Yes, I Bought a Trendy Away Suitcase and I Love It

If you haven’t heard of the luggage company Away, you’ve probably seen the ads on social media. Just take a peek at #TravelAway on Instagram and you’ll see the cult following for these suitcases with a no-gimmicks lifetime warranty. Well, I finally took the bait and bought one.

The Away hard shell rollers are so sleek and the color options – from violet to forest green – are right on-trend. The bags range in size from a tiny carry-on to a big daddy roller. I refuse to check a bag when I travel so I chose the famed “Larger Carry-on” because it’s literally as much size as you can get away with for most airline carry-on policies. I bought one for my wife and one for me. She picked classic black, and I chose the pale pink because it’s so stinking cute.

Honestly, I thought it was all for the ‘gram, but these bags are amazing. For a hard shell, they’re so light! And the handle feels like butter. I used to buy cheap AmazonBasics hard shells, but the handles were so janky and usually broke (permanently got stuck) after a year. Now, I know true luxury.

We put these suitcases through the wringer this summer on a month-long European trip from Portugal to Iceland to France to Ireland. (Maybe you saw some of our videos on Travel Channel’s Instagram account?) We were both surprised at how much you can fit inside this thing. And the compartment design on the inside makes use of every square inch. It’s a really smart design. The bag even includes a complimentary water-proof bag for swimsuits!

So here’s my verdict: Yes, the Away rollers are worth every penny but don’t buy a light color. After one month of travel, my poor little pink bag looked like it had been fished out of a dumpster. And my wife’s black roller still looked brand-new. Away does provide a nifty “magic eraser” type sponge to buff out scuffs and scratches, but it was no match for the pink roller. The light color just isn’t as forgiving.

But here’s the amazing thing about Away and why I think it’s worth the big bucks: There’s a 100-day no-questions-asked return policy. That’s like buying a mattress! I returned my pink roller for free (they supply a prepaid mailing label), and I’m going to buy a black roller instead to match my wife’s.

If you do love lighter colors – especially that pretty pale pink! – check out AWAY’s brand-new totes, which launched this week. After starting out with the roller carry-ons, the company has been expanding into other types of bags, from weekenders to backpacks to Dopp kits and now the totes, and they come in a lot of the same fan-favorite colors as the rollers. The Latitude and Longitude (see what they did there?) totes are the perfect size for a personal item bag. Plus, the totes have a cool loop that allows the bag to easily slide and sit on top of your roller while zipping through airports.