In fall 2020, I paid $377 for a new set of luggage — a large suitcase and a matching carry-on — at about 25% off. It was a rare sale and a great deal. It was also a bit pricey for my financial situation at the time.But after moving cross-country and flying back and forth to visit loved ones, I had discovered that the crappy bargain-bin luggage my parents (lovingly) bought me in high school was, well, crap. To never again suffer stuck zippers, shredded fabric, and broken wheels, I set my sights on that high-quality set. I bided my time for a year, and once that sale hit, I closed my eyes and clicked the buy button, doing my best to focus on the value rather than the total. With the pandemic sending much of the travel industry into a tailspin at the time, I suspected that luggage wasn’t going to get cheaper.I was right: Today, that same set costs $670 at full price. That may sound shocking to some people, but not to our luggage experts.“Pretty much the only constant with luggage, especially in the last few years, is that it’s getting more expensive,” said my colleague Kit Dillon, who has covered travel gear for Wirecutter for more than a decade.Kit’s right on the money: My fellow Wirecutter Deals team members and I have tracked prices on our various luggage picks for years, and a review of our data and the historical prices of popular brands says the same.These days, pandemic-era pain points such as supply-chain bottlenecks have eased, but tariff-related volatility is creating more uncertainty and prompting price hikes. In some cases, you may now be seeing higher prices than expected — even during the deepest sales. Here’s what you need to know about getting the best possible deal on luggage.