Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

A few years back, Travelpro split its luggage lines into two series: The "CrewX" series is designed to be pretty and marketed to consumers, while the "FlightCrewX" is designed to be rugged and is marketed directly to pilots and crew. The "Crew9" series is the newest version marketed to consumers and the "FlightCrew4" is the current version that is marketed to pilots and crew. I bought the prior version of this bag, the Travelpro Crew 8 22 Inch Expandable Rollaboard Suiter before I came to this realization, and have been disappointed ever since. I hated the design of that bag. While it is light, it is much too flimsy to any kind of heavy duty use. Travelpro included a relatively cheap, but pretty design on the attachment strap and the short handle, both of which are sure to break with significant use. They've also rotated the axis of the long handle so as to make it harder to slide an extra bag over them. The front pockets are designed for appearance instead of utility, and so the zippers have a funny looking "U" shape and the pockets actually overlap, while being too thin to really hold anything. The nylon is a thin weave designed to have a nice "shine" instead of being resistant to damage. I had a chance to inspect this new version at a luggage store. While different aesthetically, has all the same flaws, except that they have rotated the axis on the long handle back to where it should be. I later purchased a Travelpro FlightCrew4 20" bag from an online store that caters to pilots and flight crew. What a bag! Nice sturdy ABS frame, real inline skating wheels, heavy duty handles with the axis in the correct direction, well-laid out pockets, padded laptop pocket, and heavy duty nylon -- and more than $40 cheaper! If you want to ensure that you can carry it on, avoid the 22" model, which is actually about 24" in length including wheels and handles. I also own a Kirkland 22" suiter (available only at Costco), which is better than this one and only $99.00. So, do yourself a favor: Skip anything in the Crew9 series (or any of Travelpro's consumer lines) and buy the FlightCrew4 from an online retailer or get the 22" Kirkland at Costco.