Hard or soft large suitcase for long haul?

[Rollingdownland]

I'm going for a winter sun holiday and need to buy a large suitcase - we only ever go to Europe so have never needed a big one before.

Do I buy hard or soft? I know it's ridiculous but I have absolutely no idea which to go for and don't want to waste £100+ and wish I'd got the other sort.

Thank you!

We’ve only ever had soft, they take up less space when not in use.

Soft! The amount of smashed hard shells I've seen on the conveyor belt at airports has put me right off them.

I suppose it depends if you're packing breakable things that need protection. Also large suitcases get very heavy, you have to be able to manage your own bag.

I’ve had both. I prefer soft. They tend to be roomier (can always squash an extra pair of socks in). Also less likely to get damaged (ironically). Only benefit of hard is the clamshell opening which can be nice. My dad is a regular long haul flyer (multiple times a month for 40 years) and he’s always used soft as they last longer.

I prefer soft. The zips bust.
DH prefers hard. The shells crack.

Don't buy too big - you can get WAY more than 22kg in a large suitcase.

I bought a hard case earlier this year for a trip and on its first use, the zip burst and the corners were really badly scuffed and damaged. Thankfully, i was able to return to due to the zip. I’ve gone back to a soft case. Much better for me.

I prefer hard case for anything checked in. If it’s being checked in it’s filthy under the plane in hold, and on conveyor belt. And can be left piled up in rain outside. Hard shell easy to wipe.
I would only get a medium side though not large. Medium easily fits 20+ kg in packed, so larger is too easy to over pack and be overweight

eastpak xs soft case for hand luggage.

Our hard cases are Tripp. They are really reasonable and outlasted our old Samsonite ones. They have been hot and cold climate, full overseas relocations, chucked on boats and trains.

https://www.tripp.co.uk/suitcases/hard-suitcases/c210/amp

Wow this is all so helpful. I was erring towards hard but now I'm thinking soft. The storage (when not using) is definitely an issue.

Thank you

Anecdata, based on having had a couple of late twentieth century Delsey suitcases survive >10-15 years of at one point almost weekly use.

Hard shell is best if you are thinking of packing anything breakable (the point made by @howdoesyourgardengrowinmay ) and generally hard shells stand up to the handling they get on the ramp better than soft cases, (point made by @Caspianberg ).

But..watch out for some of the newer hard shells with fancy protruding swivel wheels, all well and good rolling around the concourse but they are vulnerable to being ripped off (along with some of the shell)..and as others have said if you are tempted to go really big there's a temptation to overload.

It's not about the distance surely, but the content? I've had both and I currently favour eastpack soft. I use their large backpack and there cabin wheely thing though so they only get checked occasionally. Easy to store when not in use, holds tons, tough material and zips (they actually mildly irritate me that they're not looser!)

Its worth checking out the airlines luggage policy. For taking onboard with you I would go with soft. In the hold would do hard, as they get thrown about and can wipe clean.

We have both. Hard shell turned 30 last year. The larger soft shell had to be replaced after 15.

We also have a smaller soft shell which is used for short trips and the weakness is always the wheels, not the frame for us. But being chucked around 8x a year on average is hard on everything.

Disadvantages for hard shell - the weight itself. For soft shell - you need to buy one with strong zips and frame. Definitely do your research.

The luggage weight limit is 23kg, that's a medium suitcase (mine weight 23.5 but she ignored it thankfully last holiday!)

I've always had soft

Soft because the hard ones weigh so much just on their own.

Large suitcases are really quite big. The biggest we’ve used in recent memory are large mediums. I ended up replacing an old Samsonite soft with a John Lewis own brand. It’s called a ‘lightweight’, please avoid anything like this as the way lightweight is achieved is a softer interior frame meaning there is no support to handle bases. Samsonite soft cases are great and my only 2 reservations are - too many interior packing pouches (but you can take them out) and odd extension zip method (it’s the inner zip that extends capacity)

I use Eastpak soft cases. You don’t get the four-wheel design (at least not on any of mine) but two wheels has always been fine for me. And as PPs have said, easier to store. And they’re rugged.

One advantage of soft is that I find them better for travelling in buses and trains when it may be crowded and you may well not have luggage spaces available or within reach. And soft cases seem more packable in the back/boot of taxis.

I’ve never had any problem with breakables like glass bottles: I put them between the clothes. But I can see that there could be very delicate items that you’d want a hard shell case for.

Very true about 2 wheels verses 4. I’d add that, for train travel, we stopped using anything bigger than a 55cm cabin bag. That’s the really big cabin bags that are not taken by all airlines. However, 3 of these on a 2 week holiday by train (all have 2 wheels) all much more manageable

23kg is a massive amount of clothing, you probably wont need a large suitcase. I prefer hard case (and have never seen a smashed or cracked hard case when travelling) because I take my own shampoo and conditioner and if I'm bringing delicate gifts back with me they are better protected.

I have a Rock Lite and travel long haul / frequently - like four+ times a year. They stand up to wear and tear well and are very lightweight (so you get more actual lugguage and less suitcase!
https://www.rockluggage.com/collections/rocklite

They look good. How do they feel when lifting with the handles? Our medium size John Lewis lightweight had a design failure in this regard as there was no support to frame in the lift making it back breaking and flimsy to lift

I fly long haul dozens of times a year, some times with three kids in tow. I use Eastpak (soft) now. So much more versatile and i have never had anything broken.

We got two samsonite hard cases when we got married (more than 15 years ago) and they're still in great condition, apart from the locking mechanism has broken on one.
We have since bought some of the IT soft cases and they also seem good.

I've used this for long haul https://www.eastpak.com/uk-en/luggage-c140/trans4-m-black-pEK81L008+00+999.html
Also had the two wheel version but it's much harder to handle when full. I'd say a good quality soft case is better than hard shell from past experience.

Samsonite soft cases we had for 15 years wore out in the end but are very well built and it seems to be a case (pun intended) of getting what you pay for from Samsonite.

I have a 55cm IT luggage bag, it’s very good. No inner suit area on the lid though