The Finest Lodge Reward Device?

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

For many of my travels, I’ve been a hostel man by and thru. And, whereas I still stay in hostels after 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 dear 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 just a few hours a day. To save cash on accommodations, I began travel hacking. By utilizing factors and hotel-branded credit cards to get free stays, I’ve saved hundreds and hundreds of {dollars} in lodging over time.

Nevertheless, 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 that you would be able to e book utilizing factors), and it may be time-consuming to flip by these digital calendars to seek 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 how one can use it to seek out free lodge stays in 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 an alternative of flights (in the event 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 that you would be able to e book with factors. It additionally exhibits you a side-by-side comparability of the variety of factors wanted, alongside the money value, and provides its suggestion concerning which is the higher deal. It is a vastly useful function in the event you don’t need to spend time and power crunching the numbers your self.

At present, 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 in the event 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 numerous lodge chains.

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

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

How Awayz Works

To make use of Awayz, all you must do is put in your required particulars (location, dates, and so on.). It then brings up all of the out there accommodations you possibly can e book 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 Cross ($4.99) is absolutely 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 might be gone earlier than it), in addition to 10 availability alerts.

If you happen to journey and seek for accommodations often, 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 out, 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 may have in every.
That is essential for just a few causes.

First, you’ll be able to then filter by your out there factors when looking out. There’s no sense in citing accommodations that you would be able to’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 need to use factors as money (reminiscent of Chase Final Rewards).

Awayz presently helps the next:

• Lodge packages: Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, World of Hyatt, Accor Reside 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. It is a constructive for these involved about safety, however a damaging for individuals who need the convenience of computerized 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 so much simpler to see what your choices are with out guessing.

Search and Guide Motels 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, the next step is to filter the outcomes.

The out there search filters are:

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

It’s also possible to 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 the outcomes to discover a lodge that you just’re all for, choose it to get much more particulars. You’ll see the perfect worth, money value, the value in the event 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 presently out there.

On this case, the perfect 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 Associate” field).

If you happen to’re versatile together 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 presently looking out, however you may as well scroll by 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 best charges are highlighted in pink:

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

In any case 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 dropped at the lodge’s web site. You’re by yourself from there, however even when that you must switch factors, it’s typically a really easy course of.

Execs of Awayz

1. The flexibility to look throughout many packages directly
The obvious professional of utilizing Awayz is the power to drag up all accommodations you possibly can e book with factors in your desired dates and site. With out this device, you’d have to look throughout all of the packages during which you may have factors (or may have factors in the event 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 tough, but it surely 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 while 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 most recent information) to find out the perfect 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 in your wants. The flexibility to enter awards packages and current factors helps you slim 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 need to pay: both $4.99 for a 72-hour Journey Cross, or $8.33/11.99 (annual billing vs. month-to-month billing) for Premium.

Nevertheless, in the event you’re new to journey hacking and haven’t fairly memorized the ins and outs of every program, it’s a cut price 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 can get $10 off an annual subscription with the code nomadicmatt.

2. It doesn’t mechanically sync together with your loyalty packages and currencies
This is likely to be a professional to those that don’t need to give exterior entry to their accounts, but it surely additionally provides an additional step within the course of. It’s additionally straightforward to overlook to replace while 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 presently supported, although these must be added quickly. Nevertheless, 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 very nice for vacationers which can be 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 very helpful while you’re first beginning out studying how one can get free stays. The cash-to-points comparability function is very key for this.

However even skilled journey hackers can get quite a lot of worth out of the device. When you’ve got quite a lot of factors in numerous currencies, you know the way time-consuming it’s to look throughout packages. Plus, the power to set alerts may help you discover elusive stays with out having to continuously preserve tabs on the lodge.

Awayz is a welcome addition to the rising scene of award reserving instruments. Whereas there are a number of complete instruments for locating award flights, to date, 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 out there, and even paid variations change into price it after they show you how to discover an incredible free keep.

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