The Finest Lodge Reward Device?

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

For many of my travels, I’ve been a hostel man via and thru. And, whereas I nonetheless keep in hostels after 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 inns 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 a number of hours a day. To save cash on inns, 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.

Nevertheless, 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 guide utilizing factors), and it may be time-consuming to flip via these digital calendars to search out the most effective deal.

That’s the place Awayz is available in.

This instrument searches throughout lodge packages that can assist 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 right way to use it to search out free lodge stays in your subsequent journey!

What’s Awayz?

Awayz is a instrument particularly for reserving inns utilizing factors. For those who’re aware of the points-and-miles reserving instrument Level.me, it’s like that, however for inns as an alternative of flights (for those who’re not aware of level.me, take a look at my evaluation to study extra).

Like different reserving instruments, you merely put in your location and dates, and out pop a ton of choices for inns you can guide with factors. It additionally reveals you a side-by-side comparability of the variety of factors wanted, alongside the money value, and provides its advice relating to which is the higher deal. This can be a massively useful function for those who 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 for those who’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 numerous lodge chains.

Listed below are among the primary 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 it’s important to do is put in your required particulars (location, dates, and so on.). It then brings up all of the out there inns you can guide with factors. You’ll be able to 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 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, except lodge deal alerts.

The Journey Move ($4.99) is actually the higher choice if you wish to strive Awayz to its full potential, because it provides you the flexibility to do 50 searches in 72 hours (the 5 searches on the free trial might be gone earlier than you understand it), in addition to 10 availability alerts.

For those who journey and seek for inns 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 offers this).

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

For those who 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’ve in every.
That is vital for a number of causes.

First, you’ll be able to then filter by your out there factors when looking. There’s no sense in citing inns you can’t guide!

Second, Awayz will take into accounts perks like free nights (a perk on many 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 use factors as money (akin to Chase Final Rewards).

Awayz presently 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 destructive 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’ll be able to search inns with out including this data however including this info in makes it quite a bit simpler to see what your choices are with out guessing.

Easy methods to Search and Guide Inns 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 placement, you’ll get the next:

However since this fundamental search brings up extra inns than you’ll need to wade via, 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 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 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 seemed via the outcomes to discover a lodge that you simply’re desirous about, choose it to get much more particulars. You’ll see the most effective worth, money value, the value for those who use factors as money, and buttons to see your complete award availability calendar or to set an availability alert in case your most popular dates aren’t presently out there.

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).

For those who’re versatile along with your dates and need 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 presently looking, however you too can scroll via 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 very best charges are highlighted in pink:

On this case, you’ll be able to see that for those who may 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 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 essential switch factors, it’s usually a really simple course of.

Professionals of Awayz

1. The flexibility to go looking throughout many packages without delay
The obvious professional of utilizing Awayz is the flexibility to tug up all inns you can guide with factors in your desired dates and placement. With out this instrument, you’d have to go looking throughout all of the packages through which you’ve factors (or may have factors for those who 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, however 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 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 regularly up to date with the most recent information) to find out the most effective worth.

3. Straightforward-to-use interface with useful filters
The web site could be very simple and straightforward to make use of, and the filters make fast work of serving to you discover inns 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 instrument
Awayz does have a restricted free trial, however if you wish to get essentially the most out of this instrument, you’ll need to pay: both $4.99 for a 72-hour Journey Move, or $8.33/11.99 (annual billing vs. month-to-month billing) for Premium.

Nevertheless, for those who’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 will get $10 off an annual subscription with the code nomadicmatt.

2. It doesn’t robotically 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, however it 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 help all of them. Wyndham and Selection are usually not presently supported, although these must be added quickly. Nevertheless, if these are your most popular 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 while you’re first beginning out studying the right way to get free stays. The cash-to-points comparability function is particularly key for this.

However even skilled journey hackers can get quite a lot of worth out of the instrument. When you’ve got quite a lot of factors in several currencies, you understand how time-consuming it’s to go looking throughout packages. Plus, the flexibility to set alerts will help you discover elusive stays with out having to continuously maintain 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 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 — vital assets it doesn’t matter what kind of traveler you’re!

Whereas it’s a paid instrument, there’s a free trial out there, and even paid variations develop into price it once they assist you discover an excellent free keep.

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