I’ve seen the Away brand all over Instagram and wondered if the luggage was worth the hype. A lot of the accounts I follow on Instagram kept posting about it (good job, influencer marketing), so after much internal debate I decided to give it a shot. We had a trip to Hawaii coming up and they offered free shipping and a 100-day trial — what was there to lose?

We purchased a set that includes (1) Bigger Carry-On and (1) The Large for a checked bag.

In case you’re in a hurry and all you want to know is whether or not we kept the luggage, the answer is yes!

If you want to know why, read on.

What we packed – in town

We did a pre-trip trial run when I was down in Phoenix for almost a week (Tuesday-Sunday) for a conference and my sister’s engagement/housewarming party. Tilly and I went down on Tuesday and Brandon joined us Friday evening after work. I packed in the Bigger Carry-On.

We fit the following:

• 5 days of outfits* for me
• 5 days of outfits* for Tilly
• 2 days of outfits* for Brandon
• A couple of extra bulkier items like jackets, sweaters and a blazer in case it got chilly, which it did
• Diapers, wipes
• 2 pairs of shoes for me
• 5 pairs of shoes for Tilly (yes, the girl needs choices, right?)
• Sound machine

*Outfits include tops, bottoms, underwear, bras, socks, etc.

I was quite impressed that I could pack all of that in a carry-on luggage. I will note that I didn’t put my makeup or toiletries in the luggage since we weren’t traveling through an airport. I just put that in a separate bag in my car since I try to keep all of that junk together in one bag.

What we packed – out of town

The second trip we packed for was for 7 days in Hawaii and 2 days in California. We packed in both the Bigger Carry-On and The Large suitcases.

The Bigger Carry-On was used to pack:

• 2 outfits for me
• 2 outfits for Tilly
• 2 outfits for Brandon
• 2 swimsuits for Tilly
• a coverup for Tilly
• a swimsuit for me
• a coverup for me
• a pair of swim trunks for Brandon
• my Canon 5D Mark II camera with 35 mm 1.4 lens
• my Macbook pro + charger
• all of our charging cables for our phones, iPad
• an Amazon Fire stick
• books

This was mainly used to pack a change of clothes for us in case our luggage got lost (the second outfit was for our family photos we were taking) and to transport my laptop and camera in a way that I didn’t have to bring another camera bag, etc. and lug that around on my shoulder.

The Large packed:

• 6-8 tops for Tilly
• 5-6 bottoms for Tilly
• 3-4 dresses for Tilly
• 4-5 pairs of shoes for Tilly
• a hat for Tilly
• 4-6 tops for me
• 3-4 dresses for me
• 3-4 bottoms for me (shorts/jeans/pants)
• 2 more cover ups for me
• a hat for me
• 2-3 pairs of shorts for Brandon
• 5-6 shirts for Brandon
• 2 pairs of flip flops
• a pair of sneakers
• a pair of sandals
• a jacket for me
• 2 sweaters for me
• makeup bag
• toiletries bag
• Tubby Todd bubbles & wash
• curling wand
• hair brush
• sunscreen bottle
• a flamingo floatie
• diapers

I didn’t pack it to the brim knowing that we probably would be buying some macadamia nuts/chocolates to bring home. There would also be extra room once the diapers were used.

Features I loved

Now that we’ve covered what went into the luggage (a lot!), let’s talk about the other features of the luggage that we loved.

Separate Compartments

• One side of the luggage is zippered, the other has buckles that you can use to compress your clothes down (and fit more!). I loved this because I put everything but clothes into the zippered side and only clothes on the other side. That means I didn’t have to dig through a bunch of clothes to find my toothbrush and I could flatten down my clothes on the other side.

Laundry Bag/Wet Bag

• Both luggages come with a laundry bag that can be used for wet items like swim suits. We had the luxury of doing laundry on our trip and being able to grab the laundry bag (already separated dirty from clean) saved us some time and also kept the smell contained.

Lock

• While we didn’t actually code our lock, we used the lock and randomized the numbers so it appeared that we did? Now that I’ve confessed that, I will definitely set a code for next time.

Wheels/Handle

• Pushing the Bigger Carry-On through the airport was a breeze. The wheels are very sturdy and so is the handle. Not once did I feel like my luggage was going to topple over while I was also carrying Tilly in my Ergo, plus a backpack.

Phone Charger

• I did use this on the flight home and it was nice to be able to sit down without searching for a nearby plug that wasn’t being used.

Overall Design

• One thing that I did notice that while waiting for our luggage to arrive at baggage claim, I spotted our suitcase from afar because it’s a well-designed luggage.

“Stroller”

• If your child doesn’t weigh anything like mine does, they might be able to hitch a ride on your suitcase by sitting on top and holding on to the handle. Tilly loved it.

Conclusion: It’s worth it

Yes, the Away luggage is worth it. My mom would probably roll her eyes at me if I told her what we spent on this luggage set (hi mom!), and to that I would say . . . you get what you pay for. We have a lot of travel coming up this year across the country and we wanted something durable and that would allow me to minimize the number of bags that we have to carry/check.

This is what we took to Hawaii: (1) Bigger Carry-On, (1) The Large (checked), a backpack, a purse, a carseat with a travel cover and a travel stroller. Inside the car seat bag we put her swim floatie and Ergo baby carrier since we could check those items at the gate. Also we purchased a travel car seat that weighs 9 lbs instead of 23 lbs like our Maxi Cosi 85 car seat. You can most definitely tell the difference in quality and comfort, but it does the job and is safe.

I don’t plan on buying luggage ever again.

Do you have Away luggage? What do you think of it?