space.

Here’s a sneak peek at several items that will be showing up on store shelves in the coming months:

Biaggi Moda
The company’s tag line — Welcome to the Fold — sums up the philosophy at Biaggi, a new brand launched by industry veterans in February. All bags feature four swiveling wheels for smooth mobility, along with a patented hinge and soft sides that let you fold each bag in on itself for easy storage. The 20-inch Moda carry-on ($219), for example, compresses to roughly half its traveling size. It and the company’s other products are expected to be in stores soon.

Briggs & Riley Baseline CX
While most expandable bags force you to circumnavigate their perimeter with a zipper, this collection from Briggs & Riley uses a unique customized expansion system. Pop a latch to expand the bag, pack it as full as you want, then close it up and push on the lid to squeeze out the air, which minimizes wrinkles and reduces the bag’s profile by roughly 25 percent. Offered in five sizes ($399–$549), they’ll be available in August.

Eagle Creek Crossroads Roll-Away 30
With 6,300 cubic inches of capacity, the Crossroads Roll-Away 30 ($150) is big enough to handle heavy-duty, extended travel. When in use, wheels, exterior compression straps and a full-panel front opening make it easy to manage; when it’s not, its collapsible design lets you fold it up to the size of a messenger bag.

Kiva Designs Stowaway Messenger
Long-known for its compressible packing cubes, Kiva Designs goes into convertible mode with the Stowaway Messenger ($49.95). Made of recycled polyester fabric, it’s an 11” x 16” x 5” messenger bag with a drawstring closure, two exterior mesh pockets and a zippered interior pocket that serves as a carrying case. Stuff the bag into it and you’ve got a 6” x 9” x 2” pouch that takes up no room at all.