Soft-sided coolers with big wheels beat hard coolers for airports.

Yes, but only if you go soft-sided with oversized wheels.

Hard coolers like the Pelican or Yeti Tundra are built to survive a bear attack. That’s great for camping. It’s terrible for an airport. They’re heavy empty, awkward to pull through narrow aisles, and you can’t stow them in an overhead bin.

A soft-sided cooler with big wheels — think the Yeti Hopper M30 with the optional wheel kit, or the RTIC SoftPak — solves the real problem: rolling it behind you without fighting the handle or tipping over. The big wheels handle carpet, curbs, and questionable sidewalk cracks. It’s light enough to lift into a car trunk and flexible enough to stuff in an overhead bin if it’s not packed to the gills.

Ice retention? Fine for a travel day. You’re not leaving it in the sun for a week. Pack a bag of ice and you’re golden for 12+ hours inside the cooler. If you need three days of ice without opening it, then maybe the hard cooler makes sense. But for airports? You want something that rolls well, not something that will last a nuclear winter.

Your back will thank you.