The new Alpha 2 T-Pass Business Class Brief Pack looks sharp and has Tumi’s typical high build quality, but is it worth the price? And how does it fair for typical long haul business travel?

UPDATE! NOT RECOMMENDED!

After 3 months and several trans-pacific trips, I cannot recommend the Tumi Alpha 2 T-Pass Business Class Brief Pack. Here’s why for the tldr; crowd.

The bag is heavy and uncomfortable when used as a backpack.

It simply doesn’t function well as a backpack. I think it’s designed for people that exist on the left spectrum of the height distribution. Like the very far left.

Poorly designed pockets restrict carrying capacity and usability.

The pockets have a dumb design: they expand into the interior of the bag, greatly reducing both accessibility and carrying capacity. This bag will carry as much as a T-Tech brief, but when fully loaded, you basically can’t get anything out without either 1) laying the bag flat and completely opening it up or 2) unloading it’s contents until there is enough room to dig around. Sure, it’s great to be able to almost completely unzip the main compartment but that’s not something I really want to do on a plane — great way to lose all your little doodads.

Too many pockets open from the outside

Although convenient for the main user, I think this is a bad design as it makes it easier for other people to get into your bag. It also makes it more consequential should you leave a pocket unzipped. If the pockets open to the interior, it’s no big deal should you accidentally leave one unzipped.

The interior compartments are useless when loaded, and not very functional

As above, if you have a moderate load in the backpack, you can forget about relying on any of the interior compartments. You won’t be able to access them without pulling almost everything out of the backpack.

Maybe I’m just overly fussy but I’m unimpressed with this bag. The quality is good of course, but the design is poorly conceived on multiple fronts. This bag has really made me question the Tumi brand, too. I will certainly be evaluating and re-evaluating any further purchases from Tumi for both their usability and comfort. Before, it was a no brainer? Need a new bag? It’s a Tumi? Done deal. No longer.

I even visited the Tumi store at MSP to show the sales clerks what I was talking about. They couldn’t believe it until I showed them how unuseable the bag is when loaded.

Caveat emptor with the Alpha 2 Business Class Brief. The original post follows.

The Alpha2 T-Pass Business Class Brief Pack

I have schlepped Tumi bags around for years. Their construction, design, and yes, price, is unmatched for high quality luggage that lasts a very, very long time. Tumi’s customer service is second to none. I’ve gotten loaner bags from them mid-itinerary from some of their airport outlets when I’ve had to send bags in for service. That’s pretty outstanding.

Years ago I switched from backpacks to laptop brief cases. I’ve done crusty old heritage leather bags from Coach, messenger bags from Osprey and Timbuktu, with intermittent stints with cheapo conference swag bags before finally settling on Tumi.

Backpacks are great when navigating subway systems with lots of steps or dashing from terminals to make tight connections. They are also great for weekend sightseeing excursions. But they just don’t look suitably professional. And often times their design is clunky and inconvenient, a big single compartment rucksack where everything gets lost or squished.

I have long eyed Tumi’s Alpha backpacks as a compromise between the utility and professionalism of a roller-bag compatible brief bag and the comfort and convenience of a backpack. And when the Alpha 2 T-Pass Business Class Brief Pack was released, I finally made the jump.

Without further ado, here are my impressions of the Alpha 2 T-Pass Business Class Brief Pack for business travel.

Build quality and overall structure

Like all Tumi bags, the build quality is stellar. The zippers are big and beefy and guaranteed for a long life of zipping and unzipping.  The overall design is attractive if not a little boxy. But in making it so, it looks less like a high schooler’s book bag and more like something a professional might carry. If you don’t want to wear it is a backpack, an open sleeve on the back lets you carry it onto of your rolling luggage. One upshot of the boxy design is that the bag itself has a flat bottom. This makes the pack stand up if you have it resting on the floor or on top of your luggage.

Sometimes Tumi tends to go overboard with the number and styling of pockets. There are either too many or they are too oddly shaped to be of use. They’ve done the same thing with the Alpha 2 Brief Pack which I’ll discuss later.

The heavy nylon ballistic cloth feels good and will undoubtedly take years of abuse.  Leather wrap on the top handle feels good, and lather accents around the pack look sharp, particularly on the olive color.

T-Pass and the laptop compartment

The T-Pass is Tumi’s nomenclature for fold flat laptop compartments that expedite TSA screening. Typically, the bag unzips to allow the bag to unfold. The laptop, safely contained in its sleeve lays flat on one side, the main part of the pack on the other. It’s unnecessary to remove your laptop from the backpack, saving time and wear-and-tear on your gear. TSA, of course, still has the right to call for additional screening. Note that nothing else can be in the compartment – no chargers, tablets, papers. Nothing. If you’re only carrying a single laptop, the T-Pass laptop sleeve on this bag is great.

With the T-Pass compartment, you may not need to take your laptop out of the sleeve.

However, I’m not a huge fan of the way Tumi designs the laptop compartments on their bags. Why? Because they are ridiculously huge. We’re talking laptop circa 1995 large. I do still see unfortunate souls working on Dell behemoth laptops. You know the ones. 2 inches thick. Floppy drives. Windows 95. When a seat mate pulls one of those out I always look on in amazement mixed with pity and mirth.

To handle “modern” designs of the last 8 years or so, they include foam bricks so your machine doesn’t bounce around in the cavernous space. Utterly useless. I’d much rather see Tumi cut down the size of the built in laptop sleeve. It’s purely wasted space.

This 11″ MacBook Air is absolutely swallowed in the Alpha2’s laptop sleeve. Sure, there are a couple of foam bricks to make the sleeve narrower but it is just plain wasted space.

An iPhone5 shows how big the laptop sleeve is.

If you need to carry more than one laptop (I always travel with two or three), then the size of the T-Pass sleeve may be appropriate. You will, however, lose the benefit of the T-Pass feature and have to take your laptops out at security checkpoints.

The Alpha2 Brief Pack laptop sleeve is HUGE! Here it is holding two 11″ and one 13″ MacBook Airs. You could easily fit three more in the sleeve. Why is it so BIG?

One other note on the T-Pass design. I carry my 3-1-1 liquids bag in the compartment between the T-Pass sleeve and the main backpack bag. This makes security checkpoints even easier: unzip the bag, lay the T-Pass compartment flat, and take out my liquids bag. After screening, just zip up the bag and you’re good to go.

Storage

The Alpha2 T-Pass Business Class Brief Pack seems to contain an ample amount of storage. There are a total of five exterior pockets. One of the pockets is lined so that you can store a wet umbrella or water bottle without fear of it leaking. An identical pocket on the opposite side of the bag is unlined.

There are three pockets on the front of the bag. The rounded pocket at the top is useful for storing a pair of glasses. There is a small pocket at the bottom of the bag.

The five exterior pockets on the Alpha2 pack.

The outside pocket in the middle is the most interesting. Inside are several pouches, a few pen slots, and Tumi’s T ID Lock RFID pocket. This keeps your personal information safe from scanners and is a good place to store your wallet. The only drawback of this is that the ID Lock pocket is contained inside one of the exterior zippered pockets. It would have been more secure if the pocket opened to the main compartment.

The red ID Lock pocket protects RFID cards from scanners.

The main interior compartment unzips almost entirely making finding small items easy. This main compartment is gusseted and contains a number of pouches and small pockets of varying utility.

The main compartment of the Brief Pack with expandable pouches and slots for pens, business cards, etc.

Unfortunately, I have found that the overall design of the pack negatively impacts it’s carrying capacity. For example, the exterior pockets actually protrude INTO the bag, reducing the space available in the main compartment.  I can easily carry my Bose QC15s in the main compartment but not much else.  Compared to the expandability of my old T-Tech bag, the Alpha 2 pack holds far, far less.  To be fair, Tumi does also sell “add-a-bag” sleeves that are designed to go in this compartment and store sundry items for quick overnight trips. I haven’t tried these sleeves.

One other complaint is that Tumi still insists on using dark colors on the interior of their bags. I suppose this hides dirt. But it also makes it impossible to find things in a dimly lit airplane cabin. I really hope future iterations of this bag use brighter colors.

The Backpack

There is no waist belt or sternum straps on the Brief Pack so don’t expect it to perform well for a weekend of hiking. It might POSSIBLY work for a quick overnight but even then, the amount of storage space is really quite small. This is a backpack designed for everyday carry of your work utensils.

Although the backpack straps are adjustable, if you are over about 5′ 10″, the back pack will likely feel small on you.

Real world use

I had an opportunity to put the Alpha2 to the test on a 10 day business trip to Japan. Having a backpack was definitely a joy when navigating the crowded Tokyo subway at rush hour.

Still, I was very surprised out how little the Alpha2 could hold. I normally have some running pants I wear on the plane and prefer to keep this in my carry on.  But with my requisite tech kit taking up all of the space, I had to put the pants in my roller bag.  The Alpha2 — despite it’s external appearance — isn’t a very big pack and lacks expandability.

Given the Tumi quality, design, and cachet, I wasn’t embarrassed to bring this bag to high-standard hotels and business meetings in Tokyo and Kyoto. The bag served double duty on some sightseeing excursions, too.

In sum…

The Good

• Stellar build quality backed by Tumi’s fantastic warranties and customer service
• Useful pockets designed for specific items, like a compact umbrella.
• The ID Lock pocket is an extra security feature – nice to have in this day and age.
• Design that won’t make you look like a pimply adolescent just out of high school on your first eye-opening trip abroad.

The Bad

• Obviously, the price. $495 is really steep for a backpack.
• The laptop compartment is unnecessarily big.

Would I buy it again?

Yep. It looks good and functions well. There are a few quirks with the size and alignment of the pockets. But if you want the convenience of a backpack that still looks sophisticated, the Tumi Alpha2 T-Pass Business Class Brief Pack may be for you.

About

Tumi Alpha2 T-Pass Business Class Brief Pack
Retail Price $495 (Amazon)
Available colors: Black, Olive