As you may have read, Jason (aka Mr. MilesQuest himself), is on injured reserve right now due to a pretty serious auto accident that left him with a head wound, shattered left wrist, and a broken and dislocated right wrist.  Jason has undergone several surgeries and is on the road to recovery, but isn’t able to post as frequently as he would like right now.  He was actually scheduled to fly out to LA to meet up with about a dozen BoardingArea bloggers at BlogWorld the day after his accident.  While at dinner in LA we were all very saddened to hear not only of his serious injuries, but also to learn that we wouldn’t have the chance to meet Jason in person on that trip.

While we can’t do much to help Jason heal faster, many of the BoardingArea bloggers were very excited at the opportunity to contribute to MilesQuest while Jason is focusing on getting better.  So, over the next couple of months you will see guest posts on MilesQuest by many bloggers including: Randy Peterson, Live from a Lounge, Deals We Like, The Weekly Flyer, The Frequent Miler, The Wandering Aramean, View from the Wing, Plane ‘n Simple, and more….  Today I have the privilege of contributing to MilesQuest and kicking off this series of guest posts, so without further ado, here is a review of the Briggs & Riley 20″ Expandable Upright Wide-body Carry-on, brought to you by Mommy Points.

I decided to do a guest post about this piece of luggage since MilesQuest has written several great posts about different pieces of luggage that Jason’s family uses when they travel.  Here are a few of those reviews that Jason has written:

Tom Bihn Checkpoint Flyer Bag Review

Skooba Designs Cable Strap DLX

LL Bean Large Personal Organizer

Another reason it made sense to write this review now is that a new piece of luggage may make the perfect holiday gift for someone in your family (or for yourself!), so the timing seems perfect!  Until recently I had never really given much thought to luggage.  I had an old duffel type bag (don’t laugh!) that worked really well for me.  It held a long weekend’s worth of items, and was easily stored either in the overhead bin, or under the seat in front of me.  It wasn’t fancy, but it was pretty functional.  While I did have some larger luggage for longer trips, I primarily used that duffel for our 2-4 day trips for the better part of a decade.  That all changed when we started traveling with our daughter.  Traveling with infants and toddlers means that you have to bring all sorts of stuff with you through the airport and on the plane.  My husband often serves in the role of  “donkey”.  This basically means that he carries most of the stuff, while I take care of the little one.  About four months ago he made an official proclamation that I was no longer “allowed” to bring a duffel bag with us on trips if he was the one who was going to be lugging it through the airport.

That made total sense to me, and I actually felt pretty silly for not thinking of that earlier!  I then set out to find a high-quality, durable, classic, affordable carry-on.  After doing some research, I decided that I would like to purchase a piece of luggage that is going to hold up for many years rather than a cheapo bag that would likely end up in the trash after a year or two.  I read very good things about the Briggs & Riley brand of luggage, and decided on the Briggs & Riley 20″ Expandable Upright Wide-body Carry-on.  At the time it was selling on Amazon from Luggage Terminal for around $200.00.  Keeping in mind that I routinely traveled with a $30 duffel bag, the $200 price tag stung a bit at first, but I quickly decided it was worth it once the bag arrived.

Here are a few of the reasons I am glad I packed away my duffel bag and upgraded to the Briggs and Riley Carry-on:

• All Briggs and Riley bags have a lifetime warranty.  Their “Simple as that” guarantee will cover the repair of all functional aspects of Briggs & Riley bags for life. The warranty does not cover cosmetic wear or cleaning, nor does it cover the replacement of lost or stolen bags and/or its content.  They have Authorized Repair Centers you can bring your bag to, or for more significant repairs you can send the bag in to the official repair center in Hauppauge, NY.  Your only cost is shipping the bag to the center.  All other costs incurred are covered by Briggs and Riley.  I love knowing that my bag will continue to be functional for many, many years to come.
• This bag is insanely light-weight and is very simple to pull around the airport.  My toddler carries it around empty with no problem.  She can even maneuver it when full.  Of course, she is not yet the one carrying luggage, but I give that example to demonstrate how light-weight and easy to maneuver it is.

• The different inside pockets and panels are very helpful for keeping everything in its place.  My clothes come out looking much better than they did in my old bag.

• This bag was made as a carry-on and fits perfectly in the overhead bins I have utilized over the last four months.  This model was designed to be a little short and a little fat, so it goes into the overhead bins easily while still giving you maximum packing space.
• I have had to check this bag a few times now due to carrying on much of my toddler’s items and it has held up extremely well so far.  In fact, it still looks brand new despite going through the airline’s luggage torture chamber.
• It just plain looks nice.  I can’t say I ever cared that my old bag didn’t look nice, but I do appreciate how much nicer this bag looks when I travel.  I certainly wouldn’t buy it just for that reason, but it doesn’t hurt.
• I can easily put 3-4 days worth of items in this bag.  I am not the kind of person who will travel around the world with only a carry-on bag, but I can certainly fit several days worth of items in this bag easily without having to steal some of the space in my husband’s bag!
• My husband took this bag with him on his last work trip to Vegas, and has two additional points to make about the carry-on.  The first is that the wheels are large enough that they don’t catch on small bumps, cracks or grooves, making movement effortless, and second, that even when full, the bag is well-balanced.  This means that on long treks through airport terminals and gargantuan casino hotel lobbies, there isn’t too much weight near the handle that would cause wrist or arm fatigue.  His years of being the donkey have given him expert knowledge of what causes fatigue and what doesn’t. 🙂

I can no longer find the exact color/model that I purchased, but there are many similar carry-on options available directly from Briggs and Riley.  They are also having a sale right now that will give you $50 off for every $250 you spend and free shipping on all orders $99 and up.  Many other baggage retailers also sell Briggs and Riley bags, so be sure to shop around and get the best deal.  There are even some retailers available through shopping portals, such as the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.

In the photos, you may have spotted a beautiful “More Miles” bag tag on my new piece of luggage.  It is a great conversation starter in the airport and helps you quickly identify your bag from all the other not-as-cool bags that don’t have the “More Miles” bag tag.  I received this tag by attaining “Silver Status” from posting on Milepoint, however in honor of kicking off the round of guest posts on MilesQuest, you can have one today just for asking!  We have five bag tags to give away to the first five people who leave a comment on this post proclaiming their burning desire to have a More Miles bag tag of their very own.  If you are one of the first five to comment requesting a tag, just shoot me an email at mommypoints@hotmail.com with your name and mailing address and we’ll get it sent out to you.  Thanks MilePoint for supporting this giveaway!

So, there you have it.  My husband can now travel with me without being unhappy about lugging the duffel bag.  You can have your own super cool bag tag.  I don’t look quite as homeless when traveling, and my daughter will be able to pull this bag herself any day now.  ;)  Feel free to let me know if you have any questions about the bag and I’ll be happy to answer.

 

Briggs and Riley did not provide me with a product to review or in any other way participate in this post.  I just bought their bag and wanted to share with you how much I think it rocks!