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Travelpro Luggage Reviews
The company that originally invented the
concept of wheeled roll-about bags
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Yes, although it now
seems a long time ago, there once was a time before wheeled
carry-on bags. Do you remember back to 'Pilot's Bags',
for example - heavy boxy bags that opened at the top, which
one would carry on while holding their handle on the top?
All this came to an end
(when did you last see a Pilot Bag?) when Travelpro's
founder, Bob Plath, developed the original wheeled carry-on
bag in 1989.
A pilot himself, Plath
used a very clever marketing strategy. He sold his
bags at heavily discounted rates to flight crew, and as
other people at airports saw flight crew with their
roll-aboard bags, they too wanted them, especially when
Travelpro advertised them as being the bags chosen by travel
professionals.
The rest is, well,
history, and today Travelpro offer a wide range of well
manufactured bags under its own name and also marketed as
Atlantic and Austin House. |
Scroll down or click these
links to jump to the review you wish to read
Travelpro
Crew5 RollAboard
Travelpro
Crew5 Rolling Tote
Travelpro
Crew5 RollAboard review
Item 7422-01
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Travelpro are the
original inventors of wheeled carry-on luggage, with their
first bag appearing in 1989.
They've continued to
steadily enhance their original very clever idea, with the
Crew5 bag representing their current state of the art.
As evidence of
Travelpro's
attention to continually enhancing their product range, this
bag has more extra features than any other bag reviewed.
It is a good bag with
no obvious downside and nothing important omitted, and at
$200 is fairly priced.
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Price
and availability |
$200
With a 110% low price matching guarantee, comprehensive
product range, and excellent service, we recommend
eBags.com.
Special Note : eBags are now giving Travel Insider
readers 10% discounts off many products and free
shipping too. |
Warranty |
Travelpro offer a
limited lifetime warranty on their bag, although they
note that if the bag is being used for commercial use,
there is a reduced three year limited warranty.
The warranty covers defects in materials and
workmanship. The warranty excludes wear or damage
caused by abuse, mishandling, accidental damage,
inappropriate selection, or carelessness caused by an
airline or other common carrier.
Qualifying for warranty service might be
difficult. You need to keep a copy of proof of
purchase - why is this necessary on a bag that has a
lifetime warranty? It is the first thing I lose
whenever I buy something.
The second thing I lose are the various bits of
paperwork that fall out when you open something up.
Unfortunately, Travelpro require you to keep a copy of
their warranty statement (why?) plus the 'product tags'
(whatever they are) that came with the luggage.
They also ask you to keep the carton the bag came in to
use to ship the bag to their repair facility. Is
it only me or is there something bizarre about needing
to put a piece of luggage into a packing carton before
shipping it somewhere? |
Official size |
22" x 14" x 9" (45"
total) |
Measured maximum
external size |
24.75" x 15.25" x 9.25"
(49.25" total) - this is illegally large for most
airlines.) |
Measured internal
size |
22" x 14" - depth
difficult to determine and varies with overpacking and
the various layers of inner compartments. The
external depth of the main box is 6.75" for the
reinforced box itself, the extra thickness is caused by
the various extra things on the lid. |
Expandability |
Yes - you unzip a
gusset that allows the bag to expand an extra 2"
as measured. |
Weight |
Strangely, Travelpro
don't specify the bag's weight anywhere.
Actual weight is about 12 lbs. |
Construction |
Dupont Teflon coated
microballistic nylon stain resistant fabric. Semi-soft
sided, with some extra padding on the lid. The
opposite side is protected by the inbuilt extendable
handle structure. Plastic honeycomb panel sides.
Everything appears to be screwed rather than riveted.
The bag seems solid and well constructed.
The twin zips to open the main bag have locking holes through which you
could pass a padlock hasp in them. The twin zips
for opening the large compartment on the lid could be
locked by passing a padlock hasp through the zipper
pulls which have cut out sections in them.
All compartments are lined with softer material. |
Color choices |
Yes - Black, Ivy and
Marine Blue |
Handles |
Two handles plus a pull grip built into the bag's base
suitable for pulling the bag out of an overhead if the
wheels are facing out.
The wheelaboard does not have extra feet opposite the
long side carry handle. |
Towing Handle |
Extends to
40" from floor to bottom of handle. Easy to open and shut, with just
the one extension position.
Telescoping design with three sections. Appears
sturdy with only a very slight wiggle.
Mounted internally and so is protected from external
forces. |
Wheels |
Two solid low
friction wheels, mounted almost entirely within a
protective guard assembly.
Estimated 3" diameter and 1" width, with curved
cross-section so only a narrow part touches the ground. |
Stair skids |
Yes, assisted by the
semi-recessed wheels. |
Outside
compartments |
There is one outside
compartment on the back of the wheeled piece, 13" wide
and 9" deep, with a single zip to open it, and side
flaps so items are less likely to fall out when opened.
A small amount of padding is on the outside of this.
The front has three pockets. At the top is a small
pocket with single zip opener, measuring about 11" wide
and 6.5" deep. It has side flaps and some exterior
padding. Below that
is a larger 13" wide and 14" deep pocket with a single
zip opener along its top. This is also padded.
Underneath these two pockets is a third pocket that
covers the entire lid (about 14" x 21"). Two zips
open the top and halfway down the sides.
There is no extra gusseting for these various
compartments. |
Inside compartments
in base |
The base is fully
lined. The first
thing you see when opening the lid of the bag is a large
semi-clear plastic carrier that is clipped across the
bag with four elastic snap clips. It can be
removed and there is a hangar that you can use to hang
it on a rail or hook somewhere.
There are three zipped compartments in this, each about
11" wide and 5" - 7" deep. One has a mesh front,
the other two are waterproof.
Also on the front are a series of six elastic loops that
could be used to store canisters of 35mm film or pill
bottles or whatever.
There are two pockets, one on each long side of the bag
interior that could perhaps be used for shoes.
There is a zip pocket on the bottom of the base, and two
mesh pockets above that. |
Inside compartments
in lid |
There are two
compartments and a gusset inside the lid.
The compartment furtherest from the exterior of the lid
is a mesh compartment spanning the entire lid in size,
with a zip running along its longer dimension.
The second compartment opens up with two zips unzipping
three of its sides. Inside is a nice tri-fold suit
carrier. If the suit
carrier is full, you can unzip the gusset that extends
the second compartment by about 1.25" (taking up more
space inside the bag, not outside the bag). |
Suit carrier
included |
Yes - a nice
tri-fold carrier. The carrier has two external
zippable pockets on its outside (when folded) and two
zippable mesh pockets on its inside, as well as space
for hanging clothes.
Surprisingly, it doesn't have a hanger that can be used
to hang the bag in a wardrobe, just a loop to hang it
over a hook. There
are two spacers inside the suit carrier to hold the
clothes in place, and two steel wires running lengthwise
to keep the entire thing straight when folded. Two
carry handles make it easy to carry when out of the
rollaboard bag. |
Other Removable
holders inside |
The one item
discussed above, plus the ticket wallet discussed below. |
Waterproof
compartment |
Yes, several in the
removable bag. |
Packing Straps |
Yes - two sets of
wide 'arms' that go across the short dimension of the
base with elastic straps.
These would do a good job of securing items within the
bag. |
External carry
hook/strap |
Yes, adjustable
length webbing strap that ends in a J-shaped hook that
snaps open or shut.
The nice thing about this fastener is that it is easier
to place or remove items than it is with a snapped shut
loop that you have to unfasten and refasten each time
you're placing the extra item on or off the carry strap.
Note - one reader wrote in to say that the clip for this
was located close to the carry handle such that he was
scraping his knuckles against this every time he reached
up to grab his bag out of the overhead compartment on a
plane. |
ID holder |
Yes - fastened on
the side of the bag. |
Other features |
A pleasant surprise
can be found inside the top outside pocket - a nice fold
over ticket wallet, with snap fastener. Inside is
space for a ticket inside a ticket jacket, a clear
window holder for perhaps a driver's license, and
several other sleeves into which a passport and other
travel documents could be stored. There is also a
zip closing inner pocket.
The bag comes with a
junky key operated padlock that Travelpro claim is TSA approved,
but there is no evidence of a TSA logo on it to tell TSA
staff that they can open it. |
Travelpro
Crew5 Rolling Tote review
Item 7413-01
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As well as the full
sized roll aboard bags, a new style has appeared - bags that
can do double duty as a regular carry bag/briefcase.
These bags are smaller and somewhat lighter than the full
sized carry-ons. They hold considerably less , but
offer a much greater range of internal compartments and
pockets - good for organizing a collection of many different
things, but not so good for holding larger items.
Travelpro's Crew 5
Rolling Tote is a classic example of this style of bag.
It is now being largely
replaced by the Crew 6 very similar product.
|
Price
and availability |
This unit has now
been superseded by the very similar Crew 6 Rolling Tote,
with a list price of $160.
With a 110% low price matching guarantee, comprehensive
product range, and excellent service, we recommend
eBags.com.
Special Note : eBags are now giving Travel Insider
readers 10% discounts off many products and free
shipping too. |
Warranty |
Travelpro offer a
limited lifetime warranty on their bag, although they
note that if the bag is being used for commercial use,
there is a reduced three year limited warranty.
The warranty covers defects in materials and
workmanship. The warranty excludes wear or damage
caused by abuse, mishandling, accidental damage,
inappropriate selection, or carelessness caused by an
airline or other common carrier.
Qualifying for warranty service might be
difficult. You need to keep a copy of proof of
purchase - why is this necessary on a bag that has a
lifetime warranty? It is the first thing I lose
whenever I buy something.
The second thing I lose are the various bits of
paperwork that fall out when you open something up.
Unfortunately, Travelpro require you to keep a copy of
their warranty statement (why?) plus the 'product tags'
(whatever they are) that came with the luggage.
They also ask you to keep the carton the bag came in to
use to ship the bag to their repair facility. Is
it only me or is there something bizarre about needing
to put a piece of luggage into a packing carton before
shipping it somewhere? |
Official size |
16" x 12" x 9" (37"
total) |
Measured maximum
external size |
16.25" x 14" x 9"
(39.25" total) - small enough to be accepted by almost
all airlines with no problems. |
Measured internal
size |
15.25" x 11.75"
for the main compartment.
The depth
is difficult to determine and varies with overpacking
and the various layers of inner compartments, but the
main compartment is probably about 6" deep. |
Expandability |
No. |
Weight |
Claimed 7.5 lbs.
Actual weight is 7lbs. |
Construction |
Dupont Teflon coated
microballistic nylon stain resistant fabric.
Semi-soft
sided. It has a hard plastic exterior shell around
the bottom corners where the wheels are, and a
plastic sheet to give form to the back of the bag.
There is some extra padding on all other sides.
Everything
appears to be screwed rather than riveted, with some
extra ribbing on the corners for wear protection.
The bag seems
solid and well constructed.
The twin zips to
open the main bag have locking holes through which
you could pass a padlock hasp in them. The twin
zips for opening the other exterior compartments
could be locked by passing a padlock hasp through
the zipper pulls which have cut out sections in
them.
All compartments
are lined with softer material.
|
Color choices |
Yes - Black, Ivy and
Marine Blue |
Handles |
The bag has two
fabric loop handles - one on either side of the main
compartment opening that can be held together in a
padded wraparound attached to one of the two fabric
handles. This makes for a more comfortable carrying
situation.
There is also a
pull grip built into the bag's base suitable for
pulling the bag out of an overhead if the wheels are
facing out. This is on the opposite side to the two
loop handles, and does double duty as a rest when
the bag is placed on the ground.
|
Towing Handle |
Extends to
38" from floor to bottom of handle. Easy to open and shut, with just
the one extension position.
Telescoping design with five sections. Appears
reasonably sturdy although with more wiggle.
Mounted internally and so is protected from external
forces. |
Wheels |
Two solid low
friction wheels, mounted almost entirely within a
protective guard assembly.
Estimated 2.75" diameter and 7/8" width, with
one quarter of each wheel recessed inside a protective
covering. |
Stair skids |
No. |
Outside
compartments |
This bag has a
dizzying array of different compartments, and also lots
of dividers and other features within each compartment,
making it more like a briefcase than a rollaboard. There
are three outside compartments on the front side of the
bag, each one with a double zipper. The outer most
one is the smallest, measuring 12" wide and 7.5" high.
It has a full length zip across the top of it. It
isn't gusseted, so can't hold anything too thick.
The middle compartment is 12.75" wide and 10.5" high.
It has zips that go around three sides, and side flaps
to stop the front of it falling open (and also to stop
small loose items inside falling out. it too has
no gusseting, but thicker items could go in here and
just compress the inner side of the compartment.
The inner most compartment is a larger version of the
middle compartment, and with a small amount of
gusseting. It measures 15" wide and 11.75" high.
It also has zips on three sides and side flaps to stop
it falling open all the way. A laptop computer
could conceivably be placed in here.
On one of the sides is an open pocket with an
elasticized top that is presumably intended for a water
bottle. On the other
side is another zipped pocket, with a zip running on the
top and one side. The compartment is about 5.25"
wide and 7.25" high, and has a flap on the side to hold
things in when opened. It has a small amount of
gusseting. |
Main compartment |
The main compartment
zips open on three sides, and measures 15.25" x 11.75"
and is about 6" deep.
Side flaps prevent
the 'lid' from opening up more than about 30 degrees,
but they can be unsnapped to allow for the lid to open
all the way.
The bottom of the
compartment is lined with a thin lining of nylon which
rests on top of the extending handle mechanism, making
for an uneven bottom. This would not be a good
thing to place a laptop computer immediately against,
and you'd probably want to keep bottles of duty free
liquor away from the metal handle assembly which could
transmit shocks to the bottle and break it.
Inside the main
compartment is a side zipped pocket, with some
gusseting, measuring 7.5" x 5", with the zip along the
5" side.
In the 'lid' of the
main compartment (which has the three external
compartments on the outside) is a mesh pocket, measuring
15" x 9.75", with a full length zip running along the
15" side. |
Inside features within the other compartments |
The
outermost/smallest of the three external compartments
has no extra features inside.
The middle
compartment has a full sized zip compartment on its
outer side, measuring 12" x 9.75". This is just
large enough to fit regular sheets of paper, but a
folder with papers inside is not likely to fit.
On the inner side of
the middle compartment is a pouch with a velcro
fold-over flap on one side, three pen holders in the
middle, and two sleeves and a business card holder on
the other side. The pouch measures 7.5" x 3.5" and
the sleeves are 5.75" wide and 9" and 6" tall.
The inner
compartment has two mesh pouches on the outer side, with
elasticized tops. Each measures about 8.5" x 7.25"
(opening on the shorter side), and while they look like
shoe holders, my shoes were too big to fit (11.5" long
shoes).
On the inner side is
a full coverage waterproof clear vinyl zip up pouch with
two additional gusseted waterproof clear vinyl pouches
on the outside of this larger pouch. The larger
pouch measures 10" x 14" and the two smaller pouches are
7.25" by 4.75" or 6.5" with about 0.75" of gusseting. |
Suit carrier
included |
No - this bag is too
small to fit a suit. |
Other Removable
holders inside |
No. |
Waterproof
compartment |
Yes, three in the
inner most outside compartment. |
Packing Straps |
Yes, elastic X
straps that join in the middle. |
External carry
hook/strap |
There is a webbing
type strap around the backside of the bag. This
allows the bag to be slid onto another (larger) bag's
collapsible pull handle and to be held in place.
There is as puzzling eye on the outside of the bag, to
one side of the carry loop handles. At first it
seemed like one of the two connectors to affix the
supplied shoulder strap, but we couldn't find the other
side anywhere, making for two mysteries - what was this
one eye for, and how does one connect the shoulder
strap? |
ID holder |
Yes - fastened on
the back of the bag. |
Other features |
The bag comes
complete with a miniature padlock that has 'TSA' boldly
embossed on it, implying it to be a TSA approved
security lock.
However, there was
no TSA code number on it (to tell the TSA which master
key would open the lock) so it is almost certainly not
TSA compliant. In any case, any teenager with a
paperclip can open the lock in a couple of minutes, so
the value of the lock is mainly as an ornament rather
than as anything more substantial. |
Review methodology
Please note that weights and
measurements are approximate. Measurements in particular
are surprisingly subjective, and almost no bag/case has even
measurements across every part of the bag.
External measurements are
usually taken at the largest possible part - like an airline
would do if trying to negatively prove your bag was illegally
oversized.
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Originally published
18 June 2004, last update
30 May 2021
You may freely reproduce or distribute this article for noncommercial purposes as long as you give credit to me as original writer.
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