I love products that have more than one use, and the Auca multifunctional luggage fits that description very nicely. It’s a 25″ suitcase that doubles as a desk and cabinet when your travel destination is lacking those amenities. Available in red, green, yellow and blue, this luggage features 360-degree wheels with a braking mechanism for stability and a key-free TSA approved lock. A folding desk and chair are built into the luggage to allow it to transform into a desk and a two-compartment cabinet so that you can store your items separately. It’s priced at $510 without extra accessories and $620 if you want the umbrella, cooler, chair and cover. For more info visit auca.com
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Anybody else notice that the Red one has the predator embossed on it, and the yellow is the transformers AUTOBOT logo?
Good eye!
That would be so neat if you where stuck for a few hours in the airport before you could drop luggage as I was earlier this year. Just set yourself up with desk, chair and laptop in the middle of the concourse and get some work done.
It’d also be really good for people who are often sent to temporary housing – if the housing is under-furnished, you’ve got a working table, chair, and cabinet.
I’m pretty sure that you could get a decent size table with 4 chairs and a storage cabinet for a lot less than $510! As for being stuck in the airport I can count on one finger the times this has happened to me pre check in and I fly at minimum of two flights per month.
These things are quirky geeky things but I can’t see myself wheeling a Transformers or Predator logo’d case on a business trip.
I am sure they will sell well though!
But could you find that table and chairs on a Thursday night, in Tel Aviv, on your own, before the stores close for the weekend, with no vehicle?
I’ll admit they are expensive, but not completely out of the price range for a comparable suitcase. (Samsonite for a similar style of bag seems to range from $130-$600, depending on model, so it’s definitely high end of the price range, but not out of the range entirely.)
I don’t mean to be flippant but the scenario you paint is highly unlikely to occur more than once in your life, if at all. I would just stay in a hotel. As I said, I am sure these will sell but likely not to travelling businessmen due to the styling.
@yeppers: That depends on who you’re working for, and what your job is. That situation is from a common one I’ve seen, and something similar would happen every couple of years for people in that job – which required a lot of medium-length assignments (0.5-2 years at a time) and where they would be put in a house immediately upon arrival. Yes they could take a hotel – at their own cost, instead of the house that was paid for.
Another situation I can think of is a job I was recently in: Truck driving. Having an easy to store and transport table and chair would be a very nice little perk there. (Although the bag’s a bit big…) I could see using it several times a week if I was still in that job.
I do think it’s a luxury gadget, but I can see it could be a nice and useful one.
I don’t think it carry on size, so you wouldn’t get into the concourse with it. It would need to be checked in.
Yeah I guess it does indeed depend on the company you work for. If the company I work for put me into a place at very short notice for 0.5-2 years with no furniture and then made me pay for a hotel because I didn’t have a table to sit at, then I wouldn’t be working with them for very long if that was how little they thought of me!! Truckers might use it but most truckers cabins are space conscious and their typical table and chair often comes with the truck itself. I also think that not many truckers would spend $600 on a table and chair. I agree with you it’s a useful gadget and I could have been tempted if they offered a plain black or dark blue case but for now I’ll pass.
The company I was mentioning on the 0.5-2 years is the US Government – Foreign Service. (Though a lot of aid NGOs will do something similar.) It’s not ‘short notice’ – You’ll have several months at least notice, as well as a shipment of your own things (which won’t have arrived yet), and the house will be ‘furnished’ – with a selection of stuff they pulled out of a local warehouse. It’s usually in decent condition, but it may not be. (And it’ll take a week or two to sort out if it isn’t.) And it’ll be just the very basics.
And yeah, I agree on most of your statements on truckers. Space conscious is exactly why I think they might like this: It doesn’t take up much more space than their bag, anyway. And while there’s a table (no chair – you sit on the bed, usually) in the cab, then you’re stuck in the cab.
As I said: Luxury gadget. Could make some situations better, and I can see a use, but you’re committing to spending money that you don’t necessarily need to.
I actually thought it was likely to be Gov or an NGO! I used to represent my country as defence attaché in an embassy and I understand the scenario all to well. I was lucky in that my house was brand new and I had a generous furnishing allowance as the first occupier! That was many moons ago now so I imagine things haven’t got any better!
Biggest issue I can see is it is bigger than carry on allowance, so it would be totally useless for being stuck in an airport, as you would likely not have your checked bag with you.