Seeking durable luggage for family travel? Look no further than Eagle Creek. This company of travelers and innovators has been perfecting luggage and duffels to improve the travel experience since 1975. Their stuff is made to withstand a beating and even comes with a lifetime warranty. Whether flying overseas, embarking on a road trip with kids, or heading to a campsite, you know Eagle Creek will get your family's belongings to your destination safe and sound. I took their wheeled Expanse Drop Bottom Duffel and Expanse Flatbed for a spin. Read on for my full Eagle Creek Expanse review. Plus, enter our giveaway for a chance to win your own Eagle Creek Expanse bags!
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Eagle Creek's Expanse Line
Eagle Creek‘s Drop Bottom Duffel and Flatbed are duffel bag/suitcases that are part of their Expanse line. Both are equipped with sturdy treaded wheels to help you navigate over rough terrain. This means easy steering, whether you're an outdoorsy family or you'll be rambling over cobblestones in European cities. These roomy bags can stow all sorts of family gear. Plus, they come with external lash points for securing bags to the car rooftop for extra space on family road trips.
The Eagle Creek Expanse Drop Bottom Duffel and Flatbed easily fit into the back of my messy minivan along with my daughter and dog! (Photo credit: Colleen Lanin)
Eagle Creek Expanse Drop Bottom Duffel
The Drop Bottom Duffel's namesake feature, the Drop Bottom compartment, provides a zip-away divider to separate camping gear from clothing. You could also use this zipped area to separate dirty and clean clothing during any type of travel. Additionally, the Drop Bottom's sturdy duffel handle makes it easy to carry over terrain not suitable for wheels. The Drop Bottom Duffel comes in one roomy size: 14 x 32 x 16 inches and weighs in at 8 pounds, 4 ounces. You can really cram a lot of travel gear and other goodies into this baby.
Eagle Creek's Drop Bottom Duffel boasts a roomy compartment for camping gear, dirty clothing or teddy bears (Photo credit: Colleen Lanin)
Eagle Creek Expanse Flatbed
Similar to the Drop Bottom Duffel, the Flatbed offers a separate compartment, but it's much smaller. The Flatbed is more of a standard and sturdy suitcase that can be used as a duffel. Like the Drop Bottom, it's got duffel handles on four sides, making it easy to load in and out of the car. It comes in two sizes, both with plenty of room to store your family's stuff. Choose the 32-inch (16 x 32 x 12.25 inches; 9 pounds, 4 ounces) or 29-inch (16 x 29 x 12 inches; 8 pounds 14 ounces).
The Eagle Creek Expanse Flatbed stands up on its wheels but also has duffel handles on four sides (Photo credit: Colleen Lanin)
Drop Bottom Duffel vs. Flatbed
If you're trying to decide between the two pieces of luggage for family travel, I can provide a little insight. For travelers planning to use the bag for frequent camping trips, I'd say the Drop Bottom should be your pick. Meanwhile, the Expanse Flatbed stands up on its own and therefore would be my pick for flights. For road trips, it's a toss up. Eagle Creek's Drop Bottom Duffel and Flatbed are versatile and can be used for any kind of travel, really. Why not get both?
Visit Eagle Creek's website now to see all of their innovative luggage and travel gear.
Eagle Creek Expanse Drop Bottom Duffel on left and Flatbed on right (Photo credit: Colleen Lanin)
Eagle Creek Expanse Giveaway
Enter to win both of these pieces of Eagle Creek Expanse luggage for family travel using the Rafflecopter form below. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents ages 18+ only. No purchase is necessary. Read additional terms and conditions.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
About Colleen Lanin, The Travel Mama
Road Trips
We would use these for camping and our upcoming road trip to New Orleans.
These luggage bags look spacious and are perfect for long vacations.
air travel!
Mostly for road trips. I travel by train often to visit family.
I’ll use it for all of those! Probably mostly road trips.
I would use them more for road trips.
Id use it for our honeymoon.
I would use them when I’m going on vacation.
I am a road trip crazy person. I go somewhere at least once a month. My old suitcase is worn out. I will have to replace it soon.
We would use these for our up coming trip to Virginia! ????
I would use this luggage for air trip that i would be taking to see my grandmother.
I’d use these mostly for air travel, as we live in Hawaii.
Air travel
If I won, I would use the Eagle Creek Expanse 2-Piece Luggage Set for road trips the most
I would use the Eagle Creek bags for both road trips and air travel. Our family doesn’t camp much.
I would use Eagle Creek bags most for road trips.
I would love this for road trips and camping with my sons.
These would go on lots of road trips with us!
Nice gear. This is functional for trips. And it is stylish.
I would use it for our short trips and air travel we need some new luggage 🙂
I would use them mostly for road trips.
oh I need this for all cruises I’m gonna win
I would use it most for road trips.
These pieces of luggage would be too large as carry on luggage for airline flight.
Yes, this luggage is not intended for use as carry on for flights.
I would use them for road trips.
I would use these bags for road trips.
I would be using them for air travel — Vegas Baby!
I would use these bags mostly for air travel.
For me road trips. We take a lot of road trips to see family. Thanks for a chance.
Mostly for road trips
I would use them to travel back to my home country this summer to visit family.
Mainly road trips but we do occasionally fly one a year and these would be great!
I would use this for road trips.
I would use it the most for road trips and air travel!
We will be using it all the time for road trips! These are awesome bags!
I would use them most for air travel.
I’d use these bags for all kinds of travel! We’re doing a Dakotas road trip later this month and camping along the way. I’m thinking these bags would be perfect for that trip!
I was just thinking we need some new bags for travel. The bigger my son gets the harder it is to pack in one bag. These are great.
I would use it for a road trip to Niagara Falls. The bag would hold tons of stuff.
I would love this. The airlines delivered my luggage back to me sans one wheel 🙁
Fot all kinds of travel, work trips, pleasure trips, weekend getaways etc
We do lots of camping so will probably use for that.
I will use it for our road trips!
I would use it most for road trips.
I would use them for taking a trip.
I will use these mainly for road trips.
I will use them for road trips and air travel.
We tend to do more short road trips, so definitely for this!
camping
Good luggage is a MUST for people who travel a lot. I am going to look into getting this duffel for my family!
I will not sacrifice quality on my luggage. I travel all the time, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that good luggage cannot be over emphasized.
That duffel is awesome! We are definitely duffel people, we always pack duffel’s instead of suitcases. I always bought the cheapest one the store had until a friend bought us an expensive brand, now I would never use anything else. Good luggage isn’t just convenient when travelling, it’s a necessity.
My suitcase just died, and I am in the market for something new. I love this duffel.
Road trips and camping, for sure! We also have to travel a lot for medical appointments so this would be perfect!
My luggage is on its last leg and I am in desperate need of something new. I’ll be checking this out. Thank you!
I am looking for a good luggage set for my girl for her next birthday.
I love the size of this duffel. Big enough to put all the necessities in but still compact!
This luggage looks incredible! I am definitely in need of some new pieces.
Quality luggage is key, especially when traveling via plane. They tend to be extra rough on checked baggage, so anything I purchase must be able to survive that type of aggression.
Love that duffle bag! It’s so important to have quality luggage that holds enough for my travels!
This is a fantastic giveaway. This luggage would be perfect for my next trip. I have been looking for new luggage.
These look amazing and super durable! We would agree- bag for camping (or car trips) and the flat for flights. May just have to get one of each!
That is such a nice luggage set. I could really use this for my family. It would be perfect for when we go on trips.
This looks like a great line of luggage. They look like they can hold a lot.
I tell ya, I am the worst at picking out luggage! I need to get this for my family!
This luggage looks so awesome! I love big luggage sets like this. I like to pack a lot of stuff when I travel. I need a big luggage set to handle it all.
Eagle Creek luggage looks like a great quality line. I like that they hold a lot of stuff. That is a very important feature when I travel!
What an awesome luggage set! I should look into getting this, we are traveling more and it’s always nice to have good luggage.
I would use it for going away or camping trip or just to a friends house for a few days too. It’s always nice to pack stuff neatly in a duffel bag rather then a plastic bag what we have been doing ha ha.
I might have to look into this, looks really nice. We travel all the time and have to get some new additions as my kids are getting older. 🙂
This looks amazing! It looks so stylish and durable! Will have to check this out!
We would use these for air travel:) thanks
I would use them for road trips the most.
We love to make long weekend road trips. Sometimes we just choose a direction and go that way 🙂
I would use them for air travel- the current suitcases I have have taken a beaten and so those I will keep to use for road trips. That way, if something breaks, it won’t be in the middle of a foreign country.
We would probably use it most for road trips! Although now that the kids are starting to get a little older Id like to go camping more!
Definitely road trips!
We would probably use it the most on road trips. We have family 6-13 hours away from us that we visit frequently.
I’m ready for a trip I just need luggage to pack lol
These would be great for road trips!
I would use it for road trips!
We take more road trips than any other mode of travel
these bags are awesome, first and foremost I would use them for Air travel because the color is vibrant and you could see it easily at baggage claim, but I can see myself also using them for my kids when packing them up for sleep away camp
I would use this luggage for road trips.
I will be using this luggage for road trips!
We would use these a lot on road trips.
First , it will be on a air trip that I’ll be going on at the end of the month , then , I’d love to take a road trip and finally I like to go camping one day .
I will use my Eagle Creek bags mostly for air travel.
This will be perfect for air travel!
I would be using these equally for travelling on Amtrak to visit family and camping. 🙂 TY for the great review & giveaway!
I am desperately in need of new luggage! I’d use it for road trips and visits to my best friend’s place! Thank you for the chance to win this wonderful prize!
I’d use this for air travel for sure!!
I would use this to go to Florida!
I would love to win and use Eagle Creek bags for road trips, and air travel
Thank You for the chance!
Camping is what we do the most of. This set is perfect for any travel.
air travel!
Road trips! Where I tend to bring more items in case of emergencies!
This is awesome and just in time for some summer traveling. I have a road trip to Lake George and Martha’s Vineyards. Air trip to Charleston for a cruise and Exuma in August. I can’t wait.
going on road trips is what we would use them for
We generally fly but have several road trips ahead!
all of the above!!!
We have some air travel planned later this year, and we might try to squeeze in a road trip to the beach later this summer.
We do a lot of camping in the summer. The kids also go to grandma’s which is a 3 hour road trip! This would be perfect for both.
Probably both camping and road trips. Hopefully we’ll get to get some miles in this summer.
A little bit of everything. Air travel; car trips; fishing trips; long weekend getaways.
Road trips and hopefully camping. Don’t fly very much.
definitely would use it on my annual family camping trip, as well as when my family goes up to the camper during the summer
I would use it most for camping!
These would be perfect for both road trips and camping – love it!
I would use these every time that we travel! I would also use them for camping this Summer! 🙂
Would use mostly for road trips.
I would use them mostly for road trips and visiting family.
Thanks for the chance to win!
wildorchid985 at gmail dot com
These are so nice! I would use them for road trips!
Will use them for several things but mostly road trips
Roadtrips!!
I would use them for road trips!
EVERYTHING I HAVE nothing this nice!!
I would say tie between road trips and camping
I would probably use them most for road trips.
I would use these for a couple Oregon road trips we have planned.
I would use the luggage for road trips. We live 3-4 hours away from Key West and 3 hours away from Orlando.
I will use these for a combination of road and air travel trips.
While mentally packing for an air trip coming up soon, my husband and I realized that we don’t have enough suitcases for all 5 family members. We’ve never all been on a plane at the same time. Ooops! When we camp, each family members is allowed 1 rubbermaid for packing. I don’t think rubbermaids will cut it this time. 🙂
I would use them for roadtrips.
These would be used for road trips
We like to road trip, so we’d use them on road trips
I would use them the most for road trips.
I would use them for road trips and air travel. I just love that they are expandable.
All of it! But the most use would come out of road trips. We love taking off and traveling to parts we have not yet visited.
I would use them for road trips we have coming up.
I will probably use it most for air travel.