peter h

I was browsing in the London shop and asked if the referrals in things like YT videos could be redeemed and was told yes - to both online and shop purchases. When I actually went in the shop to buy one (the larger carry-on), the person who served me was less certain when I showed her the referral URL and the name of the channel. Without much convincing though, she gave me a £20 discount.

First thoughts after a 10 flight, 5 day trip on BA and AA: I love the packing design (I use packing cubes, which helps) and that worked really well. The only negative was the handle which didn't always 'stick' in an intermediate extension (I'll go to the shop again and try the display cases). It fitted well into overhead lockers on A320/1, 777 and 747s. I had to valet check it on an ERJ145, but that was expected. Overall, I was pleased with it. As a side observation, I didn't see many Away bags in the European airports I passed through, but there were plenty in the US.

fishy21

Funny... I just came back from a trip with my Away luggage and had the same issue. The handle does not stay in the position that I want it to whenever I put weight on it.

RoyMan

Contact their customer support. It shouldnt do that...they should be able to fix that and have it back to you pretty quick. My handle is pretty sturdy and hasnt changed positions on me at all.

peter h

Thanks. I can get to their London store pretty easily, so I'll ask there.

It's fine when the handle is fully extended and when I start to retract it, there's another position where it locks as well. If I retract it further, there seems to be another position where it should lock, but doesn't. If the store say that there should be two intermediate positions I'll take it in. I've heard good things about their customer support.

krazykanuck

Any recent experiences with Away's CS regarding warranty issues? My big bag, whatever they call it, now has a crack in the PVC and the TSA lock has just gone kaput and opens regardless of the combination. I wonder if they'd consider taking my busted bag and give me an Aluminium in exchange for paying the difference between the big bag and the alum?

I have yet to call them since they work even less then government employees, only 10a-5p EST.

peter h

Just as a follow up to this.

I went to the London store at the weekend and it turns out I was mistaken. The Bigger Carry-on (at least) has just two position where the handle locks - when extended fully (around 47cm) and then at around 37cm. Mine feels like it's going to lock at around 25cm, but it's not designed to do so.

kdoughboy

Curious to know how this worked out. Would appreciate any updates, if you have them.

krazykanuck

So I sent their team a couple pictures by email and they agreed to replace the bag. It took a few days to get it done back and forth over email, their support team admitted they were a bit slammed by inquiries and the response time was not as fast as they'd aim for. They also offered to replace it with an aluminum bag and charge me only the difference between the two models, but I declined. They shipped me a shiny new bag.

dbatl

Your lock didn't go kaput. TSA never locked it back, this happened to me on my other luggage. I bought TSA approved locks on my last trip TSA decided to either not put the lock back or cut it. Either way TSA is the problem here.

Aero137

NewEurope1980

People with the aluminum Away carry-on - do you ever encounter any problems with the weight? With just the case weighing almost 5 kg (11 lbs), every gate agent in the world knows that your beautiful carry-on is likely overweight. Airlines like Finnair set very low limits for hand luggage - 8 kg (17 lbs) including the ‘personal item’. I don’t think I’ve ever had my regular-looking bags weighed - except when I’ve had to manually check in at the counter. But I fly economy. How about you guys (Roy?), has that been an issue? Do you fly coach or business?

RoyMan

I like that idea of a wiki. I primarily fly UA (have 1k status) and never have problems...only need to gate check on the really small regional jets where all rollers have to be checked. I have flown on these airlines as well without issue (but only a couple times each and didnt test the sizer) - Aer Lingus, Austrian, Lufthansa, and AA.

The only foreign airlines I have flown with the aluminum that I can recall off the top of my head are Aer Lingus, Austrian, and Lufthansa. I havent had any problems with being questioned on weight or size..but only few them a couple times each at most. I primarily fly economy, but I do have UA 1k/Star Gold. Even without status I think its important to board as soon as you can because it seems gate agents are more lax about policy earlier in the boarding process.

NewEurope1980

Thanks for the reply!

Still torn between the aluminum one (the one I want) and the polycarbonate one (the reasonable choice). I haven't discovered a surefire way to board early, apart from actually having status, so I'm a bit afraid of being harrassed by the gate agents. Very often the overheard lockers are full by boarding group 3 or so, and having an obviously overweight bag might be a perfect way to get picked for gate-check.There are also budget airlines like Air Baltic that weigh the bags at the gate and slap a hefty $60 fee for exceeding the low-ish limit. Instead of "just" gate-checking it.

Then again, because the polycarbonate Away bags are actually pretty heavy, the difference in weight is only 1,4 kg. Hmm. Difficult choice.

Anyway, does anyone have any codes that work in Europe? The FB link shared here does not lead me anywhere. It seems that over here it's simply voucher codes that work, not referral links.

drewdawg199

Any chance you flew a UA CRJ-700 with the Bigger or just mainline? Have a few trips on those coming up and wondering if it's even worth toting along...

RoyMan

I fly on UA's regionals at least once or twice a month. The main problem with rollaboards is the gate agents push the green tags on all of them since many will not fit and can also cause weight/balance issues. I know my bigger aluminum will fit on the embraer 175 no problem. Not sure on the rj145 (cant remember the last time I flew one of those). The past few times I have been on a crj200/700 have been tight connections and I was late to board so I had to gate check. I want to say it will fit, but im not 100% sure..flying on one in two weeks so I will test it then and let you know!