The short version
Ask r/travel which carry-on to buy and someone will point out that flight attendants and pilots, who roll a bag through an airport 200 days a year, mostly buy Travelpro. That's the recommendation. The Maxlite 5 21-inch softside spinner is around $150, weighs about 5.4 pounds empty (light matters when the gate agent has a scale), expands two inches when you need it, and fits the 22 x 14 x 9 sizer at most U.S. airlines when not expanded.
Softside is the right call for a carry-on. It squeezes into a tight overhead, the outside pockets hold your liquids bag and a book, and it doesn't crack. Travelpro covers the Maxlite with a limited lifetime warranty that also covers airline damage for the first year.
The complaint about the winner
The Maxlite is light because there's less to it. One r/travel owner put it plainly: it "has low structural integrity compared to other Travelpro suitcases; that's how they can be so light." Overstuff it and it bulges; check it often and the corners scuff. Travelpro's Platinum Elite line is far sturdier at around $300. For a carry-on that lives in overhead bins, the Maxlite is the right trade. For a bag you'll check every trip, it isn't.
If $150 is too much
The Amazon Basics 21-inch hardside spinner runs around $75. It's a plain polycarbonate shell with four wheels and an expansion zipper. It scratches on the first trip and the wheels are what eventually fails, but plenty of owners are several years in. If you fly a few times a year, this is enough suitcase.
Why not the others
- Away The Carry-On (around $275 to $300): a well-made polycarbonate bag with excellent marketing. r/onebag's read is that you're paying $125 for the brand and the Instagram photos. The hardside shell also doesn't squeeze into a full overhead the way a softside does.
- Samsonite (around $130 to $250): perfectly fine and the runner-up in every Travelpro thread. Bigger hardside selection if that's what you want. Warranty is shorter and less generous than Travelpro's.
- Monos, July, Béis (around $250 to $350): the same argument as Away with different fonts.
- No-name $40 hardsides: the wheels and handles fail on the first or second trip, and returning a suitcase is miserable. Spend $75.
Which one for you
Fly more than a few times a year: Travelpro Maxlite 5. Fly occasionally and want a hardside: Amazon Basics 21-inch. Check a bag every trip and want it to survive: skip both and get a Travelpro Platinum Elite.