TL;DR: I tested out my Beis Luggage set over the course of a two-month trip, and I loved its convenience, durability, and style.
Find out whether this popular luggage brand is worth the price tag in my complete Beis Luggage Review!
I’m trying to reform, but I’ve always been a terrible over-packer.
I own a ridiculous amount of clothing and am a big fan of the mid-afternoon costume change.
On top of that, I’m also a frequent traveler on long journeys and an artist who’s usually lugging materials around. So, it’s no surprise that my travel luggage is often a bit heavy.
After many pieces of cheap, crappy luggage (I’m frugal to a fault), I’m trying to turn over a new leaf. With a major journey looming, it was time for an upgrade.
That led me to Beis, a sleek, stylish, high-quality luggage brand steadily gaining buzz online.
Would a fancy travel suitcase be the answer to my problems? How would it compare to the bargain basement bags I was used to?
Find the answers and my honest thoughts in this in-depth Beis Luggage review.
What is Béis Luggage? Why is Béis Luggage So Popular?
Beis Luggage is a stylish travel luggage brand focusing on aesthetics and convenient features.
It’s joined the ranks alongside brands like Away Luggage and Monos Luggage, making luxury travel gear at mid-level prices.
Beis is popular for its sleek designs and helpful features that aim to make traveling more breezy and effortless.
A Quick Look at Béis as a Company
The Beis Luggage founder and celebrity CEO is Canadian actress Shay Mitchell. You may know her from the show Pretty Little Liars.
As an actress, Shay Mitchell had extensive travel experience. Through her travels, she found that the luggage market lacked fashionable, convenient, and affordable options. She co-founded Beis in 2018 to fill that gap.
The brand was gaining traction when the pandemic hit. With flights grounded, the brand shifted from airplane-centric roller bags to the flagship Beis product, the now-viral Weekender Bag.
The Weekender embodies everything this brand’s products strive for. It’s a compact piece of luggage that could pass for a designer handbag, loaded with features to make life easier.
With its popularity surging across social media, you’re probably already considering springing for one of Beis’ products.
So, that brings us to the big question: is Beis luggage worth the hype? Read on to see if I recommend Beis.
Béis Luggage Review: My Experience With the Mini Weekender and the 21″ Carry-On
Let me give you a quick summary of my fraught history with travel bags. Last summer, I spent two months in Italy attending some art residencies.
After weeks of scouring the internet for the biggest and lightest roller bag at the lowest price, I bought a 30″ roller bag that weighed less than eight pounds and cost under $100. Then, I packed it to the gills.
Frugality was my fatal mistake. On my first walk from the train station, my new suitcase’s wheels shredded on the cobblestones.
When it was time to leave that location, I dragged fifty pounds of dead weight up cobblestone stairs without a single functional wheel, sweating and crying.
I had to buy a new suitcase in a souvenir shop in Naples, ditching that first suitcase in an alleyway dumpster like a bundle of illicit evidence.
Fast forward a year, and I was gearing up for another two-month European artist residency journey, but last year’s luggage trauma still had me shaking.
All of this is to say there was a lot of “emotional baggage” riding on my Beis experiment.
I opted for the Mini version of the Weekender Bag and the 21″ hard-sided Carry-On Roller in Atlas Pink, a soft mauve/rose gold.
As usual, I left my packing to the last minute, which… complicated things slightly.
But once I packed everything, I felt unusually sleek and glamorous with my matching luggage set and embarked on my adventure.
Béis Mini Weekender Bag
Price: $98
Size: 16” x 15.7” x 8”
Colors available: Beige, Atlas Pink, Black, Navy, Grey, and Citron
The Weekender – and its Mini counterpart – is a carry-on tote bag.
The structured canvas zippered top opens like a doctor’s bag. It includes a front pocket, a padded laptop compartment, and several small inner pockets to keep your travel essentials.
The stiff, flat base has a leather outer and zips open to reveal a bottom compartment for your shoes.
There are two short handles for carrying on your shoulder and a longer crossbody strap.
I usually find that tote bags slip off my rounded shoulders, and I was expecting to use the crossbody strap, but the handles felt much more secure on my shoulders than the strap.
This thoughtfully designed bag has a luggage handle sleeve that allows it to ride securely on top of a carry-on or check-in roller.
I chose the Mini because of airline size restrictions. My super budget tickets didn’t allow overhead carry-ons. So this bag needed to fit under the seat in front of me.
Luckily, the Mini’s dimensions were exactly the same as the airline’s size limits.
When I checked in for my first flight, the woman at the counter was dead, sure it was too big, and tried to make me pay for it.
I argued that I knew it was within the size restrictions, and that’s why I bought it. “Well, you can see if it fits in the bin,” she said dubiously, gesturing towards the bin that measures your carry-on and personal items.
I dropped my Beis bag into the bin with a whoosh. It fit perfectly. I looked back at the counter, triumphant. She shrugged and tied on a tag, reading, “Approved Personal Item.”
Over the ensuing two months, I’d take nine more flights, several bus and train rides, two road trips, and one overnight ferry. Throughout it all, my Beis Mini served me well.
I often wished it was a tiny bit bigger, but then I would remember my victory at the check-in counter and be thankful it wasn’t.
After all of this travel, on the very last morning, as I crawled into a 3:00 AM taxi bound for a London airport, my husband lifted my Weekender tote bag by the shoulder strap, and it ripped clean off.
Luckily, I wasn’t a big fan of that strap, so I’m not too bummed.
SHOP THE BÉIS MINI WEEKENDER BAG ON:
21″ Béis Luggage Carry On
Price: $218
Size: 15.7” x 22.8” x 9.8” (ext.) 14.5” x 21” x 9.8” (interior)
Colors available: Beige, Atlas Pink, Black, Navy, Grey, and Maple
It was a risky decision to use a 21″ carry-on roller as my primary luggage.
As I said, I am not a light-packer. But I couldn’t handle the burden of a giant overweight suitcase. Not after last time, never again.
On my outbound fight, I’d tried to save money by paying for just 30 pounds of checked luggage and no overhead carry-on.
When I was initially packing for the trip, I didn’t know that Beis includes built-in weight indicators on their suitcases’ luggage handles, but it would have come in handy.
Instead, I was stepping onto my bathroom scale, taking out a single garment, and stepping on again.
It was a struggle fitting everything into this suitcase, but the blame for that is entirely on me and my shopping habits.
The Beis Carry-On roller had my back over those two months.
Whenever I traveled to a new location, I packed everything back into my vacuum-seal space-saving bags, slipped those beneath the carry-on suitcase’s compression flaps, and sat on top to zip it up.
Every time, it looked physically impossible. And each time, this little carry-on suitcase swallowed my mountain of belongings like a hungry clam.
I credit the Beis suitcase’s super-strong zippers, compression straps, and zippered compression compartments for repeatedly achieving this feat.
Despite being a “Carry-On,” I checked it every time, as it was constantly expanded to its full 12″ girth (and overhead baggage costs just as much as check-in luggage these days.)
I particularly appreciated its cushioned handle, which has a pleasantly squishy, gel-like texture. It also came with two matching drawstring bags: one for dirty laundry and one for toiletries.
This bag’s only downside was that it arrived with a few fresh scuffs each time we reunited at the airport baggage claim. The once-chic mauve pink is looking a little dingy now.
But, beyond that, this suitcase noticeably outperforms the budget bags of my past.
SHOP THE 21″ BÉIS LUGGAGE CARRY ON ON:
Beis Luggage Pros
Stylish
Beis Luggage has an elegant, understated glamor. I usually look like a bag lady at the airport: hunchbacked, disheveled, and feral. But that’s the past now, and Beis is my future.
With the Weekender stacked on top of the roller, (I like to think) I look calm, cool, and coordinated. I even got compliments from fellow travelers in train stations across Europe.
Quality construction at a moderate price
Fancier people than myself will say, “You get what you pay for.” Conventional wisdom says that when you spend more, you get better stuff.
But a die-hard budget shopper like me knows that’s not always true. Sometimes expensive things are crappy! Sometimes, cheap things are fantastic!
But that’s not the case with Beis. Theirs is quality luggage with smooth, buttery fabrics and sturdy outer shells.
And truthfully, their prices are pretty reasonable for name-brand luggage. Compared to competitors, Beis products are significantly cheaper.
Incredible zipper strength
One particular feature stands out on the carry-on rollers: the zipper.
It’s not your average travel suitcase zipper; it’s thicker and more pliable, allowing it to stretch without catching when you’re trying to zip an extra outfit into an overstuffed carry-on roller.
With cheaper carry-on rollers, I’d worry about the zipper pulling apart under that stress. But the Beis zipper always held firm.
Handy features
Beis Luggage features a handful of handy details.
My Mini Weekender’s structured shoe compartment and luggage sleeve made it easy to stack my Béis luggage set together. The padded laptop sleeve kept my computer safe and sound.
The squishy roller handle cushion made it much more comfortable to grip, and the weight limit indicator is a clever feature I’m sure I’ll use extensively in the future.
Beis Luggage Cons
Limited Color Options
Honestly, I don’t love the shade of pink my Beis luggage came in. But when I ordered it, the only other options were black, beige, grey, and navy blue.
I’m a color lover. I won’t choose beige; that’s just not who I am.
Later, they released some limited-time colors, such as Barbie Pink and Citron. If these brighter colors had been available when I placed my order, I might have opted for one of them, but even those aren’t entirely my taste.
Moreover, they’re now listed as “Gone for Good” on the web page.
There’s a whole spectrum of colors Beis could offer. What about red? What about mustard yellow? Baby blue? Mint green? Viridian? Lavender?
Other comparable luggage brands like Monos and July carry many more color options that I find more attractive, and I wish Beis did the same.
Broken strap
I know I’ve sung praises about the quality of my Beis Luggage, but it also bears mentioning that the Weekender’s strap did snap clean off.
Yes, my Béis bag is otherwise top-quality, but two contradictory things can be true at once; that’s the nature of the universe.
Was it super stuffed at the time? To be fair, yes. I also really didn’t use this strap, so I personally wasn’t devastated about it breaking, but high-end products shouldn’t break like this.
Scuffs
I used my Beis suitcase as a check-in roller, and it always arrived at baggage claim with a few new greyish-black scuffs.
I suppose that’s an occupational hazard for suitcases in light colors, but it does make the muted pink color look a bit dingy.
That said, Beis also sells a Béis luggage cover to prevent these mishaps, but I find the price tag a little steep ($45) for a plastic sleeve.
Weekender looks bigger than it is
Truthfully, I was expecting to be able to fit more inside the Mini Beis Weekender, which didn’t make for the most easy packing.
While the doctor-bag closure is stylish, it limits the space inside the bag and makes the interior compartment harder to pack efficiently.
You can’t put much in the top four inches of the bag, or else it won’t zip. I ended up having to ship some things home to free up more space as a result.
Is Béis luggage good quality?
Despite the strap that snapped off my Weekender Mini, I found both Béis bags to be very high quality.
The zippers glide smoothly, the inner fabric has a silky texture, and the outer material is durable.
Best Things to Buy From Béis
Both of the Beis luggage bags I tested are top products, but many more of the brand’s products are worth checking out, including more sizes of Béis checked luggage and the full-sized Weekender.
If I buy another piece of Beis luggage, I’d probably snag a Beis Backpack because I’m a big fan of backpacks for travel.
Their backpacks are sleek and available in multiple designs, including the Commuter, the Sport, a diaper bag, and more!
Beis also makes tote bags (shop the Commuter Tote), belt bags, crossbody bags, duffles, and a whole heap of cosmetic cases.
I’m partial to hardside suitcases, but if you prefer soft-sided luggage, there’s also a Béis collapsable luggage roller, which collapses into a super-slim profile for easy storage.
Love travel backpacks as much as I do? Check out all of our top recommendations!
Béis Shipping, Return & Exchange Policy
Beis uses UPS for domestic orders and DHL for international ones. Orders over $150 ship free within the US using UPS Ground (3-5 business days).
Otherwise, it’s $14.95 for Ground, $69.95 for 2-day, and 99.95 for Overnight.
Beis offers returns within 45 days of purchase, for which they charge a $10 handling fee. For exchanges, you’ll need to submit a request, which they’ll approve if your order arrives broken or defective.
Béis Discounts & Coupons
In addition to free shipping on all orders over $150, Beis offers 15% off your first order.
They also offer Black Friday and Cyber Monday Beis Luggage sales, so you’ll periodically be able to find markdowns on your favorite Beis bags if you’re patient.
Where to Buy Béis Luggage
In addition to the official Beis Travel website, you can purchase Beis luggage from Revolve.com, Ulta, and Nordstrom (both in stores and online).
FAQs About Béis Luggage
What is the most popular color of Bei’s luggage?
Based on other Beis luggage reviews, Atlas Pink is Beis bags’ most popular color.
Where is the Béis Luggage weight indicator?
The weight limit indicator is a small window on the side handle resembling a level or thermometer.
If you lift the bag by that handle and the weight indicator turns red, your bag is overweight.
How expensive is Béis luggage?
As far as high-end luggage goes, Beis is pretty affordable.
My carry-on roller costs $218, while Béis large luggage costs roughly $328. That’s approximately $100 less than comparable sizes from Away Luggage.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a Béis luggage dupe that costs less than the real thing.
Can the BEIS Weekender bag be used as a personal item on the plane?
The classic Beis Weekender bag is too big to be an under-seat bag.
However, The Mini has just the correct dimensions to fit under an airline seat and has worked for me as a personal item on over ten flights.
Conclusion: So, is Béis Luggage Worth it?
The Weekender is stylish and has many convenient features, and the mini version is a perfect fit for underneath an airplane seat.
The bag’s space utilization detracts slightly from its convenience, and the strap on mine broke, so it has those slight downsides. But neither of these points is serious enough to stop me from recommending it.
The Carry-On Roller is durable, lightweight, and significantly more attractive than any of the suitcases I’ve owned previously.
In terms of quality, the super-strong and flexible zipper and its many compartments make it stand out and above an average roller suitcase.
My first trip with my Beis Travel bags went significantly smoother than my past experiences. Is Beis Luggage worth the price? I’m officially convinced; my answer is yes!
SHOP THE BÉIS MINI WEEKENDER BAG ON:
SHOP THE 21″ BÉIS LUGGAGE CARRY ON ON:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elina Ansary
As a visual artist, Elina is a frequent traveler and pathological overpacker who often finds herself transporting lots of objects while traveling–from artwork to art materials to gifts and souvenirs. She’s tried tons of different suitcases, backpacks, purses, and bags in her quest to resolve her baggage dilemnas. She grew up in San Francisco, CA, and spent her childhood camping up and down Northern California.
These days, Elina visits artist residencies in locations around the world, including Amsterdam, Finland, Italy, and Australia, and has exhibited her work in galleries and museums in the US and abroad. When she isn’t writing and editing for The Atlas Heart, Elina is pursuing a Master’s degree in Visual Art at Cornell University and splits her time between Ithaca and Brooklyn.
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