Away Bigger Carry-On Review: the suitcase I've traveled with since 2018 (and just fixed myself)

I bought my Away Bigger Carry-On in 2018. In the years since, I have dragged it across the cobblestones of Italy, through Midwest winters in Kansas and Nebraska, across the sandy beaches of Florida, and everywhere in between. I have also let my twin nephews use it as a scooter since they were two years old. They are ten now. If that does not tell you something about how this suitcase holds up, I am not sure what will.

However, when I came home from a Christmas Market Cruise in Europe, I noticed the handle would not retract all the way. After nearly eight years of travel, one thing had finally broken. I have heard about Away’s warranty for years, so now it was my chance to check it out.

This post covers both sides of owning an Away Bigger Carry-On: what I have learned after eight years of hard travel, and what happened when something finally broke.

TL;DR

The Away Bigger Carry-On has held up through years of international and domestic travel, toddler abuse included, with only one repair needed in eight years. The warranty process took one week and cost nothing. The DIY handle replacement took about 30 minutes and a Phillips-head screwdriver. If you want a carry-on that lasts and a company that stands behind it, Away earns the price.

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Check out the vlogs

My handle repair video shows the full warranty and DIY fix process step by step.

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Why I Chose the Bigger Carry-On

I made a deliberate choice to get the Bigger Carry-On over the standard size, knowing it would not fit in the overhead bin on every single airline. Most major U.S. carriers like Delta and Southwest (my primary airlines) have been no problem. On the rare occasion I fly smaller aircraft or a European airline where it does not fit overhead, I will check it. Although I am a strong advocate of packing carry-on only, that doesn’t necessarily mean I am against checking a bag.

My goal was to have one suitcase for every trip, whether a short weekend or a two-week international trip. I wanted to use a carry-on size constraint to force myself to pack smarter. Over time, I built a capsule wardrobe approach to travel packing where every item mixes and matches with others. Now I know exactly what I am packing, how much fits, and the whole process is faster and less stressful.

Check out my post on packing carry-on only for my packing process.

Exterior

After eight years of real travel, the exterior of my Away Bigger Carry-On has some permanent scratches and the bottom has smoothed out from being dragged on pavement. A magic eraser takes care of most of the surface marks, but some paint scuffs did not budge. That is completely fine with me. I bought this suitcase to use it, and if it has battle scars, that just shows the world I travel.

Worth knowing if you are considering a hard shell: scratches are part of the deal. That is not unique to Away. What sets this suitcase apart is the polycarbonate shell material. It is flexible, which means it absorbs impact instead of cracking. Cheaper hard shells made of generic plastic can crack under the weight of other luggage or under pressure. A cracked shell lets rain in. This one has not cracked.

Speaking of rain: I dragged this suitcase through a 10 to 15 minute downpour walking from a train station to my Airbnb in Florence, Italy and none of my clothes got wet. The zipper is water resistant and held up through the whole soaking. That was a relief I did not know I needed until it happened.

One exterior limitation worth mentioning: my older model only has a side handle and a top handle. There is no handle on the bottom. If you load your suitcase top-first into an overhead bin or a car trunk, you cannot grab a handle on the bottom to pull it out. Newer Away models have added a bottom handle. It has not stopped me from traveling, but it would be a nice feature to have.

Interior

The suitcase is clamshell style, so it splits evenly down the middle. Both sides hold the same volume, which makes packing balanced and easy.

The left side has a zippered mesh compartment. I store shoes, liquids, electronics, a hair dryer, anything hard or potentially leaky goes here. After eight years of things poking at that mesh from the inside, it has not ripped or developed a single hole. So that is kind of impressive.

The right side is for soft items, meaning clothes. You can pack free-flowing or use packing cubes. (I have a full packing cubes video linked below if you want to see how I do it.) The right side also has the built-in compression sleeve.

The Compression Sleeve

I love the compression sleeve in concept. It holds everything in place, helps you close a full suitcase, and even protects your clothes if the zipper were to fail mid-airport. You can remove it entirely if you prefer, or keep the straps and ditch the sleeve.

However, I snapped the plastic frame inside the compression sleeve 4-years into owning the suitcase. I was packing in a hurry, and the items were not distributed evenly with a bulge in the middle. I just kept tightening the straps and the frame snapped. I had taped it back together with electrical tape and it still functioned. Eventually,I removed the frame from the compression sleeve for more shape flexibility. 

But the plastic frame is the one spot in this suitcase where Away cut corners. Everything else feels substantial. That frame does not. If you are packing a full, unevenly loaded suitcase and yanking the straps tight, be gentle with it. I probably pushed physics a little too far there.

The Laundry and Wet Bag

Tucked into a small pouch on the bottom is a fold-up wet bag and laundry bag that snaps into place. I use it for a wet swimsuit, dirty clothes at the end of a trip, or anything I want separated from clean items. It goes right into the washing machine when I get home. Small feature, but genuinely useful. It is also a great spot to hide an Apple Airtag to keep track of your suitcase when you travel.

The Broken Handle

I got home from a Christmas market cruise last December, and the trolley handle would not retract all the way. It stopped about halfway down. One side slid in normally, the other side would not move. When I pressed the button and manually pushed the retraction pin, the handle went down just fine. So the spring mechanism on one side had come loose, preventing the pin from retracting on its own.

Annoying, but at least it happened at home and not mid-trip.

Submitting an Away Warranty Claim

Away offers a limited warranty covering defects like this. I went to their website, opened the Help Center, and clicked "Start a Warranty Claim." The form asked for my order number and the email address I used when I purchased the suitcase back in 2018. Luckily, I keep all my receipts in my email, so that I could easily obtain my order number.

After entering the necessary information, I was happy to find that I was still in their system. I was guessing that that information would not be saved after this long. But thankfully it was all still there. I entered the reason for my claim ("My trolley handle will not go down"), submitted it, and waited.

One week later, the replacement handle showed up at my door.

Replacing the Handle Myself

The package included the new handle, a set of screws, and a QR code linking to a repair video. It all seemed pretty straight forward.

Six screws total: two at the bottom, four at the top. I removed them, pulled out the old handle, and slid the new one in. The trickiest part was getting one of the poles fully seated into its rubber socket. The socket is flexible enough to bend a little, but getting everything aligned and fully pushed in took more muscle than I expected. Once it clicked into place, I reinstalled all six screws, tightened everything down, and zipped the suitcase back up.

The handle now goes down smoothly.

One small difference: my original handle had a built-in storage compartment for the power bank, but the replacement does not. I never stored my power bank in the suitcase anyway. I always keep it in my personal item. With more airlines enforcing strict rules around lithium batteries in checked luggage, I would not put one in a checked bag regardless. The extra inch of interior space I gained is a bonus.

FAQ

Q: How long does Away's warranty last?

A: Away offers a lifetime warranty covering defects in materials and workmanship. You can start a claim directly through their Help Center on the Away website.

Q: Does the Away Bigger Carry-On fit in overhead bins?

A: On most major U.S. airlines like Delta and Southwest, yes, no problem. On some European and international carriers with stricter size limits, it may need to be checked. I knew that going in and decided the tradeoff was worth it for my travel patterns. Check your specific airline's size rules before you fly.

Q: Is the polycarbonate shell worth it over cheaper plastic?

A: In my experience, yes. The flexible polycarbonate absorbs impact instead of cracking. Cheaper hard shells can crack under luggage weight or pressure, which lets rain in. Mine has not cracked through eight years of cobblestones, snow, and two nephews climbing on it.

Q: Is the Away Bigger Carry-On worth the price?

A: After eight years and one warranty repair that cost me nothing, yes. The only thing I have had to fix is a handle mechanism, and Away sent me the part for free within a week. That is a good track record.

Q: Can I replace the Away handle myself?

A: Yes. Away includes a QR code with the replacement part that links to their repair video. You need a Phillips-head screwdriver and some patience getting the pole aligned with the rubber socket. The whole job took me about 30 minutes.

Q: What is the hardest part of the DIY handle replacement?

A: Getting the pole seated fully into the rubber socket. It takes more force than you expect. The socket is flexible enough to work with, and once everything clicks into place the screws go in cleanly.

Is the Away Bigger Carry-On Worth It?

The Away Bigger Carry-On is worth considering if you want a carry-on that holds up over years of real travel and a company that backs up its product when something eventually goes wrong. The compression sleeve frame is the one spot I wish they had used a more durable material, and the lack of a bottom handle on older models is a small inconvenience. Everything else has performed exactly as I hoped when I bought it in 2018.

Ciao for now!

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