I bought this bag in the café color. I am a seasoned traveler. I have taken this bag on a total 13 domestic and international flights for this review. My goal was to find an alternative to my leather catalog case for something that rolls, holds a laptop, has space for other stuff and looks small enough to avoid arguments with gate agents about bringing it on-board.Out of the box it looks nice. It is a little heavier than I thought, but it's not bad. It included a removable laptop sleeve, but I don't use it. The padding and protection is more than adequate. Even the front zippered pockets have padding. I pack this bag full. I found the document compartment adequate, but it holds less than what the photo may indicate. With all the pockets full there is a tendency for the bag to tip over toward the front, but it's not that bad. Just be careful.
The bag looks nice, but I found some of the features working against me. I value things others may not though. The leather, although really nice, is soft and tends to stick to hard surfaces. For example it does not slide onto the rollers before the x-ray machine, or sliding it over in the overhead aircraft bin. During one flight it was in the overhead bin in such a way that was preventing the bin from being closed. The attempts of the flight attendant actually scraped off some of the leather because it was sticking to the plastic in the bin. I haven't seen artificial bag material do this.
My biggest annoyance is the telescoping handle. Yes, it is long enough and strong enough, but the handle part you actually hold at the top is terrible. It has these semi-hard ribs that dig into my hand like dull knives. Not only that, but there is a plastic seam along the edge that also scrapes into my hand. So it is impossible to get a comfortable grip on it. After my first two flights I thought I was going to get a blister. I mean the design is really terrible. I actually considered returning the bag just because of it. The designers probably thought it would be a better grip, but they failed. I actually hold onto the bag with as light a grip as possible now so I don't get blisters. Don't be surprised if your fingers at least turn red. I might wrap electrical tape around it. Next time I hope the designers weigh the bad down and walk around an airport for a day for testing.
I found the two leather carry handles uncomfortable also. They are strong enough, but they are fairly hard and curved, so they bend your fingers back in a curved shape. Not a great feeling if you have 15-20 pounds you are carrying.
I have had no trouble with the wheels. It has rollerblade wheels so it shouldn't be difficult to replace them if necessary. They roll smoothly and quietly.
There is a leather strap thing on the back of the bag so you can slip it over the handle of another rolling bag. This strap is leather, but is attached to the bag with elastic, so it holds on pretty well. The only problem with this strap is that the bottom of it catches on escalator steps. Every time I walk onto an escalator the stairs move up out of the floor, catch on this strap thing and lift the bag up. Very annoying. It is also starting to rip a little bit. Of course you may just be careful on how you enter the escalator, which is what I now have to do with this bag.
Overall it is a nice bag, but the handle issues really leave me disappointed. This bag may be more suited to you if you don't travel frequently. If I could go back in time, would I still buy this bag? I don't know. If you asked me after the first few flights, no I would not. Now, maybe it has grown on me a little more. It just annoys me that I paid this much money to have to put up with poor handle designs, which is the one part of a bag you are constantly dealing with.
A very attractive item. Form and function in one.
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