Where do you go for straight talk and solid advice on finding the toughest, best made, problem-free brand of luggage? With so many names and claims out there in retail stores and in cyberspace on discount Web sites, who can you really believe?

A reliable source, it seems, would be a company that fixes luggage damaged by airlines and Airlines Luggage Repair in El Paso has been doing exactly that since 1978. Over the years, airlines come and go but at the moment ALR is fixing or replacing broken bags for Continental, US Airways and Southwest, among other carriers.

So what’s the verdict? General manager Steve Geller, a straight-shooting kind of guy, says Briggs & Riley and Swiss Army “make the best luggage. Their ballistic nylon material holds up very well.” Now, I wouldn’t expect him to rhapsodize but historically, Briggs & Riley has had the best warranty in the travel goods industry. If, for any reason, one of its bags or cases or any product in its line is damaged, even by an airline, it’s repaired or replaced free—no questions asked.

(That’s no empty promise. As I once mentioned in this column, an outside pocket on a Briggs & Riley garment bag was torn off somewhere, somehow on an American Airlines flight from Brussels to Chicago and a new one was sewn back on so skillfully that I couldn’t see the original tear.)

Claim Checks: However, that superb customer service may be changing. ARS is an authorized Briggs & Riley repair center and Geller says the brand, once independent but now owned by U.S. Luggage in New York City, is taking a closer look at the condition of the bag sent in for repair. “They now want to see the bag and if it’s really pulverized, they want us or the customer to file a claim with the airline,” Geller says.

Airlines themselves are getting more hardnosed. “Most airlines will repair or replace the bag if they really damage it,” he explains, “but some are getting tougher and do not want to repair wheels or handles that could easily have been damaged by wear and tear.” Geller says American and Southwest are starting to crack down on luggage repair claims.

Business travelers or any airline passenger who gets into a beef over damage to a piece of checked luggage—if they genuinely know they are in the right—should press on. “Most of the damaged bags we see occur when the luggage is unloaded (from the belly of the aircraft) and falls off the conveyor belt or off the cart,” Geller maintains. A fall can break the wheels on an upright rolling bag or the ‘feet’ on a non-wheeled bag. “Most of the problem,” he adds, “is just carelessness.”

Airline Luggage Repair is also a retail store and the owners carry the best known, established brands. Besides Briggs and Swiss Army, ALR sells Tumi, Hartman, Delsey, Skyway, and the Mosaic and Coronado lines made exclusively for members of the National Luggage Dealers Association. All have good brand recognition. Does ALR ever take a flyer on an edgy new brand for the younger road warrior?

Hard Yet Light. Geller claims Landor & Howa (www.landor-hawa.us – Please note that the Web site is under construction.) has a new line of lightweight, hardsided luggage.

Is the store phasing out any brands for any reasons? “We don’t sell as much Samsonite as we used to years ago,” he replies. “Samsonite today seems to be focusing more on discount houses today and we stick with very good quality, recognizable brands.”

Geller, like other retailers, claims the action today is in travel accessories. They’re not pricey but are essentials, especially for road soldiers. Easy Go makes a line that ranges from “neck safes” to “waist safes” for hiding money and travel documents on your body, out of sight and out of the reach of skilled pickpockets. He, like just about every other retailer and business traveler I’ve spoken to, is a huge fan of Eagle Creek Travel Gear (www.eaglecreek.com). The company makes all sorts of zipper mesh bags for your gear, electronic plugs and anything small but also offers “this very popular packet system for rolling up shirts, jackets, slacks and unrolling them wrinkle free at your hotel.”
      
From the southern border town of El Paso to the northern reaches of Minnesota, Swiss Army is a hot seller at Urban Traveler’s Calhoun Square store in Minneapolis. (www.urbantraveler.com) “Swiss Army’s wheeled briefcase at $250, its messenger bags for laptops starting at $50 and up, and its hanging toiletries kit make it one of the most requested brands and they all hold up under hard use,” Tom Boik, who works the sales floor, says. 

Swiss Army’s signature red, Switzerland’s national color, is a strong seller for men and women business travelers but the brand is phasing in new colors including greens and blues, Boik says.

Other choices of the Twin City road warriors? Boik contends that Travelpro (www.travelpro.com) is another strong seller and a well-made, problem-free brand and McKlein (www.mckleinusa.com) leather rolling briefcases that can zip free of their wheels are popular with choosier shoppers today; craftsmanship and design are the big draws with McKlein. Undiscovered treasure? Boik likes Pilot Tubes, clear plastic with a pump that lets you pressurize and transport your favorite shampoo, lotions, creamy liquids or anything that can leak. They come in six different sizes for $50.
    
Kate and Hugo Are IT. The buzz you hear in the bag biz this summer heralds a hookup between sassy yet classic New York fashion designer Kate Spade and artist Hugo Guinness of Fendi B bag fame. They’ve trotted out a line of five carry-anything totes emblazoned with a big “it” on the side. Can hold a laptop, in fact, a virtual office in great style. $250. www.katespade.com

Louis, Louis. Or for simply, understated style, you can always carry on with Louis Vuitton Tobago Keepall 50, big enough for your mobile office plus a couple changes of clothes. The leather is grained, the hardware and fittings are brass, the colors are red, blue or yellow, and the price tag is $2,000. For that you also get the subtle but sought after the world over LV Paris logo. www.eluxury.com. Then stuff it with the TomTom GO 910, a GPS navigator for the clueless, directionless driver. It has a 4-inch touchscreen, an MP3 player, Bluetooth connectivity, and you can pick up traffic and weather reports hands-free. A mere $900. www.tomtom.com. And for those lonely times on the road or international flights when soft music would soothe or, gasp, a shock jock would liven things up, try the Pioneer Inn XM2go. This is a 4.5-ounce fit-in-your-pocket-or-bag satellite radio that beams XM’s 160 channels of everything imaginable. It also takes 50-plus hours of your downloaded personal favorites. $400. www.xm.com

Trippy. A $20 bill doesn’t go far these days in the travel world but it will still get you a cool little accessory called the Cruising Caddy Il that holds a 1.5-liter water bottle, plus a pouch for a digital camera, cell phone, keys. www.cruisingcaddy.com.

“Say Goodnight Gracie” Just try to find a blanket on a U.S. airline today that is (a) available, (b) convincingly clean, (c) big and warm. Good luck. Unless you’re flying first or business class and you’re lucky enough to get a lie-flat bed, blankets are going the way of the hot, tasty, healthy airline meal. But Cabin Cuddler, a wraparound blanket that folds over your shoulders with a pocket to keep your tootsies warm is worth $35. www.cabincuddler.com.