Bought this as a carry-on for my teenage son when we went to Puerto Rico over the summer.  We traveled light and didn't want to check any luggage.  He is not very careful with things, but this held up well. It also fit a lot of stuff, even being a smaller piece of luggage.  It was definitely worth the price.  We had numerous plane changes and layovers, yet it looks as good now as the day we received it.  Plan to get a lot more use out of it.  It cost less than checking a bag for him would have cost.