The Best Hotel Reward Tool?

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

For maximum of my travels, I’ve been a hostel man via and thru. And, whilst I nonetheless keep in hostels once I go back and forth, since I run a industry from the street, I steadily want a little bit extra privateness and quiet than what a hostel may give.

But motels can get dear and I’m nonetheless an inexpensive backpacker at center. I hate spending cash on a room I’m best going to be in for a couple of hours an afternoon. To lower your expenses on motels, I began go back and forth hacking. By the usage of features and hotel-branded credit playing cards to get unfastened remains, I’ve stored millions of greenbacks in lodging through the years.

However, it may be a little bit of a ache to search out lodge award availability. Each lodge has its personal calendar of award nights (nights that you’ll e-book the usage of features), and it may be time-consuming to turn via those digital calendars to search out the most efficient deal.

That’s the place Awayz is available in.

This software searches throughout lodge methods that can assist you in finding the most efficient position to make use of in your hard earned features in your subsequent lodge keep.

Until now, there’s been not anything this complete for locating lodge award nights, so I’m tremendous excited that it after all exists. Out of the opposite (few) lodge award gear available in the market, it’s probably the most user-friendly, searches throughout probably the most lodge methods, and has the most efficient options and filters.

In this evaluation, I’ll display you what the web page is all about and methods to use it to search out unfastened lodge remains to your subsequent travel!

What is Awayz?

Awayz is a device particularly for reserving motels the usage of features. If you’re aware of the points-and-miles reserving software Point.me, it’s like that, however for motels as a substitute of flights (should you’re no longer aware of level.me, take a look at my evaluation to be informed extra).

Like different reserving gear, you merely put to your location and dates, and out pop a ton of choices for motels that you’ll e-book with features. It additionally displays you a side-by-side comparability of the selection of features wanted, along the money worth, and provides its advice referring to which is the simpler deal. This is a vastly useful characteristic should you don’t wish to spend time and effort crunching the numbers your self.

Currently, Awayz helps Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, IHG, and Accor, with Wyndham and Choice to be added quickly. Being ready to go looking throughout a couple of lodge chains is any other nice characteristic, particularly should you’re attempting to make use of a transferable forex, like Amex Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards, which may also be transferred and used at quite a lot of lodge chains.

Here are one of the crucial primary options that Awayz provides:

• Availability indicators
• A 12-month award availability calendar
• A map characteristic
• A coins vs. features comparability
• The skill to enter your current features methods to tailor the consequences
• Free-night award availability is highlighted

How Awayz Works

To use Awayz, all you must do is put to your desired main points (location, dates, and so forth.). It then brings up all of the to be had motels that you must e-book with features. You can then filter out your effects till you discover a lodge that works right for you.

Awayz operates on a subscription fashion. There is a unfastened trial, despite the fact that, so you’ll test it out sooner than signing up. With the unfastened trial, you’ll get 5 searches and 5 lodge availability indicators, in addition to get right of entry to to all of Awayz’s options, aside from lodge deal indicators.

The Trip Pass ($4.99) is actually the simpler possibility if you need to check out Awayz to its complete attainable, because it will provide you with the facility to do 50 searches in 72 hours (the 5 searches at the unfastened trial might be long past sooner than you comprehend it), in addition to 10 availability indicators.

If you go back and forth and seek for motels ceaselessly, you’ll need the top rate subscription ($8.33/month when paid once a year, or $11.99 when paid per 30 days). This tier will provide you with 250 per 30 days searches, 10 availability indicators, and lodge deal indicators (the one tier that provides this).

You can see the whole breakdown of the variation between plans right here:

If you join an annual plan the usage of the code nomadicmatt, you’ll get $10 off the annual Premium plan.

Setting Up Your Awayz Wallet

Before you get started looking, you’ll wish to arrange the pockets and awards phase. Here, you’ll upload your lodge loyalty methods, credit playing cards, and the selection of features you’ve got in each and every.
This is necessary for a couple of causes.

First, you’ll then filter out via your to be had features when looking. There’s no sense in mentioning motels that you’ll’t e-book!

Second, Awayz will take into accounts perks like unfastened nights (a perk on lots of the perfect lodge credit playing cards), financial institution switch bonus promotions (e.g, get 30% extra features when shifting Membership Rewards to Hilton Honors), or currencies the place you’ll use features as coins (equivalent to Chase Ultimate Rewards).

Awayz these days helps the next:

• Hotel methods: Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, World of Hyatt, Accor Live Limitless
• Transferrable currencies: American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Citi ThankYou features, and Altitude Reserve features

You don’t have so as to add any figuring out information when including your methods. This is a good for the ones curious about safety, however a adverse for many who need the benefit of computerized syncing in their level balances.

Instead, you’ll have so as to add to your present balances your self, as you’ll see on this instance:

You can seek motels with out including this data however including this information in makes it so much more straightforward to look what your choices are with out guessing.

How to Search and Book Hotels with Awayz

For our pattern seek, let’s say we wish to get some summer time solar via going to Miami for a protracted weekend in January. By firing off a snappy seek with simply your dates and site, you’ll get the next:

But since this fundamental seek brings up extra motels than you’ll wish to buckle down and do, the next step is to filter out the consequences.

The to be had seek filters are:

• Hotel manufacturers
• Transferable currencies and lodge loyalty methods
• Free-night certificates availability
• Your current features (the numbers you enter on the pockets and awards phase)

You too can kind via distance from the middle of the vacation spot in addition to via level or coins values.

Here’s what it seems like (grayed-out methods are ones you haven’t entered level values for):

When it brings up the hunt effects, Awayz makes use of its personal set of rules to additionally spotlight whether or not it thinks the usage of features or coins is a greater price, which is tremendous helpful information as you weigh your choices.

Once you’ve filtered and seemed throughout the effects to discover a lodge that you simply’re fascinated by, make a selection it to get much more main points. You’ll see the most efficient price, coins worth, the fee should you use features as coins, and buttons to look all of the award availability calendar or to set an availability alert in case your most well-liked dates aren’t these days to be had.

In this situation, the most efficient deal is the usage of Hyatt Rewards features, which you’ll switch from Bilt or Chase (as indicated within the backside right-hand “Transfer Partner” field).

If you’re versatile along with your dates and wish to see all of the award availability calendar for this lodge, merely hit that black button and up it pops. It’ll spotlight the dates you’re these days looking, however you’ll additionally scroll via all of the 12-month calendar to look if there are higher offers available in the market. The lowest charges (in each coins and features) are highlighted in inexperienced, whilst the very best charges are highlighted in crimson:

In this situation, you’ll see that if that you must shift your lengthy weekend travel again via simply two weeks, that you must save 9,000 features.

After all that digging, let’s say you’ve made up our minds that that is the lodge you need to e-book. Hit “book now,” and also you’ll be delivered to the lodge’s web page. You’re by yourself from there, however even though you wish to have to switch features, it’s most often an overly easy procedure.

Pros of Awayz

1. The skill to go looking throughout many methods without delay
The most evident professional of the usage of Awayz is the facility to drag up all motels that you must e-book with features to your desired dates and site. Without this software, you’d have to go looking throughout all of the methods during which you’ve got features (or can have features should you transferred them there). That comes to logging into each and every web page, discovering the award charts, factoring in any charges, and evaluating throughout all methods. It’s no longer that arduous, but it surely does take time.

2. Points-to-cash comparability
This characteristic is any other primary get advantages to the usage of Awayz. Again, evaluating coins and level values is a time-consuming procedure, particularly while you’re new to the usage of features for lodge remains. Awayz takes the guesswork out of this procedure via the usage of its personal set of rules (which is consistently up to date with the most recent knowledge) to decide the most efficient price.

3. Easy-to-use interface with useful filters
The web page could be very easy and simple to make use of, and the filters make fast paintings of serving to you in finding motels that paintings to your wishes. The skill to enter awards methods and current features is helping you slim your seek down much more.

Cons of Awayz

1. It’s a paid software
Awayz does have a restricted unfastened trial, however if you wish to get probably the most out of this software, you’ll need to pay: both $4.99 for a 72-hour Trip Pass, or $8.33/11.99 (annual billing vs. per 30 days billing) for Premium.

However, should you’re new to go back and forth hacking and haven’t relatively memorized the fine details of each and every program, it’s a cut price while you believe the possible financial savings in no longer best cash however the time you’d spend attempting to determine and seek throughout methods.

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

2. It doesn’t routinely sync along with your loyalty methods and currencies
This may well be a professional to people who don’t wish to give exterior get right of entry to to their accounts, but it surely additionally provides an additional step within the procedure. It’s additionally simple to fail to remember to replace while you do use your features.

3. Not all manufacturers are supported (but)
While Awayz helps many primary chains — Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton, IHG, and Accor — it does no longer but reinforce all of them. Wyndham and Choice don’t seem to be these days supported, despite the fact that those will have to be added quickly. However, if those are your most well-liked manufacturers, you could no longer in finding Awayz to be helpful to you simply but.

Who is Awayz for?

Awayz is particularly nice for vacationers which might be more moderen to redeeming features for award nights. Using Awayz saves you time (and cash) within the lodge award seek and reserving procedure, which is particularly helpful while you’re first beginning out studying methods to get unfastened remains. The cash-to-points comparability characteristic is particularly key for this.

But even skilled go back and forth hackers can get numerous price out of the software. If you’ve got numerous features in several currencies, you know the way time-consuming it’s to go looking throughout methods. Plus, the facility to set indicators assist you to in finding elusive remains with no need to repeatedly stay tabs at the lodge.

Awayz is a great addition to the rising scene of award reserving gear. While there are a selection of complete gear for locating award flights, to this point, not anything similar has existed for locating lodge remains you’ll e-book with features. With a rising suite of filters and lines, in addition to side-by-side comparability of features vs. coins pricing, Awayz is helping you save each money and time — necessary sources it doesn’t matter what form of traveler you might be!

While this is a paid software, there’s a unfastened trial to be had, or even paid variations turn into value it after they allow you to in finding a perfect unfastened keep.

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