The best travel wallet

The Tumi Alpha Passport Case is stylish, plus it keeps your passport and cards safe — in more ways than one.

Did you know that passports, Global Entry cards, and some credit cards include a small RFID, or radio frequency identification chip, used to help prevent fraud or make it easier to pay for things? A small electronic chip is embedded in the card or document and emits a certain radio signal, which can be interpreted when the chip is near a reader. In the case of a passport, this radio signal verifies all the information on your photo page.

While RFID technology adds to security and convenience, the major downside is that anyone can use a portable scanner and steal information just by walking next to someone with a RFID-equipped passport or credit card. There's some debate about how real of a threat this is, as most credit cards don't include these chips anymore and the information a thief can get by "skimming" a passport is fairly innocuous. However, if you want to reduce the risk of identity theft as much as possible, you may want to keep your passport and credit cards in a RFID-blocking wallet.

The Tumi Alpha Passport Case is one of the best RFID-blocking wallets out there. It can be hard to strike a balance between blocking RFID signals and keeping the wallet slim and stylish, and the Tumi Alpha does it well. The wallet is made from Tumi's signature woven ballistic nylon, with a leather interior and trim. The RFID-blocking material is woven in with the rest of the fabric so that it's virtually unnoticeable. The wallet is also extremely lightweight.

The wallet is a regular bifold, though because it's taller than it is wide it opens along the longer edge, like a book. The passport sleeve is on the left side when the wallet is open and sits upright. There's an ID window right under that, perfect for a driver's license. The right side of the wallet has eight credit card slots. There's also an extra sleeve between the credit card slots, which can hold folded travel documents. The note sleeve is at the top of the wallet and is fairly deep.

The wallet is clean, simple and sharp-looking. The layout is easy and feels natural, like any regular wallet. While the wallet is sized a bit awkwardly and might not be easy to fit in your pocket, it should be comfortable enough in a pocket for quick storage while you're heading through the airport.

Pros: Great RFID protection, sleek and stylish

Cons: A little large, travel documents need to be folded, can be hard to pull bills out of the deep pocket

Buy the Tumi Alpha Passport Case on eBags for $115

The Mr. Lentz Slim Passport Wallet is rugged, old-school, handmade, and built to last.

The Mr. Lentz brand is run by one person — Evan Lentz — who makes all of his products by hand in his own workshop. Lentz built the brand with a "modern cowboy" feel, designed to evoke days of hard work on the windswept plains, and his online shops reflect that with old-west images and icons.

Mr. Lentz makes wallets, bags and other accessories using durable, rugged and time-proven materials like full-grain leather, brass, and wood. Lentz's passport wallet is a typical example of this style.

The wallet is simple, much more scaled down than the Bellroy Travel Wallet. A solid piece of leather makes a bifold that opens like a book. The right-side has a pocket for your passport, which is a little tight and only meant to fit the back cover of the passport. That way, the passport can be read without removing it from the wallet. You can just hand the whole package to the customs agent. Once the wallet breaks in a bit, you can fit the whole closed passport in that pocket.

The other side of the wallet has two card slots that can hold 4-6 cards. There's a larger pocket right behind the card slots that is perfect for holding a bit of spare cash. You can also fit travel documents, like boarding passes, in this sleeve.

Aesthetically, the Mr. Lentz Passport Wallet looks rugged and hardy. The thick full-grain leather holds up well and develops a nice patina as you use it and break it in. Solid brass rivets line the outsides of the wallet, holding it together. The wallet also ships with a free tin of proprietary leather conditioner to help keep it soft as it ages and breaks in.

Thin enough to fit in a front pocket, this wallet is a perfect option for those looking for something that will last a long time and hold just the essentials. You can also choose to engrave the wallet, using any of a few different methods.

Pros: Slim, rugged, hand-made and built to last, holds the essentials

Cons: Needs to be broken in, brass rivets may not be everyone's favorite look

Buy the Mr. Lentz Passport Wallet on Etsy for $74

The Fjällräven Passport Wallet will hang on to your documents no matter where you go.

The Bellroy and Mr. Lentz passport wallets are great if you want to keep them in your pocket, or maybe in an outside, easy to reach pocket of the bag you're carrying around the airport. But if you're backpacking and carrying a lot, or want to just throw your travel documents in a bag's main compartment, they might not be the best option.

If that sounds like you, you may want to get a more secure passport wallet with a zipper so that when you toss it in a bag with everything else, you don't have to worry about anything falling out or getting lost. Enter the Fjällräven Passport Wallet.

The Fjällräven Passport Wallet is made of a water-resistant waxed canvas. Like most of the other passport wallets you'll find out there, the Fjallraven option is a bifold, but this one has a zipper running along the entire outside.

When opened, the wallet has space to tuck your passport and folded boarding pass on the right side. There's also an interior zippered pocket, perfect for coins, ticket stubs, or other odd bits and ends. The left side of the wallet has six card slots, and there's an open pocket at the top for cash.

Fjallraven also makes a larger version of this wallet called the Travel Wallet, rather than the "Passport Wallet." They're basically the same thing; the main difference is that the Travel Wallet has a few more card slots and a loop to hold a pen, and is designed to fit unfolded boarding passes. It's almost more like a small purse or clutch. The smaller Passport Wallet can also hold a small pen and boarding passes, but there's no loop to keep it the pen in place and boarding passes must be folded.

Personally, I prefer the smaller Passport Wallet — even though you have to fold your boarding passes to fit them, it's just a nicer hand-held size. However, both are great options, especially if you're storing the wallet in a bag.

Pros: Water-resistant, protects your travel documents from the elements and from falling out and getting lost.

Cons: Both sizes are bigger and bulkier than other travel wallets because of the zipper and material

Buy the Fjallraven Passport Wallet on Zappos for $49.95 Buy the Fjallraven Travel Wallet on Backcountry for $51.98

The Lewis N. Clark Travel Wallet keeps the whole family organized as you head on your next adventure.

Even though I love traveling, there's no doubt that it can be stressful. The stress is even worse when you're managing logistics for a group, even your own family.

While there's not much to do about it, you can at least make your group's time at the airports a little bit easier with the Lewis N. Clark Travel Wallet. With room for about four passports, plus cash, cards, boarding passes, customs forms, a pen and even a phone, this is more than a travel wallet. It's more like a family travel organizer.

While the Lewis N. Clark is naturally bigger than a one-person travel wallet, it's smaller than you might expect considering how much it holds. That said, this isn't going in anyone's front pocket — think of it more as a folio.

The wallet folds closed like a clamshell and zips shut all the way around. When it's closed, there's still access to a small zip pocket on the front.

When open, there are three pockets on the right side that are for passports. You can fit a few passports in each pocket, according to Amazon reviewers. It has six credit card slots, a zipper compartment for change and cash, and a larger zippered compartment for boarding passes or cash on the left side. In the middle, there's a loop for a pen so you can fill out forms on the plane.

The Travel Wallet is made from nylon that's durable and protective. It also has a RFID-blocking material built in to add an extra layer of protection to your cards and passports. As for downsides, some buyers mention problems with the zipper.

Pros: Keeps the whole family's travel documents organized, has well-positioned pockets and compartments, includes a pen

Cons: Large, won't fit in a pocket, zipper issues

Buy the Lewis N. Clark Travel Wallet on Amazon for $12.68

Cuyana's Classic Passport Holder holds a full-size boarding pass and several cards in a chic leather wallet.

Cuyana is known for making quality leather goods for very affordable prices. The Insider Picks team recently tested a number of the company's wallets, including the Classic Passport Holder. We loved the wallet so much that we wrote a full review about it.

The simple leather wallet was designed in San Francisco and handmade in Argentina. Measuring 9-inches long, it's longer than most other passport holders, so it can hold a full boarding pass without wrinkling or folding. Cuyana also added a dedicated pocket for your passport, six card slots, and two large slide pockets for travel documents and anything else you need.

The pebbled leather is soft and smooth, and the card slots keep your cards in place securely without being too tight. You can get the passport holder in navy blue, stone gray, red, black, or a shimmery champagne. If you so choose, Cuyana will even monogram your wallet.

Based on our experience, it's the perfect stylish travel wallet for any woman. — Malarie Gokey

Pros: Holds a full boarding pass, six card slots, multiple slide pockets for passports and more, stylish, fun colors, real leather

Cons: It's a bit expensive

Buy the Cuyana Classic Passport Holder from Cuyana for $95