RoyMan

Had a really positive customer service experience with Away recently. One of the buckles on my Aluminum bag was being a bit finicky - it would sometimes take a couple presses or jiggles to open. Not a big deal but it started to annoy me since I travel all the time and use this bag a ton. I emailed their customer support about it to see if I could get a new latch mailed to me so I could fix it myself. They didnt allow that but they agreed to expedite the fixing due to my frequent travel. They sent me an expedited shipping label, prioritized the fixing, and expedited the shipping back so that the total time was something like 4 days. Perfectly timed in-between two work trips. The normal repair estimate isnt much slower either at 6ish days. They were very responsive via email as well with every response being less than one day.


I really dont think its worth going small unless you fly a really strict airline! I fly united (and partner airlines in canada/EU) and havent had issues. Only time I have to gate check is when its a plane where ALL roller bags need to be checked or when I board late and the small amount of bin space is taken. I was worried about the front pocket as well since my old soft sided bag had that. But then I realized I didnt use it much (past putting my phone/wallet in it when going through security). So now I just use my laptop bag for that quick access stuff instead. Np problems there. Away (and a few others like Rimowa) does have a bag with the front pocket now too if you really still want it.

They are a little bit different..based on the reviews I read and playing with it a bit in a store I felt that it couldnt compress stuff down quite as well as the away. Though you get them on each side...away just has the compression on one side and a divider on the other.

Rimowa:


Away:




Here is a $20 off link - http://fbuy.me/kO5R0 if you are going to take advantage of the 100 day demo and arent sure what type you want I recommend getting a couple at once. Thats what I did and it really helped make the decision.

thatflyer

UnitedGS_seat2B

UnitedGS_seat2B

Adelphos

stealthpilot

RoyMan

They do look nice!! Scratches definitely conceal a bit more on the regular aluminum (ive had mine for 9ish mo now). Rimowa made some similar colors and ive seen a few in the wild and pics online...they definitely show scratches WAY more. It doesnt necessarily look bad though. It all depends on how good/deep of an andonization they do though...if its deeper then theres is less of a chance scratches will easily show.

Heres a pic from this thread about it: Any pics of used Rimowa Stealth Topas bags?

SEA_

Has anyone bought the set of 3? Curious on how the handle heights match up if you are handling all 3 pieces by yourself at once.

KweezyFlyer

datsun280z

I ordered the steel larger aluminum carry on. I was only open to it because of the 100 day trial period. I have taken it on one trip and there are a few scrapes and nicks on it already. The light scratches are still the steel color and the deeper ones are silver. Someone in the airport complimented my bag and asked if it was a Rimowa ! I thought the battery took up too much room so I removed the handle and took out the entire battery casing. I carry my own battery pack anyway and most of my cords are usbc to usbc anyway. If I decide to return it, it will be a pain putting it back in! I still have my eye on a Briggs and Riley but Away might win since I get to try it before I buy it.

Xlr

The "steel"-color aluminum looks great, but I'm a bit nervous about service (availability of replacement parts in particular) with limited editions. Anyone have experience with this?

Troppy

shawbridge

Thanks @RoyMan and others for helpful reviews. I've had many brands over the years (Tumi, Samsonite, B&R, Travelpro, and a couple of Kirklands). I'm close to retiring a Kirkland spinner (was hard-sided on the bottom and soft-sided on the top) after 10 years of many trips. (According to a Samsonite exec I spoke to, it was probably made by Samsonite). The telescoping handle is getting funky. Kirkland doesn't appear to have a successor.

I like the Bigger Away with the pocket for my toiletries. One question I've had is how the Centerfold Garment Sleeve would work for a taller person (I wear a 44L suit). In general, when I have had suiters inside the bag, the suits are wrinkled when I unpack. My sense was that a suit of my length would come out the end the Centerfold Garment Sleeve and might get rumpled (especially if compressed). As you have used it for a while, is your experience @UnitedGS_seat2B was that your suits aren't rumpled when you unpack or that you need to steam or press them.

My current solution is as follows. I have a tri-fold garment sleeve from an old TravelPro (with padding at the folds) and put one to two suits in it -- occasionally a shirt or two or extra pants. But, I carry the sleeve on my Kirkland spinner above my briefcase rather than putting it in the spinner. As soon as I get on the plane, I ask to hang it. [I usually am flying J or F and even if I am not, I usually have status so they tend to try to be nice to me]. In principle, people at the airport could ask me to put the TravelPro into my suitcase, but this may have happened once in 10 years. My suits are never rumpled when I use that method. I worry that the Centerfold Garment Sleeve wouldn't work outside the suitcase because the suits might stick out the bottom. What is your experience?

My TravelPro has the advantage of just having a hole through which my existing hangers poke through -- it doesn't require a couple of extra inches of length that the Centerfold Garment Sleeve and many others do because they have clips inside the garment bag for the hangers and then the garment bag has its own hanging attachment. However, it does not fully protect the garments at the top. I did notice that a shirt collar had scuffed against something and needed cleaning. Other than the TravelPro, the only alternative to the Centerfold Garment Sleeve I can think of might be a Wallybags garment sleeve with handles.

I'd love to get your experience @UnitedGS_seat2B. Thanks.

UnitedGS_seat2B

veloziraptor

Hello,

I had an opportunity to test-drive an Away Bigger Carry-on-- I posted my thoughts on a different thread but thought I'd throw this in here as well for anyone who may find this helpful:

I really REALLY wanted to like this bag. I love the look of it, and how well it pairs with their other accessory bags (backpack, daypack, and everywhere bag). In fact, I purchased the leather everywhere bag with it and they looked awesome together. Unfortunately nothing about the bags *feel* as good they look. The zippers are supposed to be YKK, but the pulls are small and feel far less solid (on par with a Samsonite/Tourister/everything else that costs around $100). The inside lining zipper (on the left-hand compartment) is way crappier. This one got stuck anytime I used it. The lining itself is thin and doesn't look like it'll hold up. The handle was even more underwhelming. You should have seen this mentioned in other reviews. It's flimsy and has way too much side-to-side play. The wheels are fine but let down by the handle. When walking through the airport I had to actively "steer" to keep it tracking in a straight line. As with most hardsides, the bag doesnt have a bottom handle for ease of lifting or lowering it from the overhead storage. As luck would have it, the bag was gate-checked on the return flight and it was enough to scuff it on two corners. Some people say they like this- akin to aged/worn leather goods, but I disagree. To me, the bag loses it's good looks with scuffs and scratches.

What made this all worse was the quality of the $325 leather everywhere bag. The zippers were awful and stuck, but the biggest issue was how easily I accidentally ripped the stitching on the lining of the front pocket.I used it to store my work badge for easy access and the sticking on the bottom ripped

With all of that said, I do think the Customer Service from Away is great. I bought (and returned) the bags at the Chicago location, and they were a pleasure to work with. They acted surprised that I did not like the zippers ("since they are YKK") and completely shocked at how the lining of the leather bag had ripped. I also witnessed folks coming in to drop off/pick up luggage repairs and they seem to really take good care of everyone. I liked that.

As far as hardside bags go, I believe other alternatives worth a look *at this price point* include Briggs & Riley's Torq and Victorinox Lexicon.