Baggage check: In search of better luggage prices on the Web

My Samsonite carry-on wore its scuffs, tears and even a small cigar burn with an air of well-traveled dignity. It had been my trusty travel companion for seven years, efficiently hauling my clothing and other essentials to five continents, logging thousands of air miles snug in the overhead bin.

I had perfected the art of packing it; it could hold most everything I needed, even for extended trips. I loved that bag.

So I was distressed when it popped its zipper in Alaska, but I was consoled by thoughts of finding a village cobbler who could resuscitate it. Still, I worried that the repaired case would not hold up to the rigors of my perfected (read “stuff-till-the-seams-burst”) packing method. And then my eye began to wander.

I was in a department store when I first saw it. It had a name like an Italian sports car: the Ultra 3000 XLT 550.

Outwardly, it looked like my old bag. The dimensions were identical, and it was a Samsonite. But the comparison ended there.

The Ultra 3000 Sideroller Carry-on Upright Suiter weighs less, carries more because of some nifty design tricks, comes with removable laundry and shoe bags, a toiletry kit, a neat little suiter for business attire and rubberized handles. It can be wheeled forward or sideways, helpful for dragging through crowded aircraft aisles. My affection, I am not proud to say, had been won.

Except for one minor detail: price. I checked several stores and the best price I could find was about $145. The price at luggage stores was no better. I even checked a warehouse store, which had a similar bag but not the one I wanted.

Determined to find a better deal, I went online. I typed “Samsonite 3000” into a Yahoo search and up popped several encouraging shopping options.

At Luggageonline.com, I found the bag for $118 plus $10 shipping; at Ebags.com, one of the top-ranked luggage sites according to the website ranking service Alexa.com, I found it for the same $118 including shipping. I found similar offers on other sites, and then I struck gold. Luggagebase.com offered it for $99, including shipping, nearly $20 less than I had found it elsewhere.

I was unfamiliar with Luggagebase.com, so I clicked its “about us” button, figuring it was in some far-off corner of the world and shipping would be on a slow boat from China. It’s actually a family-owned company that has been in business since 1971 in the coastal California town of Nipomo. It provides a physical address on its website and directions to the store.

Reassured, I ordered the Ultra, hoping that it would arrive in time for a London trip in two weeks. It arrived on my doorstep three days later.

It has been a good match. On our first trip, I marveled at the smooth ride of its “soft spin” wheels and luxury of its “comfort grip” handle. The side wheels eased navigation of the narrow airplane aisles.

Some may argue that it’s not right to shop a bricks-and-mortar store and turn around and buy online. Perhaps. But Luggagebase.com has a showroom you can visit if you happen to be passing through Nipomo.

It’s not a good idea to blindly order from a site just because it has the lowest price. To find out more about the site, go to www.whois.com, enter the domain name and click on “whois lookup.” You also can go to www.bbbonline.org and see if the organization is listed with the Better Business Bureau. Alexa.com also lists websites by popularity. That doesn’t guarantee quality, but it does suggest consumer confidence.

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Contact James Gilden at

www.theinternettraveler.com.