Hard vs soft luggage – which is better?
Your suitcase will be your most faithful travel partner, so make sure you choose the right one.
1. How are you travelling?
When you’re checking your luggage in for a standard flight, it makes very little difference whether it’s hard or soft. But other modes of transport can be difficult with a hard suitcase. It’s much harder to fit in the back of a taxi or car, and it can be trickier to stow on a bus or train. If you’re taking flights on very small planes your luggage might be restricted even further and hard sided bags can even be banned, so read the fine print.
2. What are you taking?
Hard suitcases can provide more protection if you travel with a lot of breakables, like glass cosmetic bottles or electronics. It’s also good for flimsy souvenirs that you might pick up along the way. If you like to keep all your breakables in your carry on, then soft luggage should suit you fine.
3. Are you an organised packer (and unpacker)?
Soft suitcases will generally come with a few more internal pockets or dividers, allowing you to separate out your items. Hard suitcases tend to be a big empty space. If you like things to be organised, soft luggage is the best bet. Hard suitcases also take up more room than soft, so if you like to live out of your case on the floor of your hotel room (rather than hanging things up) you could find it gets in the way.
4. How often do you travel?
Hard luggage is more durable than soft and will usually stand up to the rough treatment of time in the cargo hold or being dragged around cobblestone streets. If you travel frequently, you’ll want your luggage to be able to survive multiple journeys without showing too much wear and tear.
5. Do you worry about security?
It can be easier to break into a soft suitcase, if only because thieves can simply slash the fabric sides. It’s not usually possible to do this to a hard suitcase, so you are giving yourself an extra layer of protection. However, keep in mind that a good travel lock will usually deter most opportunistic thieves, so most types of suitcase are relatively safe.
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