The Finest Lodge Reward Software?

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

For many of my travels, I’ve been a hostel man by 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 resorts 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 just a few hours a day. To economize on resorts, I began journey hacking. By utilizing factors and hotel-branded bank cards to get free stays, I’ve saved 1000’s and 1000’s 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 you can e book utilizing factors), and it may be time-consuming to flip by these digital calendars to search out the most effective deal.

That’s the place Awayz is available in.

This software 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 evaluation, I’ll present you what the location is all about and the best way to use it to search out free lodge stays in your subsequent journey!

 

What’s Awayz?

Awayz is a software particularly for reserving resorts utilizing factors. Should you’re conversant in the points-and-miles reserving software Level.me, it’s like that, however for resorts as a substitute of flights (in the event you’re not conversant in level.me, take a look at my evaluation to be taught extra).

Like different reserving instruments, you merely put in your location and dates, and out pop a ton of choices for resorts you can e book with factors. It additionally reveals 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. This can be a massively useful function in the event you don’t wish to spend time and vitality crunching the numbers your self.

Presently, 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 will be transferred and used at varied lodge chains.

Listed here are among the principal options that Awayz presents:

• Availability alerts
• A 12-month award availability calendar
• A map function
• A money vs. factors comparability
• The flexibility 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 must do is put in your required particulars (location, dates, and many others.). It then brings up all of the obtainable resorts you might e book with factors. You’ll be able to 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 may 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 admittedly the higher choice if you wish to attempt 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 will probably be gone earlier than you understand it), in addition to 10 availability alerts.

Should you journey and seek for resorts often, 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 provides this).

You’ll be able to see the complete breakdown of the distinction between plans right here:

Should you 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 wish to arrange the pockets and awards part. Right here, you may add your lodge loyalty packages, bank cards, and the variety of factors you’ve in every.
That is necessary for just a few causes.

First, you may then filter by your obtainable factors when looking out. There’s no sense in citing resorts you can’t e book!

Second, Awayz will consider perks like free nights (a perk on many of the greatest 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 use factors as money (reminiscent of Chase Final Rewards).

Awayz at present helps the next:

• Lodge packages: Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, World of Hyatt, Accor Dwell 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 info when including your packages. This can be a optimistic for these involved about safety, however a detrimental for individuals who need the benefit of computerized syncing of their level balances.

As a substitute, you’ll have so as to add in your present balances your self, as you may see on this instance:

You’ll be able to search resorts with out including this information however including this info in makes it loads simpler to see what your choices are with out guessing.

How you can Search and E book Accommodations with Awayz

For our pattern search, let’s say we wish to get some summer season 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 resorts than you’ll wish to wade by, the next step is to filter the outcomes.

The obtainable search filters are:

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

It’s also possible to type by distance from the middle of the vacation spot in addition to by level or money values.

Right here’s what it seems 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 info as you weigh your choices.

When you’ve filtered and regarded by the outcomes to discover a lodge that you simply’re taken with, choose it to get much more particulars. You’ll see the most effective worth, money value, the worth in the event you use factors as money, and buttons to see your complete award availability calendar or to set an availability alert in case your most well-liked dates aren’t at present obtainable.

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 Companion” field).

Should you’re versatile along with your dates and wish to see your 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 out, however you can too scroll by your 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 best charges are highlighted in purple:

On this case, you may see that in the event you may shift your lengthy weekend journey again by simply two weeks, you might save 9,000 factors.

In spite of everything that digging, let’s say you’ve determined that that is the lodge you wish 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 flexibility to go looking throughout many packages directly
The obvious professional of utilizing Awayz is the flexibility to drag up all resorts you might e book with factors in your desired dates and site. With out this software, you’d have to go looking throughout all of the packages wherein you’ve factors (or may have factors in the event 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 arduous, 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 once 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 most effective worth.

3. Simple-to-use interface with useful filters
The web site may be very easy and simple to make use of, and the filters make fast work of serving to you discover resorts that work in your wants. The flexibility to enter awards packages and present factors helps you slim your search down much more.

Cons of Awayz

1. It’s a paid software
Awayz does have a restricted free trial, however if you wish to get essentially the most out of this software, you’ll need to 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, in the event 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 will get $10 off an annual subscription with the code nomadicmatt.

2. It doesn’t routinely sync along with your loyalty packages and currencies
This is likely to be a professional to those that don’t wish to give exterior entry to their accounts, but it surely additionally provides an additional step within the course of. It’s additionally straightforward to neglect to replace once 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 help all of them. Wyndham and Selection aren’t at present 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 very 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 very helpful once you’re first beginning out studying the best way to get free stays. The cash-to-points comparability function is very key for this.

However even skilled journey hackers can get lots of worth out of the software. When you have lots of factors in numerous 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 continuously hold 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 this point, nothing comparable has existed for locating lodge stays you may 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 — necessary sources it doesn’t matter what sort of traveler you might be!

Whereas it’s a paid software, there’s a free trial obtainable, and even paid variations develop into price it after they enable you discover an important free keep.

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