In today’s review, we’re going to review a luggage set that carries that traditional look that you rarely see anymore. Most bags today especially the cheaper ones have a lot going on in terms of the design to make it seem like they are more expensive than they truly are.
This bag, however, does the opposite and goes for a simple and elegant design. It’s honestly one of the sleekest luggage bags I’ve seen on here, especially in this price range.
The name of the bag is American Tourister Stratum XLT Expandable Hardside Luggage With Spinner Wheels. The particular SKU of the product that I’ll be reviewing is the 3-piece set version.
Each of the bags are also available to be sold separately but I chose to focus on the set since all the three bags included in the set have the same quality.
American Tourister Stratum XLT Expandable Hardside Luggage Review: A Quick Product Overview
The first thing that you will notice on this bag is the simplicity of the design. As I’ve said, it has that sort of traditional yet modern look that not a lot of bag has.
It’s like seeing a modern house. Modern houses of today look to be just blocks, rid of all the intricate designs, but there’s something about the simple geometry that catches the eye. This bag gives the same vibe.
The review unit I have is the Blue Spruce colorway. You can only select one color for the 3-piece set. If you want different colors for each, you need to order each of the items separately.
The total price of this set is $199.13. For simplicity’s sake, we’re just going to divide the total price by 3 to get the average pricing for each. That should come out ~$66 for each.
That pricing puts it in the midrange but many would even consider this pushing onto the high range because of how cheap luggage bags are nowadays. It’s in the midrange.
If you buy each bag separately, the total would be ~$250. Going by this fact alone, getting the 3-piece set is the economical choice. But if you don’t really need 3 bags, you can always buy just one.
Either way, the discount should not be the only deciding factor in your decision to buy. You should check the overall quality of the bag to determine if it’s worth your money, and that’s what we’re going to do.
In the next section, we’re going to talk about the pros and cons for the items in the set.
Pros & Cons of American Tourister Stratum XLT Expandable Hardside Luggage
It’s always nice to start the actual review with listing both the pros and cons of the item. It is important that to read both these sections because that’s what should fuel your decision. If the cons have too many dealbreakers for you, then maybe the item is not for you. Remember that all products have cons. The key is to manage this to a level that does not make it a dealbreaker for many.
As expected, the cheaper the item, the more con it will have, but there are some items that are exception to this rule, and those are the items I aim to find in this website. I want to present you guys with the best bags I see on Amazon.
Without further ado, let’s start.
Pros
Elegant Design
This may be the simplest design I’ve seen from all the bags I’ve reviewed, yet it’s probably the most beautiful, in my opinion. I know that those qualities seem to contradict each other but the design just works, especially this blue colorway that I have.
What’s great about this color and you won’t have any trouble spotting it inside the airport. From a distance, it looks like a blue slab. Upon closer inspection, you will appreciate the simplicity of the design. It’s unique but simple. I’m definitely a fan of this bag, in case you still can’t tell.
3 Bags in One Purchase
If you are looking for a good deal, then this 3-piece set should interest you very much. This is one of those deals that’s hard to pass up. Imagine getting 3 bags in one purchase.
If you buy the bags separately, it will cost you $50 more than if you bought them in a set. That’s always been the case but it’s cool to see that the items included in the deal aren’t cheaply-made. The bags in this set are quality.
Can Be Bought Separately
If you are interested in only one item out of three, you can buy it separately, no problem. It would cost you a lot more though. To give you an example, the average price of each bag when bought in a package comes in at $66. If you buy any of the item separately, it could cost you anywhere from $20 to $50 more.
But if you think you’ll find no use for the other bags in the set, then by all means, only buy the one you like. It’s really a good deal though, so you have to keep that in mind.
Multi-Directional Wheels
If you are a long-time reader of this website, you must already know how much I love multi-directional/spinner wheels. They are effortless to maneuver and are superior to inline skatewheels in my opinion.
10-Year Warranty
American Tourister items have 10-year warranties. These are not the ‘no questions asked’ kind of warranty. The warranty is kind of limited, actually. You need to prove that the damage was caused by a manufacturing or craftsmanship defect.
Needless to say, it is still cool to have this kind of warranty. This means that your item is protected from a particular type of damage.
Expansion Capability
This feature is made more impressive from the fact that this bag is hardside which means that the external part is made from a hard shell. Normally, you will only see this expandable feature on bags that are from fabric since those are stretchable enough to allow for expansion.
Decades ago, you wouldn’t see any hardside luggage in production, and even if you do, those will cost extra premium. Nowadays, this technology is being used even in the cheapest luggage bags available. It’s a cool thing to see here.
Cons
No Built-in Locking Mechanism
This is one of the features I look out for when reviewing luggage bags. A built-in locking mechanism is one of those things that gives any bag a more premium feel to it. It’s a neat feature that I think every luggage bag should have.
Can Get Dirty Really Quick
Since all this bag is light colored, it can collect dirt easily. If you buy the black colorway of the bags, you won’t notice the dirt but would if you look closely.
Not Scratch-Resistant
This is a feature that even premium bags don’t always include in their specifications because making TRUE scratch-resistant bags is going to be hard. Even products who claim scratch-resistant are not even 100% scratch-proof.
That being said, this bag is easily scratched. That’s a shame because it has great patterns around the bag which I like very much.
Quality Rating
This section, while named quality will mostly refer to the durability of the said item. In my opinion, durability is what makes up a good chunk of the ‘quality’ of any item.
From what I could gather, the quality of this item is slightly above average. It’s neither too good nor too bad. The quality is just okay. Now, if you contrast it to the price range, I would say that you will get the quality that you pay for.
To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting this bag to be sturdy because of the material they chose for the shell which is low-grade ABS. They decided to use this material to lower the net weight of the bag, and to provide expansion capability.
I am going to give this bag a quality rating of 3 stars. They could’ve improved some of the material choice, especially in its price range.
Size Rating
Here are the sizes of the 3 bags included in this set. Nothing really stands out. Their individual weights are just standard in their segments, nothing I would consider light weight.
20″ Spinner: Overall Dimensions: 22” X 14” X 9”, Weight 6.3 lbs.
24″ Spinner: Overall Dimensions: 27” X 16.5” X 11.3”, Weight 7.4 lbs.
28″ Spinner: Overall Dimensions: 31” X 19.8” X 12.6”, Weight 8.7 lbs.
As far as I am concerned, they are true to size. You won’t have any problem passing the carry-on bag into security because it’s clearly under the size limitations.
Feature Rating
In this price range, it’s normal to expect plenty of features than usual. Suffice it to say, all of the standard feature in here, plus more.
One feature I keep seeing in my review is the expandable feature. In the past, I never put much stock to this feature, but I’ve since realized how great this feature is. It can be the difference to packing 20% more clothes and under packing. This is important especially if you are flying internationally, even more so if it’s the winter where you have to bring thicker clothes than usual.
Another feature I like is the spinner wheels. I’ve always been a fan of this feature because it makes moving the bag a lot easier. You can even move the bag upright, which is considerably easier than having to incline the bag to the wheel side before you can move it. Sure, inline skatewheels can operate with just two wheels but moving the bag with this wheel setup becomes a hassle especially if it’s one of those bigger bags that’s heavy.
Apart from these two notable features, all that’s left are standard ones, extra pockets, good quality materials, retractable handle, and more.
There are some features that’s missing, too. In this price range, I expected to see a built-in locking mechanism. Sad to see that it wasn’t included in the deal. I would have loved not having to buy separate locks for my bags. It’s just a convenience feature that I’ve expected to see from midrange bag.
Overall, I would give this bag a 4-star rating based on the inclusion of good features.
Brand Rating
This will always be one of my most favorite luggage companies out there. The fact that it caters to a wide range of consumers is already a good quality that separates it from anyone else.
If you want something cheap, they will have an item for you. Same goes if you want something fancier, but I may just direct you to their bigger sister company Samsonite.
Yes, American Tourister and Samsonite belong in the same company. You can actually see this in the craftsmanship of their luggage bags.
The technology is shared between these companies even if they’ve always maintained the fact that they are separate entities.
American Tourister has become my go-to recommendation for a well-balanced type of luggage bags. It combines good pricing and quality which is what most of us buyers want.
Not all of us requires fancy and ultra-engineered bag, to be honest. Most of us only travel once or twice per year. In that case, getting an economical bag with a good reputation on quality seems like the wise decision. In that case, American Tourister is the brand to consider. 5 stars.
American Tourister Stratum XLT Expandable Hardside Luggage: Product Specification
20″ Spinner: Overall Dimensions: 22” X 14” X 9”, Weight 6.3 lbs.
24″ Spinner: Overall Dimensions: 27” X 16.5” X 11.3”, Weight 7.4 lbs.
28″ Spinner: Overall Dimensions: 31” X 19.8” X 12.6”, Weight 8.7 lbs.
Manufacturer: American Tourister
ASIN: B07QMWMNZJ
Final Verdict on American Tourister Stratum XLT Expandable Hardside Luggage
This bag definitely does not have a single selling point. It has plenty of good things going for it.
I know I’ve said this a couple of times already, but I think it bears repeating – the design of this bag is just magnificent. So simple yet elegant but the pros do not stop there.
The overall quality of this bag is comparable to more expensive ones. Granted, this bag isn’t exactly cheap, but it definitely carries its price really well. The ~$70 price tag for each of the bag certainly looks cheap when you contrast it to the number of good things you get from it.
Normally, I review cheaper bags because that’s where the best sellers are. People are really drawn into the price more so than the features which is the reason why the midrange bags don’t get nearly as much reviews as cheap bags. At the time of this writing, this item has ~1,050 ratings with a cool 4.6-star rating.
I wouldn’t really consider 4.6 to be in the high star rating because of how Amazon processes reviews. 4.7 stars and up is what I’d consider high-rating, but 4.6 stars is nearly there.
From my own experience, I can say that this item is one of the better ones out there, especially in the price range. Are there better bags out there? Sure. But in this price range, it’s hard to beat this offering.
