No Reception Club Rollaway Carry-On: Best for Family Travel Needs?

Thanks to the brand for sending me an early press sample of the Rollaway! All opinions are my own.

My only regret is that I wish we’d had it sooner.

And that’s because traveling with kids is, erm, strenuous. You know what I mean. I’d been looking for my son to have his own dedicated suitcase for when we go away, and hadn’t quite located a brand that’s actually giving me reasons to try something new.

The Rollaway from No Reception Club is, yes, “luggage on its side.” There’s a reason for that. And there’s a reason it has a built-in organization system, one that keeps me sane before travel, during travel AND after travel. Plus, a way to stack MORE than just a backpack on it? Meaning it helps us while we’re in the airport?

In this review, you’ll see everything I know about this rolling luggage you’re considering for your child, because it’s the suitcase they’ll have for years, and the one that’ll make life easier as a parent who loves to travel.

My note: The Rollaway is currently available as a Kickstarter, so you can book your spot at a discount, HERE at the Kickstarter website, for No Reception Club! Scroll down to the bottom of this review for full details on what this means for you and your Rollaway.

The Rollaway: A necessary intro to this family carry-on

Why is this horizontally-positioned suitcase the answer to the prayers of parents who’d been dreaming of such a thing?

First of all, I know you’ve been there: you’re walking through the airport, you have way too much stuff to carry, not enough places to hang it or dangle it, and you wonder how/why you packed so much.

For starters, the Rollaway from No Reception Club, probably my favorite family luggage brand (I know you’ve seen my Hideaway Duffel review!) is not like other suitcases, both inside and out. As we get into this review, you’ll see:

• Just why its handle is so long, and what it can help you ‘stack’ while in transit, juggling a family AND your stuff
• The interior organization system, called The Cubby, which helps me focus packing for my son and eliminates stress for me as a mom
• Cool hybrid “it’s not quite hard luggage” and “it’s not quite soft luggage either” design
• Mesh pockets inside for storing activities and flat-pack smaller items (a must!)
• Surprise: a pack-out water bottle holder for gliding through the airport like a champ parent, PLUS, an included iPad holder (ARE YOU SERIOUS!)

In short, I’ve never seen anything like it before, and the following review will discuss how it’s going for me, why you might want it and how to get it.

The features: why it’s not your average family carry-on roller

We have to talk features, because this carry-on would be a regular old suitcase without them. No Reception Club thought of EVERYTHING, and the features below are what gave me confidence during the travel prep for our first family trip with it, as well as when we were on the ground enjoying ourselves.

Extra-long trolley handle and horizontal design

The Rollaway is horizontally designed, flipped on its side, relative to ‘regular’ carry-ons. So, what does that mean? Well, it gives you a longer trolley handle.

This longer-than-usual retractable handle creates more usable space. You get to keep your entire Rollaway stable when you stack family stuff on top, where other suitcases would topple over. That’s the “ah-ha!” moment, when I saw what it could do.

I stacked our Deuter hiking carrier on it, and a travel car seat. I can get our BabyBjorn travel crib on there (it’s so awkward to carry, but we like it).

With all those configurations of which “kid travel products” you can create space for, you become more hands-free. And as someone who has gone through an airport realizing I packed too much, wow: we need that.

The 2 adjustable straps in a stow pocket

In a zipper pocket I almost glanced over, two straps fold out and let you attach all that bulky kid gear, from travel cribs to hiking carriers or booster seats. They have clips on the ends, to secure whatever it is you wish to ‘stack’ and free up your hands while in transit at an airport or train station (I see you, summer in Europe families!).

So, my tip is to NOT glaze over this detail feature because it’s so crucial.

SEATLATCH™ SYSTEM: another thing not to overlook

So you’ve dreamed of ‘stacking’ your travel car seat on a piece of luggage so you don’t have to CARRY it? Well yes, No Reception Club configured a way to do it. SeatLatch™ is their patent-pending attachment system that integrates car seat anchor points directly into the hardshell back panel of the Rollaway.

This lets you attach your car seat or booster seat directly to it. And the result is that the Rollaway lets you carry more gear without one of those airport luggage carts.

The Cubby™ packing system

You saw it in my Hideaway Duffel review, because I rave about it, and the first time my mom saw the Cubby, she said, “Why have I never seen this before?”

So just like its sibling the Hideaway, the Rollaway uses the cubby system with a removable ‘wardrobe.’ I pack everything into the Cubby system, and then I zip it up so that nothing sloshes around, while in transit. When I opened the Rollaway for my son when we got to New Hampshire, everything was intact, folded just as I’d left it, from overnight diapers to pajamas.

You can even hang this in a closet or dresser when you get to your hotel, B&B or vacation rental. It’s like a vertical wardrobe, built in. Brilliant.

Mesh pockets inside

I use the inner mesh pockets (two of them) to store lightweight and flat things: baby books, some flat activity books for my daughter and odds and ends that I remember to add to my packing, the night before. Here’s what this looks like.

Exterior pockets and what they can do

Two pockets on the outside helped me stuff in more things for my son and daughter before we hit the road. I wouldn’t skip over these because:

• Drinks Holder Accessory: this comes out of the right-side exterior pocket. Don’t miss it. It hangs from the trolley handle and acts as a drink holder for those coffee tumblers and kids’ water bottles, or babies’ milk bottles!
• It flips and turns into a tablet holder for when you’re on the plane or in the car.

How do I use the Rollaway family carry-on?

The first time we used it, we took a road trip to New Hampshire from where we live in the NYC area. Lots of driving, and then lots of days spent hiking and seeing this beautiful region with the kids!

I packed the Rollaway for my son, and loved how all his things packed in neatly, stayed organized during the trip and then unpacked even more easily when we got home. I’ve never been so stress-free when un-packing.

For rolling up our luggage from the car to where we stayed, I stacked our No Reception Club Hideaway Duffel on the trolley handle, along with the Getaway Bag as our travel diaper bag. It’s an essential for our family. We use the Sliders in there for organizing kids’ backup clothes! I slung the Sidekick around (I use it for diaper changes while we’re out) and also packed each kid a No Reception Club Dopp Kit with their travel toiletries and meds.

The Rollaway made traveling with my two little kids into a breeze, from getting out of the car at our destination, to getting back in and heading home. It’s all in the luggage.

Durability and overall design

You’ll notice that this luggage is not quite soft, and not quite hard. It’s in the middle. It is both.

It’s made to last. It’s a far cry from the hard shell luggage I once received in the mail that was already dented.

The Rollaway is made from high-performance CORDURA® fabric, durable YKK® zippers and an overall strong build that’s meant to last for years. Frankly, I hope mine lasts so long that my kids’ kids can use it when they take family trips. <3

Hinomoto wheels

Oh yes, this luggage for kids is upscale. You’ve seen other sit-on-me carry-ons for kids, and mini-sized suitcases for kids that don’t hold much.

But the Rollaway is a premium product. It has the same Japanese-made, 360-degree spinner wheels that are larger than most carry-ons I’ve owned, from Aer and Quince to Taskin and Traveler’s Choice or Victorinox. They’re silent, never jam or snag and they work perfectly.

Does it fit in an overhead bin?

This really depends on the airline, unfortunately. Some airlines have tighter overhead bins and some have more spacious ones. While this travel bag is certainly a carry-on size, I would go to your airline’s website to find out their maximum dimensions for carry-on luggage if you plan to fly.

Do I recommend it?

I have to say yes here, without much hesitation at all. This carry-on luggage for kids, babies and toddlers does way more than your regular carry-on piece of luggage with wheels.

I’ve packed for trips far and wide, from Halifax, Canada, to Medellin, Colombia, with my first child, and we used our Quince luggage (great for adults, by the way!), but we were lacking in that department of flexibility.

Now with the Rollaway, we can stack on a car seat, a hiking carrier or a booster seat, to that extra-long trolley handle. I can pack for my son in the Cubby system. It helped so much when we took our first trip with it: I could see all his things, and made unpacking a breeze, too.

It’s the “SUV” of travel roller luggage, and lets us carry more, and worry less. As soon as a bunch of my friends saw it, they of course said, “How do we get one?!”

How to get it: on Kickstarter, NOW!

My note: No Reception Club is almost never on sale, and this will be the best time for you as a traveling parent to get an unreal discount.

What you can do NOW is go to this link to No Reception Club’s Kickstarter Rollaway page, where you can confirm your spot at a discount and you’ll receive your Rollaway on the proposed date!

In late fall 2026, the Kickstarter will close for purchases. If the campaign is successful, No Reception Club anticipates the Rollaway bags launching for everyone else, in Spring 2027.

To get any of No Reception Club’s in-stock items, head to the No Reception Club family travel bag website, where you’ll find easy ways to choose your color of the Getaway Bag, Hideaway Duffel, Sidekick, Sliders and Dopp Kit!