This thing has held up to a quite a few international and domestic flights on multiple airlines. You can barely tell beyond the few scratches. I traveled with this on two separate trips to developing nations where they couldn't care less about your luggage. This bag holds up well and is plenty spacious. I haven't needed to use the expandable feature yet. I would caution you to be careful packing--not because this bag can't handle large capacities, but you might be charged for overweight if you don't keep track of how heavy its getting as you pack. Happened to me more than once.