[Expired] 50% off Tumi at Belk, stack w/ portal & discounted GC

Department store Belk is offering a 50% off coupon code on most items (with code SPRINGITON) and it does not exclude Tumi. This makes for deep discounts on some bags, particularly when stacked with a shopping portal and perhaps a discounted gift card. You’ll also earn a few coupons with purchase. Tumi isn’t for everyone — some love it and some think it’s way overpriced — but for those who would consider a Tumi bag (perhaps those who need a Mother’s Day present ordered far enough in advance?), this could be a good deal.

The Deal

• Department store Belk is offering 50% off on many items, including Tumi luggage with coupon code SPRINGITON.
• Stack this with a shopping portal and perhaps a discounted gift card to save even more as shown below
• Example bag
• Link to Tumi products at Belk

Key Terms

Coupon code restrictions:

• Spring Fling
  50% off select Belk-exclusive & national brands, 25%-35% off select designer & national brands, 15% off small appliances, designer sunglasses, fine jewelry watches & smart wearables & What Goes Around Comes Around
• Ends Sun, 4/26 at 11:59pm ET
• Excludes Doorbusters, Clearance, Red Dot, Superbuys, Assets, beauty department, Birkenstock, Brahmin, Brighton, Converse, designer sunglasses, Donald Pliner, Draper James, Eileen Fisher, Hunter Boots, Juliska, Koolabura, Lilly Pulitzer, Le Creuset, Michael Kors, smart home department, Spanx, Teva, Tommy John, UGG, Vineyard Vines, Vitamix, and fine jewelry trunk shows and service plans.
• Not valid on prior purchases, special orders or trunk shows, select online exclusive brands and items shipped directly from vendors on belk.com, Belk gift cards, prior purchases or special orders. Additional brand exclusions may apply. Valid online only until April 26, 2020 until 11:59PM.

Quick Thoughts / Stacking it up

I found this deal over at Slickdeals, though of course it can be stacked a bit better than they listed it.

The example bag from Slickdeals is a good one: Belk is selling the Tumi Bravo Sheppard Deluxe backpack for $237.50 after coupon.

That’s already far below the price I see anywhere else for the same bag via Google shopping (even the less desirable Grey color is $100 more at most stores).

Shopping portal TopCashBack is currently offer 8% cash back at Belk (check other rates here). That would drop your net cost to $218.50. If you have a US Bank Cash+ and have Department Stores chosen as a 5% back category for this quarter, that would be a net cost of $206.62 (after 5% cash back on your purchase price of $237.50 (that’s $11.88 back) subtracted from your $218.50 net cost).

Alternatively, Raise.com has Belk gift cards at 7% off of face value. If you could get exactly $237.50 in gift cards from Raise (you probably can’t hit the nail on the head, but can get close), that would mean your net cost would be this:

• $237.50 in gift cards at 7% off = $220.88
• 8% cash back on $237.50 (going through TopCashBack) = $19
• $220.88 – $19 = $201.88 net cost.

If you are also eligible to go through a shopping portal for your Raise purchase, you could bring the net cost down a bit further yet.

Belk is also offering “Belk bucks” with purchase, which is basically just a limited-time coupon for $15 off of $75 (the coupon can only be redeemed May 11-25, in-store or online, and has some restrictions as seen at that link). You earn one of those coupons for a future purchase for every $75 you spend (in other words, I think you would earn 3 of those coupons for the above Tumi bag purchase). If you shop at Belk often, you might value those at a few bucks each though I personally wouldn’t likely use them.

Still, the price is certainly right for some of the included bags. Usually when I see a discount on Tumi, that means it’s a deal happening at all Tumi dealers. As such, Ebags.com often offers the best deals because of frequent huge cash back promos and the ability to sometimes stack with an Amex Offer. However, this might be the cheapest we’ve seen Tumi backpacks as far as I can recall and I do not see similar half-off discounts at other retailers. This appears to be a Belk-only deal (though note that the “original” price on some bags is high, so not every bag is a deal).

While I was never a big believer in expensive luggage, I bought a used Tumi backpack on Craigslist a few years ago. I’ve been really impressed. I know that many people say that the quality has gone down hill in recent years, but the way the zippers on my bag have held up even when way overstuffed has impressed me. I brought mine on the 40K to Far Away Challenge last year (and all of my other trips over the past couple of years, totaling over 100K miles last year alone). I was particularly surprised that it held everything I needed for a week on the 40K trip (I and made a video packing it that ran kind of long — read more and see the video here).

I bought that bag for $100 used a couple of years ago and it looks the same today as it did the day I bought it. Around $200 new seems like a pretty fair deal if the new ones are as durable. I’ve been interested in a Tumi carry-on ever since I bought a bunch of them to sell a few years back, but I can’t justify the cost on those given the deal I got on my favorite brand of rolling luggage last year. My Muji isn’t quite as nice, but it was reasonably-priced. I haven’t found a backpack I like as much as my Tumi though (nor have I felt a need to shop around since getting it).

Overall, there are some potentially good deals to be had here if you’re in the market for a Tumi bag. With travel paused and many people out of work, I know this deal won’t be for everyone. However, if you’re thinking about a purchase like this, the deal looks good.

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