The best luxury travel gifts

The luxury gift whose price is explained by a document rather than a logo. Briggs & Riley's Simple As That guarantee is unconditional and explicitly covers airline damage — the failure mode every other luggage warranty on this site excludes — so the recipient can use it hard, send it back when a handler destroys it, and keep traveling. The handle tubes run outside the case so the packing surface is flat, and ballistic nylon takes scuffs without showing them. It is the one bag here a recipient will not be afraid to use.

The luxury gift for someone whose job is on planes. Ballistic nylon, self-aligning wheels that track straight at speed, a contour grip handle with almost no wobble, and a limited lifetime warranty with unusually broad coverage — behind a name the recipient will recognize as the airline-crew bag. It costs less than the Briggs & Riley and gives up the unconditional guarantee for a conventional one; for a frequent flyer it is the more sensible object, and for anyone else it is more bag than they need.

The luxury gift least likely to sit in a closet, because it is a personal item rather than a suitcase — it does not duplicate the carry-on a well-traveled recipient already owns. Alpha Bravo is TUMI's ballistic-nylon line, which means the fabric outlasts the fashion, and the Navigation is the sensibly sized one: a laptop, a change of clothes and a dopp kit, in a bag that slides under any seat. TUMI is the name in this tier that lands with the widest range of people, and the Tracer registration exists to reunite a lost bag with its owner.

The one luxury travel item that pays for itself in use rather than in feeling. Aircraft cabins run cold, airline blankets are thin polyester, and an oversized cashmere wrap works as a blanket, a pillow, a scarf and a layer worn off the plane — at a fraction of the bulk of wool, so it packs into a carry-on. It has no size, no fit and no compatibility question, it unwraps like a real gift, and it is the pick here we would buy first for someone who flies overnight.

The gift for the recipient who checks a bag and has had one cracked. Proxis uses Samsonite's Roxkin material, engineered to deform under impact and spring back rather than crack — and on a large checked case, the size that takes the worst handling, that is a more useful property than a scratch-proof finish. It is notably light for its size, it carries Samsonite's service network, and the name lands with everyone. It is only the right gift for someone who genuinely takes long, checked-bag trips.

The one everyone eventually buys, which makes it a safe luxury gift and a slightly predictable one. Nylon body with leather trim, folds down to almost nothing when empty, holds a surprising amount, wipes clean, and has not dated in decades. It has no size to get wrong and no compatibility question. The trade is structure — it slumps when set down and has no trolley sleeve — and the trade is also why it folds flat inside a suitcase for the trip home.

The halo piece, and we are going to be as blunt as a gift guide can be. An aluminum 19 Degree is a beautiful object — a latched metal case with reinforced corners, a TSA-approved lock and a lined interior — and it is by a distance the most expensive thing on this page and the worst value in pure carrying terms. It will dent on the first rough handling and the dent is permanent; owners consider that the point. Give it because you want to give something unmistakable. Do not give it expecting it to be the sensible choice, and do not give it to anyone who would be upset by the first dent.