Crew™ 11 Luggage Roundup: Spinner vs Rollaboard
November 21, 2016 by Matt Sill · Leave a Comment
I was asked recently which of our pieces of luggage within the Crew™ 11 Collection works better for the business traveler, the Spinner (8 wheels) or the Rollaboard® (2 wheels). This is a tough call, because both of them are great products, but in fact there are reasons that one may work better than the other in certain situations.
Both the 21″ Expandable Spinner and the 22″ Expandable Rollaboard® are designed with the frequent traveler in mind. Each bag fits in most overhead bins, and has many features that make either an excellent choice for anyone who spends a lot of time maneuvering through airports and hotels.
Both Crew 11 models have the Suiter system, which protects jackets and dress clothes from excessive wrinkling. The main difference between the two with regard to this feature is that the Spinner’s suiter is a “drop in” version, while the suiter for the Rollaboard® is built into the lid. The Rollaboard® has a slightly larger compartment due to the 2 wheel design so it’s suiter can actually fold up into the lid.
Travelpro Crew 11 Collection — with both spinner and rollaboard bags
Now, the biggest difference: the wheels. This is where most people make their choice. First, the Spinner features MagnaTrac™ self-aligning wheels. This patented design allows you to push the bag with one hand or pull it behind you, and it will always roll perfectly straight, with minimal effort or resistance. This 360-degree maneuverability alleviates arm strain that can occur when pulling a Rollaboard behind you.
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Beyond the Carry-on: Garment Bags
November 14, 2016 by Matt Sill · Leave a Comment
Garment bags often get a bad rap for being an outdated “box on wheels” predecessor to the Rollaboard® luggage that is seen everywhere today. Not so!
We like garment bags because they offer a streamlined manner of protecting and transporting business apparel in a way that reduces wrinkling. If you travel for business, and are required to wear suits and semi-formal clothing, you may want to consider a garment bag.
For example, you can typically only pack one suit inside the suiter of a regular carry-on. But if you have several suits or jackets, the garment bag allows you to carry several business dress items virtually wrinkle free.
Travelpro Crew 11 Garment Bag
The Crew™ 11 collection features three models, a basic bi-fold and two sizes of rolling garment bags. As with the entire Crew™ 11 collection, all are made of high-quality ballistic nylon fabric with a Duraguard coating, and feature a large exterior pocket and metal hanger clamps to keep your garments secure. All are subjected to strenuous testing to ensure durability of all moving parts and abrasion resistance over the lifetime of the bag. A limited lifetime warranty is also standard for all three models.
The Bi-Fold has an over-the-shoulder padded strap that can be worn crossbody as well, and has a leather carrying handle. It opens like a book and features multiple accessory pockets for separating and organizing contents. A foam padded roll bar and adjustable hold down straps help prevent wrinkling.
Both the Rolling Carry-on Garment Bag and the 50″ Garment Bag feature a high-performance Rollaboard® wheel system with integrated four-point stability system that keeps the bag from tipping when fully packed and standing upright. They also feature our patented Powerscope Extension Handle which reduces wobble when fully extended. The large compartment in each has a padded roll bar and two adjustable hold-down straps for securing up to four garments, as well as compartments for folded shirts fresh from the cleaners and pants. There are also corner pockets for small essentials such as belts, socks, and toiletries.
Do you regularly travel with suits? Are you a garment bag user? What do you typically look for in a garment bag? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below, on our Facebook page, or in our Twitter stream.
Photo credit: TravelproLuggage
Beyond the Carry-on: Travelpro Totes
September 28, 2016 by Matt Sill · Leave a Comment
With so many travelers trying to streamline what they use to manage their essentials, knowing all your “personal item” luggage options could make what you carry onboard more efficient. Maybe you’re checking a large suitcase, but still want to take a small personal bag on the plane with you. Or maybe you’re only traveling for a single overnight trip, and a normal rollaboard is too big.
This is where a tote can help out. They’re smaller, lighter, and easier to carry or roll. Here are a few features you should look for in a travel tote.
Navy Travelpro Crew 11 Business Tote
Your tote should also be comfortable to carry. Look for an adjustable strap with a padded shoulder pad so you can wear it hands-free, either over the shoulder or across your body. Look for leather handles so it’s comfortable to carry as well.
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What Tests Does Travelpro Put Crew™ 11 Luggage Through?
August 19, 2016 by Matt Sill · Leave a Comment
Road warriors and frequent business travelers need luggage that will see them through hundreds of thousands of miles and hundreds of hours in the air. You need something that will last for years and not fail on you at the most inopportune moment.
Travelpro Crew 11 Collection
So you may be interested in learning just how thoroughly tested the Crew™ 11 luggage collection is. Crew 11 is the sister collection to our FlightCrew™ 5 collection, which is made specifically for flight professionals. (Our founder, Bob Plath, was originally a pilot for Northwestern Airlines when he invented the Rollaboard Carry-on suitcase, so he understood what flight professionals put their bags through.)
As you would suspect, we have tested every element of Crew 11 with a series of machines developed to test the strength and durability of all our models. For example, the top and side carry handles are put through a jerk test by attaching a fully loaded bag to a machine that roughly lifts, drops, and jerks it, testing the handles as well as the screws that secure them to the bag.
Our high performance wheels are tested for mile after mile over multiple surface types to simulate road warrior usage.
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Shopping for Luggage: Lightweight Durability
August 15, 2016 by Matt Sill · Leave a Comment
Using “lightweight” and “durability” in the same sentence when describing luggage may seem like an oxymoron. Duffel bags have long been lightweight; heavier hardshell case bags have been durable. And that’s the way it has always been.
Mostly.
The new Travelpro Crew 11 luggage collection
When it comes to “lightweight durability,” at Travelpro®, we have built our reputation on marrying the two.
It’s simple science: The lighter the bag, the more you can put into the bag to meet the maximum allowable rate. With airlines instituting weight limits for checked baggage, and carry-ons for international travel, the empty weight of luggage matters.
It all starts with the lightweight frame, which has been subjected to (and exceeded) rigorous testing criteria. And while all of our collections have new design innovations, let’s focus on Crew™ 11, the sister collection to our FlightCrew™ 5 collection, which is used extensively by flight professionals.
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New Travelpro Crew 11 Luggage Has MagnaTrac Wheels, USB Power Port
July 15, 2016 by Matt Sill · Leave a Comment
Travelpro®, the leader in luggage known internationally for being Pilot Designed, Flight Crew Tested®, is proud to introduce its bold new Crew™ 11 collection. Designed exclusively for those always rushing to their next destination, this 14-piece collection of Spinner and Rollaboard® luggage is packed with innovations that make travel hassle-free and even pleasurable.
Travelpro Crew 11 Collection
Business executives and all frequent fliers will appreciate the Crew 11’s innovative features, such as MagnaTrac™ self-aligning wheels, Power Scope Extension Handle and the Contour Grip designed specifically for Spinner luggage.
It also offers an integrated USB Port on select Carry-ons to power-up phones or tablets. With 10 Carry-ons, this stylish collection is designed for today’s high-mileage travelers.
“The fact that flight crews for over 90 airlines use Travelpro luggage speaks volumes,” said Ron Wood, Executive Vice President of Sales for the Travelpro family of brands. “We are pleased to present the new Crew 11 collection, which exceeds the high standards that have come to define our company — amazingly durable construction, travel-tested features, premium fabrics, innovative design and quality materials built to go the distance.”
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Shopping for Luggage: Hard-Sided Bag Materials
July 11, 2016 by Matt Sill · Leave a Comment
While the popularity of soft-sided luggage has boomed in recent years, many travelers prefer a hard-sided bag for its perceived durability and compression resistance. Travelpro provides several hard-sided options, but I want to talk about the three types generally available in the marketplace. We can think of them as good, better, and best.
Travelpro Maxlite Hardside Collection
GOOD: Polypropylene. This material is popular because of its price. It’s durable and flexible to some degree and is offered in a wide variety of colors. It is usually manufactured in solid colors with a matte finish and smooth texture.
BETTER: This next one is a mouthful: ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) is a hard-sided material that is thermalformed to add strength to the structure of the luggage. It is very durable and is the most popular and most affordable option offered by many companies. ABS bags can have a variety of looks, including textured patterns, embedded prints, and images, due to manufacturing processes that incorporate ABS and polycarbonate.
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Shopping for Luggage: Fabric Types
June 10, 2016 by Matt Sill · Leave a Comment
In the food world, it’s said that we eat with our eyes first. The same could be said when purchasing luggage: we are attracted to a bag because of its looks before we consider the merits of its construction. Today, I want to highlight some of the fabrics used in the TravelPro lines so that you know what you’re getting when you purchase a soft-sided piece of luggage.
Maxlite 3 Luggage, one of our soft-side luggage collections
Polyester and nylon are the preeminent fabric choices, and the strength and durability of each is determined by its denier and weave pattern. Denier is the thread count, the measured thickness of each individual strand of yarn; the higher the denier, the higher the quality of the material, usually.
Nylon is typically viewed as stronger than polyester, but the industry has seen major improvements in polyester’s durability in the past five years, making it a viable alternative to nylon.
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Easy Steps to Cleaning the Exterior of Your Luggage
April 27, 2016 by Matt Sill · Leave a Comment
Traveling is not all happy trails when accidents happen. Spilling coffee on your suitcase as you hurry toward your gate can create quite a mess. It’s also not pleasant to retrieve your luggage from the carousel and discover some strange stain on its exterior, like grease or who knows what. While you probably won’t have time to attempt to clean the stain before you return home, in case you don’t read any further, know this: DO NOT USE SOAP AND WATER!
Do NOT use soap and water to clean the exterior of your Travelpro bags!
Perhaps that’s surprising. We’ll explain exactly what to do in a minute. While we’ve covered how to clean the interior of your Travelpro luggage in a previous post, we realized we need you to know how to maintain your bag’s exterior as well!
Travelpro products are designed and manufactured to be durable, functional, and easy to maintain. Over the years, manufacturing innovations and overall quality of fabrics and water resistant/stain resistant coatings have led to constant improvement in the wear of our luggage.
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Travelpro Made, Mother Approved: The 2016 Mother’s Day Travelpro Gift Guide
April 19, 2016 by Travelpro Staff · Leave a Comment
Ensure Life is a Trip for your Loved Ones with Coveted and Creative Gifts
Travelpro® and Atlantic® Luggage, two of the most prestigious brands in the travel industry, are proud to present the much-anticipated 2016 Mother’s Day Gift Guide. Finding the perfect gift for your wife or mom can create anxiety every Mother’s Day, which is why Travelpro and Atlantic make your life easier with luggage selections that the special women in your life will delight in, not only on May 8th, but for years to come.
The Atlantic Unite2 Collection
The first two pieces featured in the Guide are the creative and value-conscious Atlantic® Unite™ 2 21″ and 25″ Spinners, available in durable black and blue fabric colors. You will be amazed by these offerings from the market leader in lightweight, affordable luggage. These Unite 2 Spinners have design innovations such as the Link2Go™ System which easily connects luggage together with Velcro straps, so you can push two pieces with one hand.
Atlantic goes the extra mile with the addition of an external USB port and integrated battery pouch in the Carry-On Spinner model, which provides convenient access to power your phone and tablet on the move. Masterfully versatile, the affordable Unite 2 collection gives you a choice of ideal gifts for family travelers who need an extra hand and electronic devices that are always available for immediate use.
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