If you’ve ever looked for ways to save on travel, you’ve probably heard about travel rewards cards. They get a lot of hype, especially from frequent travelers. You may wonder how much money you can save with them, and that’s where a real-life example can help.

I love to travel, and I’ve used several of the best travel credit cards to save me money. So far this year, my travel cards have gotten me over $8,500 in savings. Here’s a look at exactly how I’ve saved this much.

Business-class airfare for economy prices

My biggest bargain was a pair of business-class tickets for me and my wife, traveling internationally on Air France. International business-class airfare is one of my favorite ways to use travel rewards, as you can get excellent value.

The cash price of two tickets was $6,212. Luckily, two award tickets were also available. They cost 154,000 miles total, plus $525 in taxes and fees.

I have several top credit cards with transferable travel points that you can send over to airline and hotel partners. Air France’s Flying Blue program is a partner for all of them, so I was able to transfer 154,000 points and turn them into miles. I used them to book the airfare, and I was only responsible for those $525 in taxes and fees. In total, I saved $5,687.

A huge discount on a five-star hotel stay

Travel rewards cards can also come in handy for luxury hotel stays. I opened a Hilton credit card last year, and it has already paid for itself several times over. On a recent stay at a five-star hotel, I got:

• One free night through my card’s annual free night award
• Multiple additional free nights using my Hilton points
• A complimentary upgrade through my card’s automatic Diamond status
• Free daily breakfast for two, also courtesy of Diamond status
• A $200 hotel spending credit

All that added up to $2,554 in savings. Not only did my hotel card save me money, it also made my stay much more enjoyable thanks to the free upgrade I got.

Airfare and a rental car covered by spending credits

Many premium travel cards include spending credits toward certain types of purchases. For example, some cards will credit you a set amount per year toward travel booked through the card issuer’s travel portal.

I have a couple of cards with spending credits like this. To get my money’s worth, I spend enough through the card issuer’s travel portal to use all my credits. While I haven’t exhausted those spending credits yet, I have used them for a few short flights and a rental car booking, saving myself $400.

Travel cards offer incredible savings opportunities

Since I’ve been talking up travel credit cards, it’s only fair to mention a few important details:

• Most travel cards have annual fees. I get a ton of benefits through my travel cards, and the value they deliver is much more than what I pay for them. But before you open a travel card, always make sure it will save you more than it costs.
• You normally save more if you use travel rewards for expensive bookings. As you saw, most of my savings were business-class airfare and a five-star hotel stay. If you normally stick to economy and budget hotels, you can still save money with travel cards, just probably not as much.
• It takes time to learn how to use travel cards. For example, I usually spend about 30 minutes to an hour finding business-class airfare. You need to put in some time to get the most out of travel cards and their rewards.

If you’re fine with all that, travel cards can be well worth it. Mine have unlocked amazing travel experiences, and I use at least some of their benefits every time I travel. If you don’t have a travel card yet, check out the most highly rated options to see if there’s one that would work well with your lifestyle and travel plans.

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