Away Luggage Review 2026 — I’ve Travelled With It For Two Years. Here’s My Honest Take
Away luggage is one of those products that accumulated a cultural following before I paid much attention to it, and when I finally bought a carry-on in 2023, I was prepared to be disappointed by something whose reputation seemed built more on aesthetics and marketing than on genuine product quality.
Two years and a significant number of trips later, I’m not disappointed. But I also have specific things to say about what it does well and where the gaps are that other luggage might close more effectively.
What I Bought And How I've Used It
The Away Carry-On Aluminium in slate. I travel for work four to six times per year and with the family three to four times per year, which means the bag gets regular use in a range of contexts — quick one-night business trips, long-weekend family trips where I’m carrying the minimum, and the occasional week-long trip where carry-on only is a commitment that requires careful packing.
What Works Genuinely Well
The spinner wheels are the most immediately apparent quality feature. Luggage wheels are one of those components where the quality difference is immediately tactile — cheap wheels resist direction changes, vibrate on smooth surfaces, and require effort to control. The Away spinner wheels on smooth airport floors genuinely feel like the bag is floating rather than being dragged. In busy airports where the difference between a luggage that’s easy to navigate and one that requires constant correction is significant, this matters.
The compression system (a divider that compresses the main compartment) is genuinely useful in the specific scenario of trying to fit slightly more than the bag comfortably holds. It’s not miraculous — you can’t compress an overpacked bag into a carry-on allowance — but it bridges the gap between a well-packed bag and a correctly-sized bag in a way that’s useful in practice.
The hardshell construction has survived two years without cracking, despite a specific incident where it was dropped from an overhead bin height (approximately 2 metres) onto the floor of a plane by someone who did not handle other people’s luggage with the care I’d apply to my own. There are scuff marks that I consider patina. There is no structural damage.
What's Less Good
The interior organisation. For a bag marketed as thoughtfully designed, the main compartment is essentially one large space with a compression divider. The front compartment has some organisation (a laundry bag, a few pockets) but the main packing space requires either packing cubes or acceptance of everything loose together.
The battery option (which Away offers on some models) is no longer the differentiator it once was — battery regulations on airlines have become more restrictive and several airports have issues with lithium batteries in checked bags, making the ejectable battery a more complicated proposition than it was when the feature was introduced.
The price. The Carry-On Aluminium is approximately £650-700, which positions it at the top of the premium luggage market without quite reaching the absolute reference brands (Rimowa, Samsonite’s premium lines). Whether this price is justified is a calculation based on how much you travel, whether you value the specific quality features, and what comparative alternatives you’ve tried.
The Honest Verdict
Away makes genuinely good luggage that’s worth the price if you travel frequently enough that the quality features (spinner wheels, compression system, hardshell durability) are experienced regularly rather than occasionally. For someone who travels once or twice a year, the premium over a mid-range alternative isn’t justified by usage frequency regardless of the absolute quality.
For someone who travels eight to twelve times per year in a professional context — which is the use case the brand is primarily targeting — the daily-use quality is worth the investment.
The Carry-On in polycarbonate (the standard plastic rather than aluminium) at £295-375 is the recommendation for most buyers — it provides the same wheel quality, the same compression system, and comparable hardshell durability at approximately half the aluminium price.
Our Product Picks
Price: £295-375
Available at: Away directly (awaytravel.com), in Away stores
Price: £345-425
Available at: Away directly, in Away stores