With Smart Yet Simple Design, Away Is The Luggage For Everyone Who Travels

You scored a great deal on your flight when you redeemed your miles. Your boss agreed to your time off request—even though it’s the busy season—and you found a reputable pet sitter to check in on Snowball while you’re gone. It may seem as though the most challenging prior-to-vacation tasks are behind you, but they aren’t. You still have to pack, and that means dealing with your luggage—something many people dread rather than enjoy.

Unless they own carry-on and checked bags from Away that is. Founded by Warby Parker alums Jen Rubio and Steph Korey in 2015, the direct-to-consumer luggage company has sold nearly 50,000 suitcases since launching its first product, The Carry-On, in February 2016. The brand has quickly made a name for itself among both leisure and business travelers who appreciate the pair’s take on simple yet smart design.

Away “is the embodiment of what we love about travel: the arrival, exploration, and discovery of different places,” says Rubio. “We’re avid travelers and created Away to make objects that make travel more seamless and more enjoyable. Every product we design takes into account how people travel, the problems they encounter, and what we can do to make things better and easier, so they can focus on enjoying the best parts of their trips.”

Away’s founders surveyed hundreds of consumers while designing their luggage line, seeking out the painful parts while traveling. “We took those pain points and designed suitcases that aim to eliminate as many of those frustrating moments as possible,” Korey explains. “For example, the idea for a suitcase that’s able to charge your phone came from people saying, ‘I know a suitcase can’t solve this, but my phone is always dying at the airport.’”

Away Offers Four Suitcases to Suit Any Traveler

“Away suitcases are designed for the way people truly travel,” Korey says. “We use the highest quality materials, from our Japanese Hinomoto spinner wheels to the YKK zippers throughout the bag. The integration of thoughtful features like the built-in USB charger, laundry bag and compression system all contribute to our goal of making travel more seamless for our customers.”

The Carry-On

Away’s flagship product, The Carry-On features has two compartments: one for storing your clothing and the other for stashing your shoes, toiletries and other personal items. Thanks to a shell made of scratch-resistant and unbreakable polycarbonate, The Carry-On weighs a mere 7 pounds when empty and is strong enough to stand up to even the heaviest travel schedule. It retails for $225.

• 21.7” x 13.7” x 9”
• 38L capacity (perfect for 3-5 days of travel with 4-7 outfits)
• Built-in USB charger
• Nylon laundry bag
• Compression pad
• TSA-approved combination lock
• Wheels with 360° rotation
• Currently available in six colors

“Our colors were decided based on data we got from our consumer research,” Rubio adds. “All of them are rich, sophisticated and easy to clean thanks to the materials we selected for the bag. Throughout the year, we launch capsule collections of other colors, like the jewel-toned red, green and blue of our Morocco collection, or the crisp white and gray of our holiday collection inspired by Christmas in the City.”

The Bigger Carry-On

If you’re a chronic over-packer, like me, you may prefer The Bigger Carry-On. Though it still fits within the size limits of major U.S. airlines, its larger capacity will allow you to bring along more outfit options. Featuring the same internal design as The Carry-On, this larger model weighs in at 7.3 pounds. It retails for $245.

• 22.7” x 14.7” x 9.6”
• 46L capacity (perfect for 4-7 days of travel with 6-10 outfits)
• Built-in USB charger
• Nylon laundry bag
• Compression pad
• TSA-approved combination lock
• Wheels with 360° rotation
• Currently available in six colors

The Medium

A midsized checked bag, The Medium includes the smart design features you’ll find in Away’s carry-on products (minus the USB charger) but in a larger size. This one weights a mere 8.5 pounds when empty and retails for $275.

• 25” x 17.5” x 10.5”
• 62L capacity (perfect for 14-18 days of travel)
• Nylon laundry bag
• Compression pad
• TSA-approved combination lock
• Wheels with 360° rotation
• Currently available in six colors

The Large

If you like to travel with your entire wardrobe, or share one checked bag with your travel partner, The Large is for you. It weighs 9.9 pounds when empty and retails for $295.

• 28” x 19.5” x 12”
• 86L capacity (possibly the biggest suitcase you can find)
• Nylon laundry bag
• Compression pad
• TSA-approved combination lock
• Wheels with 360° rotation
• Currently available in eight colors

It’s Also Reasonably Priced and Guaranteed for Life

You’ll be hard pressed to find better luggage (or even bags of equal quality) at a better price than that offered by Away. Their direct-to-consumer business model is the key. “Luggage from other companies face a lot of markets,” Korey explains. “The brand that makes it, the retailer that sells it, and in some cases, a licensing company that gets it there—they all take their cuts before a bag even gets to market. The end result is a piece of overpriced—and not that great—luggage. Selling directly to our customers allows us to offer our luggage without all of those markups that drive up the price.”

Every Away bag comes with a 100-day trial and a lifetime warranty that covers any damage to the shell, wheels, handles, zippers and general functionality of the product. If anything breaks, Away will fix or replace it for you.“We stand by our product and want to make sure everyone really loves their luggage before they decide to keep it,” Korey concludes.

Purchase your Away luggage on the company’s website or in person at their New York store.