The Best Hotel Reward Tool?

Posted: 8/14/23 | August 14th, 2023

For many of my travels, I’ve been a hostel man by way of and thru. And, whereas I nonetheless keep in hostels once I journey, since I run a enterprise from the street, I typically want a bit extra privateness and quiet than what a hostel can present.

However accommodations can get expensive and I’m nonetheless an affordable backpacker at coronary heart. I hate spending cash on a room I’m solely going to be in for a number of hours a day. To save cash on accommodations, I began journey hacking. Through the use of factors and hotel-branded bank cards to get free stays, I’ve saved hundreds and hundreds of {dollars} in lodging through the years.

Nonetheless, it may be a little bit of a ache to search out lodge award availability. Every lodge has its personal calendar of award nights (nights which you could guide utilizing factors), and it may be time-consuming to flip by way of these digital calendars to search out the perfect deal.

That’s the place Awayz is available in.

This device searches throughout lodge packages that will help you discover the perfect place to make use of to your hard-earned factors in your subsequent lodge keep.

Till now, there’s been nothing this complete for locating lodge award nights, so I’m tremendous excited that it lastly exists. Out of the opposite (few) lodge award instruments on the market, it’s probably the most user-friendly, searches throughout probably the most lodge packages, and has the perfect options and filters.

On this overview, I’ll present you what the location is all about and learn how to use it to search out free lodge stays to your subsequent journey!

What’s Awayz?

Awayz is a device particularly for reserving accommodations utilizing factors. If you happen to’re accustomed to the points-and-miles reserving device Level.me, it’s like that, however for accommodations as an alternative of flights (when you’re not accustomed to level.me, take a look at my overview to be taught extra).

Like different reserving instruments, you merely put in your location and dates, and out pop a ton of choices for accommodations which you could guide with factors. It additionally exhibits you a side-by-side comparability of the variety of factors wanted, alongside the money worth, and offers its advice relating to which is the higher deal. This can be a massively useful function when you don’t need to spend time and power crunching the numbers your self.

Presently, Awayz helps Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, IHG, and Accor, with Wyndham and Option to be added quickly. With the ability to search throughout a number of lodge chains is one other nice function, particularly when you’re making an attempt to make use of a transferable foreign money, like Amex Membership Rewards or Chase Final Rewards, which might be transferred and used at varied lodge chains.

Listed here are among the essential options that Awayz presents:

• Availability alerts
• A 12-month award availability calendar
• A map function
• A money vs. factors comparability
• The power to enter your present factors packages to tailor the outcomes
• Free-night award availability is highlighted

How Awayz Works

To make use of Awayz, all it’s important to do is put in your required particulars (location, dates, and many others.). It then brings up all of the accessible accommodations you might guide with factors. You possibly can then filter your outcomes till you discover a lodge that works finest for you.

Awayz operates on a subscription mannequin. There’s a free trial, although, so you’ll be able to attempt it out earlier than signing up. With the free trial, you’ll get 5 searches and 5 lodge availability alerts, in addition to entry to all of Awayz’s options, aside from lodge deal alerts.

The Journey Go ($4.99) is de facto the higher choice if you wish to attempt Awayz to its full potential, because it provides you the power to do 50 searches in 72 hours (the 5 searches on the free trial will likely be gone earlier than you understand it), in addition to 10 availability alerts.

If you happen to journey and seek for accommodations repeatedly, you’ll need the premium subscription ($8.33/month when paid yearly, or $11.99 when paid month-to-month). This tier provides you 250 month-to-month searches, 10 availability alerts, and lodge deal alerts (the one tier that provides this).

You possibly can see the total breakdown of the distinction between plans right here:

If you happen to join an annual plan utilizing the code nomadicmatt, you’ll get $10 off the annual Premium plan.

Setting Up Your Awayz Pockets

Earlier than you begin looking, you’ll need to arrange the pockets and awards part. Right here, you’ll be able to add your lodge loyalty packages, bank cards, and the variety of factors you will have in every.
That is essential for a number of causes.

First, you’ll be able to then filter by your accessible factors when looking. There’s no sense in mentioning accommodations which you could’t guide!

Second, Awayz will take into accounts perks like free nights (a perk on a lot of the finest lodge bank cards), financial institution switch bonus promotions (e.g, get 30% extra factors when transferring Membership Rewards to Hilton Honors), or currencies the place you should utilize factors as money (reminiscent of Chase Final Rewards).

Awayz at the moment helps the next:

• Resort packages: Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, World of Hyatt, Accor Dwell Limitless
• Transferrable currencies: American Categorical Membership Rewards, Chase Final Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Citi ThankYou factors, and Altitude Reserve factors

You don’t have so as to add any figuring out data when including your packages. This can be a constructive for these involved about safety, however a damaging for individuals who need the convenience of automated syncing of their level balances.

As an alternative, you’ll have so as to add in your present balances your self, as you’ll be able to see on this instance:

You possibly can search accommodations with out including this information however including this data in makes it quite a bit simpler to see what your choices are with out guessing.

How one can Search and E book Lodges with Awayz

For our pattern search, let’s say we need to get some summer time solar by going to Miami for an extended weekend in January. By firing off a fast search with simply your dates and site, you’ll get the next:

However since this fundamental search brings up extra accommodations than you’ll need to wade by way of, the next move is to filter the outcomes.

The accessible search filters are:

• Resort manufacturers
• Transferable currencies and lodge loyalty packages
• Free-night certificates availability
• Your present factors (the numbers you enter on the pockets and awards part)

You may as well kind by distance from the middle of the vacation spot in addition to by level or money values.

Right here’s what it seems to be like (grayed-out packages are ones you haven’t entered level values for):

When it brings up the search outcomes, Awayz makes use of its personal algorithm to additionally spotlight whether or not it thinks utilizing factors or money is a greater worth, which is tremendous helpful data as you weigh your choices.

When you’ve filtered and appeared by way of the outcomes to discover a lodge that you just’re eager about, choose it to get much more particulars. You’ll see the perfect worth, money worth, the worth when you use factors as money, and buttons to see your entire award availability calendar or to set an availability alert in case your most well-liked dates aren’t at the moment accessible.

On this case, the perfect deal is utilizing Hyatt Rewards factors, which you’ll switch from Bilt or Chase (as indicated within the backside right-hand “Switch Accomplice” field).

If you happen to’re versatile along with your dates and need to see your entire award availability calendar for this lodge, merely hit that black button and up it pops. It’ll spotlight the dates you’re at the moment looking, however it’s also possible to scroll by way of your entire 12-month calendar to see if there are higher offers on the market. The bottom charges (in each money and factors) are highlighted in inexperienced, whereas the very best charges are highlighted in pink:

On this case, you’ll be able to see that when you might shift your lengthy weekend journey again by simply two weeks, you might save 9,000 factors.

In any case that digging, let’s say you’ve determined that that is the lodge you need to guide. Hit “guide now,” and also you’ll be delivered to the lodge’s web site. You’re by yourself from there, however even when it’s good to switch factors, it’s typically a really simple course of.

Professionals of Awayz

1. The power to go looking throughout many packages directly
The obvious professional of utilizing Awayz is the power to drag up all accommodations you might guide with factors to your desired dates and site. With out this device, you’d have to go looking throughout all of the packages during which you will have factors (or might have factors when you transferred them there). That includes logging into every web site, discovering the award charts, factoring in any charges, and evaluating throughout all packages. It’s not that tough, nevertheless it does take time.

2. Factors-to-cash comparability
This function is one other main profit to utilizing Awayz. Once more, evaluating money and level values is a time-consuming course of, particularly if you’re new to utilizing factors for lodge stays. Awayz takes the guesswork out of this course of by utilizing its personal algorithm (which is frequently up to date with the newest information) to find out the perfect worth.

3. Straightforward-to-use interface with useful filters
The web site may be very simple and simple to make use of, and the filters make fast work of serving to you discover accommodations that work to your wants. The power to enter awards packages and present factors helps you slender your search down much more.

Cons of Awayz

1. It’s a paid device
Awayz does have a restricted free trial, however if you wish to get probably the most out of this device, you’ll should pay: both $4.99 for a 72-hour Journey Go, or $8.33/11.99 (annual billing vs. month-to-month billing) for Premium.

Nonetheless, when you’re new to journey hacking and haven’t fairly memorized the ins and outs of every program, it’s a discount when you think about the potential financial savings in not solely cash however the time you’d spend making an attempt to determine and search throughout packages.

And, as a Nomadic Matt reader, you may get $10 off an annual subscription with the code nomadicmatt.

2. It doesn’t mechanically sync along with your loyalty packages and currencies
This could be a professional to those that don’t need to give exterior entry to their accounts, nevertheless it additionally provides an additional step within the course of. It’s additionally simple to neglect to replace if you do use your factors.

3. Not all manufacturers are supported (but)
Whereas Awayz helps many main chains — Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton, IHG, and Accor — it doesn’t but assist all of them. Wyndham and Alternative are usually not at the moment supported, although these needs to be added quickly. Nonetheless, if these are your most well-liked manufacturers, you won’t discover Awayz to be helpful to you simply but.

Who’s Awayz for?

Awayz is particularly nice for vacationers which are newer to redeeming factors for award nights. Utilizing Awayz saves you time (and cash) within the lodge award search and reserving course of, which is particularly helpful if you’re first beginning out studying learn how to get free stays. The cash-to-points comparability function is particularly key for this.

However even skilled journey hackers can get a whole lot of worth out of the device. You probably have a whole lot of factors in several currencies, you know the way time-consuming it’s to go looking throughout packages. Plus, the power to set alerts can assist you discover elusive stays with out having to continuously hold tabs on the lodge.

Awayz is a welcome addition to the rising scene of award reserving instruments. Whereas there are a selection of complete instruments for locating award flights, thus far, nothing comparable has existed for locating lodge stays you’ll be able to guide with factors. With a rising suite of filters and options, in addition to side-by-side comparability of factors vs. money pricing, Awayz helps you save each money and time — essential assets it doesn’t matter what kind of traveler you might be!

Whereas it’s a paid device, there’s a free trial accessible, and even paid variations turn out to be price it after they provide help to discover an awesome free keep.

And bear in mind to make use of code nomadicmatt to get $10 off!