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 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 lodges can get expensive 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 economize on lodges, I began travel hacking. By utilizing factors and hotel-branded credit 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 search out resort award availability. Every resort has its personal calendar of award nights (nights which 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 device searches throughout resort packages that will help you discover the most effective 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 packages, and has the most effective options and filters.

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

 

What’s Awayz?

Awayz is a device particularly for reserving lodges utilizing factors. If you happen to’re aware of the points-and-miles reserving device Level.me, it’s like that, however for lodges as an alternative of flights (if you happen to’re not aware of 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 lodges which 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 offers its suggestion concerning which is the higher deal. This can be a massively useful characteristic if you happen to 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. With the ability to search throughout a number of resort chains is one other nice characteristic, particularly if you happen to’re making an attempt to make use of a transferable foreign money, like Amex Membership Rewards or Chase Final Rewards, which may be transferred and used at numerous resort chains.

Listed here are among the primary options that Awayz presents:

• Availability alerts
• A 12-month award availability calendar
• A map characteristic
• 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 it’s important to do is put in your required particulars (location, dates, and so forth.). It then brings up all of the out there lodges you could possibly e book 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 may 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 Cross ($4.99) is actually the higher possibility 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 will probably be gone earlier than you understand it), in addition to 10 availability alerts.

If you happen to journey and seek for lodges 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 offers 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, you’ll need to arrange the pockets and awards part. Right here, you may add your resort loyalty packages, credit cards, and the variety of factors you might have in every.
That is vital for a number of causes.

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

Second, Awayz will take into accounts perks like free nights (a perk on a lot 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 utilize factors as money (reminiscent of Chase Final Rewards).

Awayz presently helps the next:

• Resort packages: Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, World of Hyatt, Accor Stay 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 info when including your packages. This can be a constructive for these involved about safety, however a unfavorable for individuals who need the convenience 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 may see on this instance:

You possibly can search lodges with out including this information however including this info in makes it lots simpler to see what your choices are with out guessing.

The best way to Search and E-book Motels with Awayz

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

The out there search filters are:

• Resort manufacturers
• Transferable currencies and resort 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 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 info as you weigh your choices.

When you’ve filtered and appeared by the outcomes to discover a resort that you just’re occupied with, choose it to get much more particulars. You’ll see the most effective worth, money value, the worth if you happen to 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 Associate” field).

If you happen to’re versatile together with your dates and need to see your complete award availability calendar for this resort, merely hit that black button and up it pops. It’ll spotlight the dates you’re presently looking, however you may as well 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 very best charges are highlighted in purple:

On this case, you may see that if you happen to may shift your lengthy weekend journey again by simply two weeks, you could possibly save 9,000 factors.

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

Professionals of Awayz

1. The flexibility to look throughout many packages without delay
The obvious professional of utilizing Awayz is the power to drag up all lodges you could possibly e book with factors to your desired dates and placement. With out this device, you’d have to look throughout all of the packages by which you might have factors (or may have factors if you happen to 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, however it does take time.

2. Factors-to-cash comparability
This characteristic 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 resort stays. Awayz takes the guesswork out of this course of by utilizing its personal algorithm (which is regularly up to date with the newest information) to find out the most effective worth.

3. Straightforward-to-use interface with useful filters
The web site could be very simple and simple to make use of, and the filters make fast work of serving to you discover lodges that work to your wants. The flexibility to enter awards packages and current 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 probably 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.

Nevertheless, if you happen to’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 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, however it additionally provides an additional step within the course of. It’s additionally straightforward to neglect 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 should not presently supported, although these needs to 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 very 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 very helpful while you’re first beginning out studying the right way to get free stays. The cash-to-points comparability characteristic is very key for this.

However even skilled journey hackers can get numerous worth out of the device. In case you have numerous factors in several currencies, you know the way time-consuming it’s to look throughout packages. Plus, the power to set alerts might 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 number of complete instruments for locating award flights, up to now, nothing comparable has existed for locating resort 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 — vital sources it doesn’t matter what sort of traveler you might be!

Whereas it’s a paid device, there’s a free trial out there, and even paid variations grow to be value it once they aid you discover an amazing free keep.

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