We have one of each. The soft one is like a duffel stuck on top of a thin hard-sided suitcase. It's great for hiking boots and odd-shaped things.

Soft sided for both checked bag and carry on.

I dislike hard sided luggage.

Soft-sided Tumi for air travel.
Hard sided only for car travel as it scratches so easily.

Hard-sided Tumi for both.

Consider bed bugs. And go with the hard luggage.

Anonymous wrote:Hard side carryon, soft checked bag.

+1

And since sometimes you have to check your carryon, my ultimate vote is for soft sided luggage.

Me. Between my DH and me. Carry on.

I do the reverse, hard for checked bag, soft sided wheelie for my carry on, although I rarely check a bag these days, so that suitcase hasn't seen the light of day in years!

Hard side carryon, soft checked bag.

I have some of both, and I prefer hard sided for larger checked bags and soft for carry ons. You can usually cram more into a soft bag, they have more pockets, and they are easier to fit into an overhead bin. The exception is a soft duffel bag that I check for things like ski gear/snow boots.

One issue I have is that some of the hard side bags scratch very easily. I had one that looked like a disaster after just a few flights. Now I have one with more of a matte finish, and it is holding up better.

Hard

Hard, easier to wipe clean and protects things better.

Anonymous wrote:Um, depends on the trip.

How so?

Um, depends on the trip.

Crowd sourcing this to settle a debate between my husband and I.