in praise of Travelpro

The bits arrived yesterday, in a small padded bag from Boca Raton. Zipper parts. Not exciting? They were to me.

They were the parts needed to repair my black wheely luggage bag. It's a bag that has travelled many miles with me. Certainly over a quarter of a million miles. Maybe half a million. Definitely further than from earth to the moon.

Naturally, it has survived many luggage belts and climates in the process. Except the last time.

I can't be sure, but I'd guess that someone threw it by holding the zippers. Not a good move. The two biggest zippers both sighed and one popped out, now lost in some airport handling depot.

Frequent flyer tip: Don't close the zips aligned on the long (throwable) side of the case - always zip them to the top.

It's only a zipper, but it's then that you notice the industrial strength of the fittings on Travelpro. I checked another make of case and by comparison Travelpro is at least one or maybe two sizes more robust. Designed to last. And don't get me started on wheel designs for luggage.


I decided to check the Travelpro website and, sure enough, they had an exploded view of their luggage with all of the parts labelled.

I contacted them by email, explaining the mishap and the part's reference number.

The lovely support person emailed me back. "Don't worry, I'm sending you the parts."

It's all fixed again.

I see more Travelpro luggage in my future.