The Finest Resort 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 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 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 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 over time.

Nevertheless, it may be a little bit of a ache to seek out resort award availability. Every resort has its personal calendar of award nights (nights that you would be able to guide utilizing factors), and it may be time-consuming to flip by these digital calendars to seek out the very best deal.

That’s the place Awayz is available in.

This software searches throughout resort applications that will help you discover the very best place to make use of to your hard-earned factors in your subsequent resort keep.

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

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

What’s Awayz?

Awayz is a software particularly for reserving inns utilizing factors. For those who’re conversant in the points-and-miles reserving software Level.me, it’s like that, however for inns as an alternative of flights (should you’re not conversant in level.me, try my evaluate to be taught extra).

Like different reserving instruments, you merely put in your location and dates, and out pop a ton of choices for inns that you would be able to guide with factors. It additionally reveals you a side-by-side comparability of the variety of factors wanted, alongside the money worth, and provides its advice relating to which is the higher deal. It is a massively useful function should you don’t need 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. With the ability to search throughout a number of resort 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 could be transferred and used at varied resort chains.

Listed below are a few of the essential options that Awayz provides:

• Availability alerts
• A 12-month award availability calendar
• A map function
• A money vs. factors comparability
• The flexibility to enter your present factors applications 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 obtainable inns you might guide with factors. You possibly can then filter your outcomes till you discover a resort that works greatest for you.

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

The Journey Move ($4.99) is basically the higher choice if you wish to attempt Awayz to its full potential, because it offers you the power to do 50 searches in 72 hours (the 5 searches on the free trial can be gone earlier than you already know it), in addition to 10 availability alerts.

For those who journey and seek for inns usually, 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 resort deal alerts (the one tier that provides this).

You possibly can 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 possibly can add your resort loyalty applications, bank cards, and the variety of factors you’ve gotten in every.
That is vital for just a few causes.

First, you possibly can then filter by your obtainable factors when looking. There’s no sense in citing inns that you would be able to’t guide!

Second, Awayz will consider perks like free nights (a perk on many of the greatest resort 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 (resembling Chase Final Rewards).

Awayz at the moment helps the next:

• Resort applications: 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 info when including your applications. It is a constructive for these involved about safety, however a destructive for many who need the benefit of automated syncing of their level balances.

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

You possibly can search inns with out including this data however including this info in makes it rather a lot simpler to see what your choices are with out guessing.

The right way 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 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 primary search brings up extra inns than you’ll need to wade by, the next move is to filter the outcomes.

The obtainable search filters are:

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

You too can 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 applications 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 resort that you simply’re excited by, choose it to get much more particulars. You’ll see the very best worth, money worth, the worth should you use factors as money, and buttons to see all the award availability calendar or to set an availability alert in case your most well-liked dates aren’t at the moment obtainable.

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

For those who’re versatile together with your dates and need to see all the award availability calendar for this resort, merely hit that black button and up it pops. It’ll spotlight the dates you’re at the moment looking, however you can too scroll by all the 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 crimson:

On this case, you possibly can see that should 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 resort you need to guide. Hit “guide now,” and also you’ll be delivered to the resort’s web site. You’re by yourself from there, however even when it is advisable switch factors, it’s usually a really easy course of.

Execs of Awayz

1. The flexibility to go looking throughout many applications directly
The obvious professional of utilizing Awayz is the power to drag up all inns you might guide with factors on your desired dates and site. With out this software, you’d have to go looking throughout all of the applications by which you’ve gotten 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 applications. 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 if you’re new to utilizing factors for resort stays. Awayz takes the guesswork out of this course of through the use of its personal algorithm (which is frequently up to date with the most recent knowledge) to find out the very best worth.

3. Simple-to-use interface with useful filters
The web site could be very easy and straightforward to make use of, and the filters make fast work of serving to you discover inns that work on your wants. The flexibility to enter awards applications and present factors helps you slender 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 probably the most out of this software, you’ll should 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, 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 applications.

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

2. It doesn’t routinely sync together with your loyalty applications and currencies
This is perhaps 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 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 Selection aren’t at the moment 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 particularly nice for vacationers which might be newer to redeeming factors for award nights. Utilizing Awayz saves you time (and cash) within the resort award search and reserving course of, which is particularly helpful if you’re first beginning out studying get free stays. The cash-to-points comparability function is particularly key for this.

However even skilled journey hackers can get a variety of worth out of the software. If in case you have a variety of factors in numerous currencies, you know the way time-consuming it’s to go looking throughout applications. Plus, the power to set alerts may help you discover elusive stays with out having to continuously hold tabs on the resort.

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 resort stays you possibly can 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 sort of traveler you’re!

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

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