I’m back for the second installment of my Summer Travel Series this year with a new kind of post for me. I recently acquired one of the gorgeous hard shell suitcases from ErinCondren.com. As you may have already been able to guess from previous posts, I have become quite the Erin Condren fan over the past 6+ months. I love to share my favorites with you, and the nice folks at Erin Condren noticed! As a thank you, they sent me a gift card in the spring to use on whatever I like, no strings attached. The luggage just happened to be on sale at the time so I took the plunge! Having never owned or tried out this style suitcase before, I was eager to give it a spin (Pun intended! It’s a spinner 😉 ) on a long weekend trip we took earlier this summer for a family reunion. I decided to film an “On The Go” style review of the bag while I was traveling with it for the first time (you can see this footage in the coordinating video below) and share my thoughts with you about this suitcase here as well.
Unfortunately, the stand alone photographs I took of the bag and all of its features did not make it with me out to our family vacation home in Utah where I am currently staying for an extended visit. I did my best to pull images from my video footage, and while I do think they still give you a pretty good sense of the bag, I apologize that they are not higher quality.
I have the large size Quote Party Pops Suitcase in grey. It measures in at 28″ tall x 20.5″ wide x 12″ deep and weighs 10 pounds empty. It is made out of a strong polycarbonate composite and comes embellished with a customizable (if you choose) cast vinyl image. Like I mentioned, this bag is a “spinner” thanks to its four wheel system “allowing for 360 degree maneuverability.” In other words, it spins! The telescoping handle works well and stays secure with a push-button locking system. The suitcase also features a TSA approved lock on the side for security.
The interior is left pretty bare, which I prefer for maximum efficient use of space and to reduce unnecessary added weight to the bag. The reinforced zipper opens so that the bag lays completely flat for ease of packing. There is a long, shallow zip pouch located on the side of the bottom half of the bag and a suspension strap that buckles to keep packed items in place. The top half of the interior features a zip around divider with two shoe pockets and a large, shallow mesh pocket for storing smaller items. This divider zips completely to secure the contents packed into the top half of the bag so that you can then easily close it.
The entire design is simple, straightforward, and effective. I was able to easily pack both my own and my husband’s clothing, accessories, and toiletries for our three day trip into the bag and came just under the weight allowance (50 pounds) even with all of my toiletries! I chose to pack all of of our clothes and softer items in the top half so that I could easily close the bag once I zipped up the dividing partition. Everything else including our toiletry cases, shoes, and beach gear fit nicely in the bottom half secured by the straps. The open design makes packing the bag so easy and the hard shell exterior keeps your items from shifting or being squished in transit. I never thought I would like a hard suitcase so much, but I am officially a convert!
As I mentioned, I used this suitcase for the first time earlier this summer. It was a dream to travel with! I was worried that the hard shell exterior would make it cumbersome and hard to maneuver, and was pleasantly surprised to find it was just the opposite! Not only was it a breeze to wheel around both the airport and our destination thanks to the spinner feature, it was also easy to lift in and out of cars and onto luggage racks thanks to the two handles. Another perk of the bag is that it was super easy to spot at baggage claim. I received many compliments on it at the airport.
The large suitcase is truly the perfect size to pack both of us for three nights. It’s a goldilocks bag; not too small, not too big, but just right. Both Don and I felt comfortable rolling it around and he’s got eight inches on me! I would recommend this bag to anyone in the market for a cute and functional structured suitcase that is a breeze to pack and travel with. I see myself using this bag frequently for our future travel!
You can receive $10 off your first purchase when you sign up for the Erin Condren newsletter (which means you receive the occasional email on current promotions and new products from them) by clicking here.
Unfortunately, I was informed just yesterday by the company that they are not currently stocking the large size suitcase and are not certain if they will be again in the future. If I had this information sooner I would not have posted this review as I do not like to share about a product that is no longer available. I have decided to go ahead with the post still as the large size bag is identical to the currently available medium size option in both construction and utility. The medium bag is available in black and red, measures 24″ tall x 18″ wide x 10.5″ deep and weighs 6.9 pounds empty.
Please accept my most sincere apologies for this snafu. I wish it could have been avoided and I will do my best in the future to ensure I only share products in this way that are easily accessible to you. To be honest, I am quite embarrassed by this unfortunate disconnect. While I chose to make this review independent of Erin Condren, they were aware that I was going to be posting about it and failed to communicate with me about the availability of the bag in a timely manner. I will make every effort to avoid this kind of situation in the future. Thank you for your understanding.
If you’d like a closer look at the Erin Condren large suitcase including how I packed it for our trip and my on the go review, please check out my coordinating video:
In an effort to share the ErinCondren.com love, I am giving away two $350 gift cards. The Erin Condren Suitcase Giveaway will run until Friday, August 22, 2014 at 6 PM CT. The giveaway is open internationally (you can find information about Erin Condren international shipping costs here). All entrants under the age of 18 must have parental permission to enter. Two people will win a $350 electronic gift card good for use on any purchase from ErinCondren.com. You can enter by following the directions in the Rafflecopter widget posted below (check out this blog post for more information on entering Rafflecopter giveaways). I will contact the winners directly though email, as always. Good luck!
*** GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED ***
Congrats to the winners of the Erin Condren Suitcase Giveaway!
The Poll Results for *What is your favorite style luggage?* out of 1767 entries:
Soft Structured (706) 40%
Hardshell (658) 37%
Rolling Duffle (278) 16%
Hand Luggage (115) 7%
Other (10) 1%
Sometimes Rafflecopter experiences technical difficulties. If you can’t enter for some reason, try again later and it will probably work.
I’d love to know what your favorite luggage is. Please share in the comments if you’d like! I’m also interested in any requests for this year’s travel series. Check back next week for a closer look at one of my favorite carry-ons bags, the Case Logic SLRC-206 SLR Camera and 15.4-Inch Laptop Backpack.
Happy Organizing & Safe Travels!
* Post contains affiliate and referral links. ErinCondren.com graciously provided me with a gift card as a thank you gift to use as I please and I chose to purchase this bag. This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are genuinely my own. *
