The Finest Resort Reward Software?

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

For many of my travels, I’ve been a hostel man via and thru. And, whereas I still stay in hostels once I journey, since I run a enterprise from the highway, 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 inexpensive 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 travel hacking. Through the use of factors and hotel-branded credit cards to get free stays, I’ve saved hundreds and hundreds of {dollars} in lodging over time.

Nonetheless, it may be a little bit of a ache to seek out lodge award availability. Every lodge has its personal calendar of award nights (nights which you could e book utilizing factors), and it may be time-consuming to flip via these digital calendars to seek out the most effective deal.

That’s the place Awayz is available in.

This device searches throughout lodge packages that will help you discover the most effective 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 essentially the most user-friendly, searches throughout essentially the most lodge packages, and has the most effective options and filters.

On this evaluate, I’ll present you what the positioning is all about and methods to use it to seek out free lodge stays on your subsequent journey!

What’s Awayz?

Awayz is a device particularly for reserving accommodations utilizing factors. If you happen to’re acquainted with the points-and-miles reserving device Level.me, it’s like that, however for accommodations as a substitute of flights (should you’re not acquainted with level.me, check out my review to learn more).

Like different reserving instruments, you merely put in your location and dates, and out pop a ton of choices for accommodations which you could e book 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 should you don’t need to spend time and power crunching the numbers your self.

At the moment, Awayz helps Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, IHG, and Accor, with Wyndham and Option to be added quickly. Having the ability to search throughout a number of lodge chains is one other nice function, particularly should you’re attempting to make use of a transferable forex, like Amex Membership Rewards or Chase Final Rewards, which may be transferred and used at varied lodge chains.

Listed below are a number of the major options that Awayz affords:

• 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 you need to do is put in your required particulars (location, dates, and so on.). It then brings up all of the accessible accommodations you can e book with factors. You possibly can then filter your outcomes till you discover a lodge that works greatest for you.

Awayz operates on a subscription mannequin. There’s a free trial, although, so you’ll be able to strive 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 Cross ($4.99) is admittedly the higher choice if you wish to strive Awayz to its full potential, because it offers you the flexibility to do 50 searches in 72 hours (the 5 searches on the free trial might be gone earlier than you recognize 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 offers you 250 month-to-month searches, 10 availability alerts, and lodge deal alerts (the one tier that offers this).

You possibly can see the complete 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, credit cards, and the variety of factors you might 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 e book!

Second, Awayz will think about perks like free nights (a perk on many of the best hotel credit 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 use factors as money (similar to Chase Final Rewards).

Awayz at present helps the next:

• Resort packages: Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, World of Hyatt, Accor Reside Limitless
• Transferrable currencies: American Specific 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 optimistic for these involved about safety, however a damaging for many who need the benefit 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 data however including this data in makes it quite a bit simpler to see what your choices are with out guessing.

Methods to 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 a protracted weekend in January. By firing off a fast search with simply your dates and site, you’ll get the next:

However since this primary search brings up extra accommodations than you’ll need to wade via, 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 can even kind by distance from the middle of the vacation spot in addition to by level or money values.

Right here’s what it appears to be like 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 regarded via the outcomes to discover a lodge that you simply’re concerned with, choose it to get much more particulars. You’ll see the most effective worth, money worth, the value should you use factors as money, and buttons to see the complete award availability calendar or to set an availability alert in case your most well-liked dates aren’t at present accessible.

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

If you happen to’re versatile together with your dates and need to see the complete award availability calendar for this lodge, merely hit that black button and up it pops. It’ll spotlight the dates you’re at present looking, however you can even scroll via the complete 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 purple:

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

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

Professionals of Awayz

1. The power to go looking throughout many packages directly
The obvious professional of utilizing Awayz is the flexibility to drag up all accommodations you can e book with factors on your desired dates and site. With out this device, you’d have to go looking throughout all of the packages by which you might have factors (or might have factors should you transferred them there). That entails logging into every web site, discovering the award charts, factoring in any charges, and evaluating throughout all packages. It’s not that arduous, 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 whenever you’re new to utilizing factors for lodge stays. Awayz takes the guesswork out of this course of through the use of its personal algorithm (which is regularly up to date with the newest information) to find out the most effective worth.

3. Simple-to-use interface with useful filters
The web site could be very easy and simple to make use of, and the filters make fast work of serving to you discover accommodations that work on 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 essentially the most out of this device, you’ll must pay: both $4.99 for a 72-hour Journey Cross, or $8.33/11.99 (annual billing vs. month-to-month billing) for Premium.

Nonetheless, should 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 attempting to determine and search throughout packages.

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

2. It doesn’t robotically sync together with your loyalty packages and currencies
This is perhaps 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 straightforward to overlook to replace whenever 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 Selection usually are not at present supported, although these ought 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 whenever you’re first beginning out studying methods to get free stays. The cash-to-points comparability function is particularly key for this.

However even skilled journey hackers can get a number of worth out of the device. When you’ve got a number of factors in several currencies, you understand how time-consuming it’s to go looking throughout packages. Plus, the flexibility to set alerts might help you discover elusive stays with out having to always preserve 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, to this point, nothing comparable has existed for locating lodge stays you’ll be able to e book 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 sort of traveler you’re!

Whereas it’s a paid device, there’s a free trial accessible, and even paid variations turn into value it once they show you how to discover an incredible free keep.

And remember to use code nomadicmatt to get $10 off!