Originally Posted by njd1

Five years ago I bought a Briggs spinner domestic carry-on expandable with the flight crew discount. At that time they did not require a crew ID but non-crew apparently started taking advantage of the discount and they put a stop to it by requiring a crew ID, so you can't get the Briggs discount until you have your ID. After using my Briggs on countless trips over the years I can't imagine lugging a two wheel around. I just rest my hand on the top of the handle and the Briggs just glides alongside me. I convert to two wheel operation when coming up jet bridges or on any unstable surface (like cobblestones / bricks at some hotel entrances) but the spinner normally puts all the weight where it belongs...straight down to the ground.

I load my Briggs up with a heavy flight bag and cooler. This puts a lot of weight on the wheels, which tend to wear to the point that I replace them once a year. These are relatively easy to swap out at home so I just order them when I feel the bag starting to drag a bit and they are always sent to me free under the lifetime warranty. They even enhanced the wheels at one point. My original wheels wore out relatively quickly but the new / current wheel design is much stronger and they cause the bag to roll so freely that if I let go of the bag on even a slight incline it will roll away from me. That's actually a good thing as it means I have to apply less force to it to get it moving.

I have also replaced the handle once as it had worn out and started to bend, and Briggs would not let me replace it at home so I had to send the bag in. When I submitted the support / warranty claim request for this work they provided commercial (discounted) rates on a shipping label. It cost me around $20 to ship it to their repair facility. It was returned in less than five days.

All that said, I second the advice to have a backup bag just in case the primary breaks. I bought the Strong Bags Vortex 21 as my backup and find that it rolls as smoothly as my Briggs, but as a 2-wheel bag it places a lot of stress on my arm and shoulder over the course of a trip so I only use it when the Briggs has to be sent in. The quality of the Vortex is good for the money and I like the fact that the outer fabric shell can be replaced if necessary, as it wraps around the inner aluminum structure of the bag, rather than forming the structure of the bag like the Briggs.

My cooler is the Strong Bags Summit and it still looks like it did when I bought it four years ago. The internal coated liner and the beefy zippers have held up perfectly. Really a nice bag and worth every penny, assuming they haven't changed the design since I bought it.