Reviews of J.L. Childress Elite Car Seat Travel Bag with Bonus Packing Pod

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List Price: $79.99
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This is not a full product review and my rating has to be taken with a grain (or two) of salt!

But I have been looking for a bag to fit my extremely large Britax Advocate CS (the one with the big hard plastic side "airbags") and, after talking to many companies, this is the only one still manufactured I could find (Britax seems to be out of stock indefinitely).

You can confirm that for yourself with their customer service:

J.L. Childress Co

714-939-9376

The rep I talked to there informed me that the other model (also sold here, much cheaper; I think it is called "ultimate") would not fit my carseat. She also said they recommend buying from Amazon, wal mart or rightstart rather than directly through them.

I am taking several long trips to Europe within the next few weeks so I will soon have a chance to review the product features, construction and durability.

Meanwhile, I hope this bit of information will be helpful.

UPDATE 2/15/12: I have received the bag and can confirm that it fits the Advocate CS easily. I am looking forward to putting the bag through the test of several trans-Atlantic flights.

UPDATE 2/29/2012: Just took a trip from CA to France, via London. I had planned on gate checking my carseat+ bag then using the whole set-up as a "stroller" in London. Things went well through security although the seat does not fit in the x-ray machine: I had to take it off the bag, have it manually inspected (bag went through x-ray) then put it back on. No big hassle even by mayself with a toddler (on leash!). The issue came from British Airways: they gate-checked then informed me that I could not get the bag back in London as it was going in the main luggage compartment! Just what I was trying to avoid to not get my carseat crushed by 50 lb suitcases!

However, my carseat was delivered in France through the oversized section (it took a very long time) and was spotless so I assume it was treated very well. The bag did great and looks good as new.

I am going to stick with a 4 star rating for now as I have a couple complaints: the top handle is adjustable (not sure why as it is pretty long) and very inconvenient (too soft and not close enough to the bag), the overall construction seems a bit flimsy and the finishing leaves a lot to be desired for the price (many loose threads). Finally, there is no bag-pack shoulder straps options and just one additional handle in the front.

I'll update as we travel more but so far I am pretty happy with the product.

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Having purchased the JL Childress Ultimate Car Seat Travel bag only to discover that it didn't fit the Recaro, I checked with the manufacturer to confirm that this bag would fit. And it does. I have noted the number of quality related reviews. The bag looks sturdy but have yet to take it on a plane. Hance the 3 stars. Will report back after a couple of trips.

Update 10th March 2012

Was hoping to report back after a couple of trips but I am incredibly disappointed to say that the bag did not hold up for even one flight. Philly to Denver. Arrived on Denver with both wheels hanging off. we were left with the only option of using the carrying handle. After 10 steps one side of the handle ripped from the bag. This really is a good idea but fails on quality. Should have paid attention to the other reviewers.

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This product seems like a good idea and maybe they had good intent...but it's made very very cheaply. Mine tore at the handle before I even used it. The hardware on it is less than second rate. I get the feeling the people who designed it have no experience with building traditional luggage that needs to withstand a certain level of wear and tear. I'd classify this more as a bag to store a car seat in a garage than to travel on the plane with. Since this is the "Elite" travel bag I'm assuming the models that cost less could only be worse. I also bought the red stroller bag that J.L.Childress makes (for checking in at the gate) and it tore at the seams after one short Delta flight. They have a good idea but they just don't know how to make a quality product. I'm looking for a replacement, or possibly have one made.

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I recently purchased the J.L Childress Elite Car Seat Travel bag, the first time I used it the wheel assembly broke in a matter of 20 feet from my car. The Recaro Pro-ride does fit nice and snug in this travel bag, I would just plan on having to carry the bag because the wheels will fail. Junk!!!! Unless they make a better wheel assembly for the bag I wouldn't waste the money.

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We are very happy with this car seat bag. We recently purchased it and used it on a round trip flight from Washington DC to the West Coast. The bag fit our car seat fine (make sure the car seat is in it's full upright position or it won't fit!) and the airline did not manage to break it on it's first trip, which is great. Airlines are capable of breaking pretty much any checked baggage so I think it all comes down to luck when considering how long you're able to use a piece of luggage without the airlines breaking it. This car seat bag survived the trip while one of our several hundred dollar Travelpro Crew 7 suitcases had a handle ripped off I guess it just goes to show that it's completely random what luggage the airline decides to destroy and probably doesn't necessarily speak to the quality of the luggage. Overall the bag worked great, it rolled well on multiple surfaces (concrete, tile, carpet, etc.) and the included packing pod was nice to put books, diapers, and other miscellaneous items in and saved us some room in our checked luggage. The J.L. Childress Elite Car Seat Travel Bag also has a decent enough amount of padding that it feels like it will protect the car seat a bit and certainly keep the car seat clean and dry, which was really our main goal in buying this bag keep the car seat clean and dry and have an easy way to wheel it around the airport, plus the bonus of being able to stick some other miscellaneous items into the bag that's about it.

The only improvements that would be nice to see are maybe a few more handles to use when having to pick the entire bag up off the ground but honestly I don't think the bag is meant to be lifted off the ground with the car seat in it especially using the handle that is there presently. If you need to pick this bag up with the car seat inside of it (for example to put it on a luggage belt) I would not use the handle included, I would just grab the bag like it's a large box and lift it. I have a feeling the current handle will eventually tear if it's used to lift the entire bag. I really believe it's not meant for lifting.