The Points Guy: The Ritz Paris by Airweave Travel Mattress Topper Product Review

by Katie Genter

When I first started carrying the Ritz Paris Collection by Airweave Traveler DUAL MODE mattress pad with me, I’d joke about “accidentally forgetting it.” To be honest, I was skeptical about the worth of carrying a mattress pad — regardless of its quality — around the world.

I’ve lived on the road full time since July 2017. As someone who travels a lot and has chronic back pain, I’m a great candidate to use and benefit from a travel-friendly mattress pad. Here’s my take after trying out the Ritz Paris Collection by Airweave Traveler DUAL MODE mattress pad for about two months.

The Ritz Paris Collection. Traveler in front, Portable in back.

The Specs

Airweave offers two Ritz Paris Collection products for travelers: the Traveler DUAL MODE and the Portable DUAL MODE. The Portable DUAL MODE is a one-size mattress topper for home or hotel use while the Traveler DUAL MODE is a specially designed mattress pad for airline seats. Both come with blue carrying cases. For this review, I tested out the Traveler DUAL MODE mattress pad that’s specifically designed for use with airline seats.

The Road Test

I carried the Traveler DUAL MODE mattress pad while traveling for about two months. The mattress pad is designed for use on airplane seats. The pad provides extra comfort when in lie-flat mode, but not significantly more than the mattress topper I’ve been provided in business class on American Airlines between Dallas (DFW) and Hong Kong (HKG). Granted, passengers often aren’t provided mattress pads in business class.

When sitting up, the mattress pad is comfortable enough until you shift or get up. Then, it has a tendency to fall out of place. Adding something to keep it in place against the seat back would be a big improvement. At a width of 19.7 inches, the Traveler DUAL MODE mattress pad is too wide to use in all economy and some premium economy cabins since it’ll overflow into the aisle and/or a neighbor’s seat.

Admittedly, my main use of the mattress pad wasn’t on airplanes: since I was already carrying it, I decided to start using it as a mattress pad on hotel beds. Using it in this manner was reminiscent of camping — the mattress pad is about the same width and length as a camping sleeping pad — but I found that I did sleep better and my back was less painful. Indeed, the mattress pad turned a very soft torturous-to-my-back bed into a bed I could sleep in and not be in pain the next day.

However, using the Traveler DUAL MODE mattress pad on hotel beds isn’t ideal. It’s too narrow and if you aren’t perfectly still all night it doesn’t remain flat. Additionally, the zipper can be uncomfortable. But even with these complaints, I continued to prefer using the hard surface on the mattress pad instead of sleeping directly on the hotel beds because my sleep and back pain were both improved.

At the end of two months, the exterior quilt certainly isn’t as crisp. But the inner fibers held up well and seemingly provided the same support the first night as the last. The carry bag performed excellently, showing no noticeable wear in the two months.

The Details

Airweave products are made in Japan but US customers can buy products at airweave.com. The Ritz Paris Collection by Airweave Traveler DUAL MODE mattress pad sells for $590. Although this price tag hurt my budget-friendly heart, the Traveler DUAL MODE is easy to carry and does make uncomfortable and soft beds bearable. When planning to stay at a hotel, AirBnB or friend’s house, it can be difficult to gauge the softness and quality of the bed before arrival. After ending up in urgent care after sleeping in a particularly soft bed at a friend’s house, the Traveler allowed me to sleep in this bed pain-free on my next visit.

Shipping is free to the 48 contiguous states for this product and you can expect it to arrive within 7 business days after placing an order. Each Traveler DUAL MODE mattress pad comes with a free 100-night trial and a three-year warranty. If you decide to purchase an Airweave, make sure to use a credit card that has extended warranty purchase protection to get a warranty extension.

The Takeaway

The Airweave Traveler DUAL MODE mattress pad is one more thing to carry while traveling. I mainly didn’t use it as intended, but I did use it almost daily for two months. I would’ve continued carrying and using it if I didn’t now have my hands full carrying my pet around Europe.

If use on the aircraft and carry-on size aren’t important to you, the $570 Portable or $1,060 Portable DUAL MODE might be better. Either of the Portable models would likely be more comfortable than the Traveler for sleeping during trips and at home. This being said, those who don’t have back pain and aren’t picky sleepers may not see the value in purchasing and taking either product with them.

This article has been condensed. Read the full story on The Points Guy.