In my never ending quest to find the perfect travel mug for Keurig coffee makers I finally decided to do a post comparing the Contigo Aria travel mug with the Contigo West Loop autoseal travel mugs.
On first glance they appear almost identical but the Aria and West Loop mugs are different.
What got me thinking initially about this was that the West Loop mug comes in a 16oz and a 20 oz model whereas the Aria mug comes in a smaller 10oz size in addition to the standard 16 and 20 ounce sizes.
I thought, why would Contigo brand their mugs differently and only offer them in different sizes.
Well as it turns out they are a bit different under the hood although not by much.
The Main Difference Between the Aria & West Loop Travel Mugs
I have no way to substantiate this next comment but from what I can tell based on the many reviews placed over on Amazon the Aria mug is a bit lower in build quality than the West Loop.
I have no idea if this is really the case or not (or why if it is true) but reviewers in aggregate make it clear that the West Loop is a higher quality product with fewer issues.
Aside from this possible difference the main physical feature that is different is in the push button.
The autoseal mechanism is a feature of both products but the Aria can be locked in the closed position making it even less likely to leak.
The Aria apparently is better for “less refined” travel.
You can lock the button, throw it into a bag and not have to worry about accidental pressing of the button.
To lock the lid on the Aria you simply slide the button down. To unlock it you slide it back up and then press it to open the mug just like you would with the West Loop.
How Does Their Performance Compare?
Both mugs are excellent at keeping your drinks hot or cold and both are top of the line in preventing leaks but what you may sacrifice in the longevity of the lid when buying the Aria you gain in the ability to lock it.
My only assumption is that the extra moving parts in the Aria’s lid may make it a bit more likely that the mechanism will fail at some point in the future. Of course you can minimize this possibility by simply maintaining your mug properly.
Size is another main difference.
With the West Loop mugs you get two sizes to choose from but the Aria can be found in a third 10 ounce size.
This is awesome because the smallest Aria sits a full two inches shorter than the smallest West Loop. With the lid removed the 10 oz Aria is only ~5 11/16″ tall making it just short enough to sit under most single serve coffee makers including Keurig machines without the drip tray removed.
If you have a standard Keurig coffee maker then a 10oz Aria travel mug is probably the best travel mug for your needs.
If you have the Keurig Mini the Aria is still a bit too tall to fit under it even with the drip tray removed although it would fit under the newer K-Mini.
You can see more about Keurig sized travel mugs on this page.
And here is a link to a similar mug over on Canada’s Amazon site.
