Trunki - are they worth it? For a 6 year old?

My kids both had one, youngest has just asked me to get rid of hers at 10. We haven't been on a plane with them, just Eurostar, but used them for lots of holidays and grandparent visits. We've had a hell of a lot of use out of them, and they don't seem to have had any wear.

There are two sizes of trunki. I just took the smaller trunki on an easyJet flight as it fits under the seat in front. Was handy as I put all of her entertainment for the flight in it. She’s 2 though, not sure it’s necessary for a 6 year old who can more likely just walk and not need enticed with a toy to get to the gate in time

One of my worst choices.

Clunky, annoying and trying to cart it and the child who wasnt bothered by it plus my own bag through Gatwick with its very long walk to the gate up and down steps (which is full of people who dont think your child is cute on a trunki is painful). They dont really steer so yoi drag them.

On the plane..if you can find a space because everyone else wants one too..you wont have room to open it to get what they require out so it will sit somewhere about 10 metres away mocking you. It's like taking the tou they looked at once on a long trip as you try to get them to engage.

Get a small backpack for them to carry and make your life easier.

My DS has gotten good use from his since he was 2, now 4.5. I couldn't see him still using it at 6yo though

They may have changed the design since we had one - the child in question was 4 and is now 16!
We used it long haul to visit DH’s family in New Zealand. Bloody nightmare!

Ok in the airport although she actually found it uncomfortable and gave up riding it fairly quickly.

But the main issue was it opened in the middle. Which meant to get anything out of it during the flight I had to lift it up onto my lap and open the whole thing out. Inevitably stuff fell out (one side had a mesh thing to hold stuff in but the other didn’t so if I forgot which side was which things cascaded all over the floor) and then I had a bulky case on my lap which prevented me leaning over to pick it up.
We used it for little trips like sleepovers for ages as she liked it but it never, ever again came on a plane with us. Rucksacks only so you can easily slide things in and out!

Awful things. Bulky, don’t hold much, can’t get anything out easily while on the plane. Buy her a nice backpack or proper kids cabin suitcase instead

They're fucking awful! We had one and because it opens in the middle, all your shit just goes everywhere. Especially if you accidentally open it upside down.

no they are a nightmare

I think too old now so not worth it. We got one for our DS at two for first trip abroad and what a massive hassle it was. We haven’t used it since so real waste of money. We recently got pull along Spider-Man suitcases for ours to go on the plane and that was a nice novelty for them, small enough for the cabin and got them used to taking responsibility for their own things.

My children each had one. They were not particularly useful and now, aged 13 and 11, we still have the sodding things knocking around in a spare room, taking up space.

I wouldn't get a child that old a Trunki; they are quite tad baby-ish.

We upgraded our sons trunki to a It luggage trunk ryder.

it had quite a large capacity and different options to ride or pull like a normal suitcase. Our 6 year old loved it and I think it will last him for a good few years!

My two loved theirs but they used them from 2 onwards, by age 6 they were growing out of them really and we switched to Little Miss wheelie cases.

Nope. They have very little capacity, are clunky/hard to open and are only good for dragging kids younger than 6 around an airport (and even then DH nearly brained 3 year old DS after yanking it so hard DS fell off the back).

Depends on the sort of trips you take. DS made a lot of use of it in passport/ security queues which didn't move very quickly.

It's very impractical in terms of space (inside and out) but he liked having place to sit after long flights. (Our families are overseas so he's been flying long haul since he was small) Honestly he merrily sat on that thing for many years. It was a bee and he loved it.

I'd buy it secondhand though, we picked it up at an NCT sale for 1/4 of the new price.

Men think they are a good idea

Women know who is going to end up carrying that shit

We still use it for our six year old but she's had it since young. They are fun to ride and pull around and have been a practical choice for us.

Total waste of money

Just let them roll around on the floor

Oh god I think they are the work of the devil. We had one and DD loved it and I was so happy when it broke while moving house. They are awkward and clunky and heavy and can't be squeezed into a space. I wouldn't recommend them at all. They actually add to stress when travelling with young children

agree, a not to mention a liability to the ankles of the general public when towed around an airport by small children!
if you're taking them as your free item of hand luggage then you also have to open the case fully in half to get anything out for entertainment during the flight. For a child of 6 they'd be better with a backpack that's easier to carry and access their own things midflight.

This thread is helpful as I’ll be taking dd2 for her first holiday this year and was considering one. I cannot see her staying riding on one without falling off, running off or trying to launch it at someone. She’s 2 but is a little sod 🤣

replying to my own comment to say that it looks like the capacity of a Trunki (18.5L) is actually less than advertised Ryanair-approved small under seat bags (20L) so maybe not worth it purely for getting round the size limit… false economy!

Don't buy one if you can avoid it.

My DD is 10 and still loves hers, to the point where she insists on using it as her case for all our holidays. But not all her stuff fits in it any more so she ends up sharing my case too. Would love to sneak it off to the charity shop...

I found them more hassle than they were worth for holidays abroad. They are really tricky to open on the plane and you can't fit that much into them. A backpack is much easier.

However mine liked using them for UK based holidays and sleepovers where space wasn't so much of an issue.