I’ve been jonesing for folding luggage for a while, I finally treated myself to some Biaggi folding luggage (affiliate link). The folks in my Facebook group are supposed to be organizing their storage spaces this week, and where there’s a storage, there’s luggage taking up a lot of room. Folding and collapsible items are a great way to save space in your closets. But are they sturdy? Is folding luggage really worth it? I spent my own money to find out.
At about $50 on sale, the price for this carry-on bag was really reasonable. I legitimately needed a new gym bag anyway, so it wasn’t much of a stretch to talk myself into this bag. Right away you can see the size when folded, compared to a standard sized roller-bag. If you store a lot of luggage at home, folding luggage can really help you downsize your closets. In the basement we organized last week, the luggage took up two large storage shelves, which is pretty common.
I purchased this folding suitcase to replace my gym bag. Again, you can see how much smaller the folded item is compared to my gym bag.
When open, it’s nearly the same size as my current bag.
When you unfold the compact cube, you find the bottom wheel panel tucked neatly inside. You kind of flip the whole thing inside out to use it.
It has two zippers to get into the main compartment. You can either reach in through the top, or you can unzip the side flap, which I find much easier to use. With this view, I can see all my gym gear, packed in mesh bags, kind of filed into the bag. There’s even enough room for a pair of shoes, which is usually the deal-breaker in both a gym bag and an airline carry-on bag.
Once packed, I still have enough room for my yoga towel in the outside pocket.
And last but not least, there is a small flat pocket, too, perfect for my membership card.
The bag has handles that snap together as well as a padded shoulder strap. There’s also an ID card window pocket.
This particular folding suitcase has an extra couple of inches that you can expand by unzipping the bottom zipper. I haven’t needed that yet, but it would be really nice on a trip to Paris. It also came with a large packing cube, which I’m a big fan of. But since this takes up about half the bag, I’ll put it in some of my larger luggage.
I haven’t flown with this yet, but I have used it pretty rigorously going to and from the gym, and it feels rugged enough to travel overseas with. It’s also lighter than a standard bag. The real downside for traveling with this folding suitcase would be the lack of a locking handle. You can walk it like a dog by pulling it with the extra long should strap, but that only works on smooth surfaces. Otherwise, be prepared to carry the bag. As of now, I’m a fan of this Biaggi bag. If you have their larger bags that take the place of full-sized suitcases, I’d love to hear what you think.
