Level8 vs American Tourister: Carry-On: Picks That Actually Hold Up

Why these two end up in the same cart tab

American Tourister shows up first on most carry-on searches for a reason: it's owned by Samsonite, it's everywhere at Target and Amazon, and the price sits low enough that shoppers treat it as the default. Level8 shows up second, usually in a "wait, who makes this" moment, because it undercuts American Tourister on features while asking a similar price. This isn't a lab comparison. It's a reading of several hundred owner complaints plus a few hours of zipping, rolling, and lifting.

What the spec sheets say

Numbers are from each brand's published listing, not a scale we ran ourselves. It's worth flagging that Level8 comes in at 22 x 14.5 x 10, already exceeding the 22 x 14 x 9 cap that United, Delta, and American use for carry-ons. Multiple Level8 owners in our review set mention gate agents flagging it, and one reports a ~$50 checked-bag fee at the counter. That's not a rare complaint. Out of everything we found, complaints about size were the one gripe that kept showing up again and again for this model.

Zippers, wheels, and the argument that actually decides this

Zipper complaints are where Level8 takes the clearest hit. Across the review set, the recurring failure is the same: the small pull tab or ring bends and separates from the slider, usually before it's even had much use. One owner had it happen on trip three, two days past the return window. Another watched a zip part detach on first use. The zipper still functions in most of these cases, you can work the slider with your fingers — but the tab snaps off, and owners see that as a sign the materials are the issue, not just a one-off defect. A few reviews specifically ask for steel components rather than what it ships with now.

American Tourister's complaint pile runs differently. Wheels are the top-mentioned issue for the parent Samsonite portfolio, at roughly 318 mentions in our aggregate — spinners that stick, or drag on one wheel instead of rolling free on four. Not many people complain about the wheels on their Level8 bags. Several Level8 owners mention not expecting the wheels to survive daily city commuting as well as they did, which reads as low expectations being cleared rather than enthusiasm, but it's a genuine plus for Level8 on this one axis.

Durability complaints sit on both sides. Level8 owners who put it side by side with a Samsonite they've had for years tend to notice the inner compression straps and fabric feel thinner and less structured. That's a recurring, specific comparison — not a vague "feels cheap" complaint, but "my old Samsonite's internals were sturdier than this." For American Tourister/Samsonite, durability gripes came up 439 times, far ahead of any other category we tracked for that brand, so neither side gets to claim the durability win outright.

Capacity is where Level8 pulls ahead

Interior organization is the strongest, most repeated positive in the Level8 data. Owners describe multiple compartments for clothes, toiletries, and electronics, plus a padded slot roomy enough for a full-size laptop and still leaving space for extras like a tablet or a set of chargers. More than one reviewer draws the same comparison, saying it keeps things in far better order than the beat-up duffel bag they used to rely on. That's a pattern, not a fluke review.

American Tourister's standard carry-on doesn't compete on this front. It's built simpler — one main compartment, a mesh divider, minimal front organization. That simplicity is part of why it's cheaper, and part of why it survives fewer complaints about "not as much room as I expected." Level8 deals with a similar gripe too, mostly on the front-pocket Grace model rather than the plain Carry-On, where a few owners say the front pocket steals room you'd otherwise have inside the main compartment.

Handling both bags

Reviews suggest zipper pull failures are more a matter of trip count than first impressions. The main compartment's zipper has a built-in lock function, plus a second interior lock loop with letter-combination sliders. Several owners mention having to figure out before they realized it was there; it's a nice inclusion that isn't obvious from the box.

American Tourister markets its build around a "sturdy but not overbuilt" positioning at this price point. That framing lines up with how the brand is generally described in owner reviews and marketing material.

Where the two brands' problems don't overlap with Level8

None of the competitor brands we track share Level8's specific size-compliance issue. Delsey and Travelpro owners complain plenty about durability and zippers, Delsey's zipper failures include a case where the whole suitcase opened after the zipper broke two weeks past the return window, a sharper version of what a few Level8 owners describe, but size-compliance isn't a recurring theme for either brand the way it is for Level8's Carry-On. Monos, a newer direct-to-consumer competitor, actually gets flagged for the same 2026 carry-on size rule, so this isn't unique to Level8, but it is a live risk buyers should check against their specific airline before buying, not after landing at the gate.

Warranty and return experience is where Level8 compares well against the bigger names. The biggest complaint bucket for Travelpro, with 324 mentions, turned out to be how they handle warranty claims and support calls, beating out even durability gripes. Samsonite's return/warranty mentions sit at 237. Level8's version of this complaint is smaller in our data and tends to be about a single bad unit (scratches on arrival, one return) rather than a systemic service breakdown.

Who should buy which one

If overhead-bin size compliance on a major US carrier is non-negotiable, American, Delta, or United are your regular airlines and gate agents in your experience actually check, the Level8 Carry-On's listed dimensions are a real risk, and American Tourister's smaller standard spinner is the safer buy. If you're mostly checking bags or flying budget/international carriers with looser enforcement, and you want the interior organization and laptop compartment, Level8 is the better-organized bag for the same rough price bracket.

Buyers deciding between the two on durability alone won't find a clean winner. Both brands carry real complaint volume in that category; the difference is what specifically breaks. Level8's failure point is the zipper pull tab. American Tourister/Samsonite's is the wheel assembly. Choose whichever breakdown you'd rather handle halfway through a trip, since based on what we've seen, something's bound to go wrong eventually.

Return windows matter more with Level8 than with American Tourister, given how many of the zipper complaints in our set surface on the second or third trip, right around when most 30-day windows close. Test the zipper hard in week one, not week four.