5 Ways My Hotel Card Saved Me Money on a Vacation

My wife and I live in the south of France, and this summer, we decided to take a beach vacation. We wanted this to be a special trip, so we were looking for a five-star hotel right on the beach.

Since it's the peak season, that would normally be expensive. Room rates were over $500 per night. And any time you're staying at a nice hotel, everything else is expensive, too, like breakfast and amenities.

But I had a secret weapon: a travel rewards card with the hotel chain we wanted to visit. Thanks to its benefits, we saved over $2,500. Here are all the ways it helped us save on our vacation.

1. A free night award

Many hotel credit cards with annual fees offer a yearly free night award. If you know you'll stay with the hotel chain every year, this can be an amazing deal. The money you save with a free night award is often much more than your card's annual fee, especially if you use the award at a high-end hotel.

That was my strategy. I'd been saving my free night award for this type of occasion. Keep in mind that there are generally restrictions on where you can use a free night award. These restrictions depend on the hotel card you have -- cards with higher annual fees tend to have free night awards that can be used at more expensive hotels.

2. Free nights paid for with points

Every hotel card earns points in the hotel's loyalty program. When you have one, you can earn points on all your purchases with your hotel card. These cards also usually have big sign-up bonuses, with many offering more than 100,000 bonus points for new cardholders.

You can then redeem your points to pay for hotel stays instead of paying in cash. And if you don't have quite enough points, the hotel may let you buy points to make up the difference. I had to buy some points to make it work, but I still ended up saving about $1,200 by booking my stay with points.

3. Free breakfast

Breakfast usually isn't cheap at five-star hotels, but it's a much better quality meal. You can typically order what you want, as it's not a buffet-style breakfast. At many hotels, you can also order breakfast to your room instead of needing to get ready and make your way to the restaurant.

My hotel card gets me complimentary elite status, another common perk among hotel cards. Normally, the higher the annual fee, the better the status you get. One of the perks of elite status is that my wife and I got free breakfast every day of our four-night stay. That saved us over $300.

4. A complimentary upgrade

Elite status is good for more than just free breakfast. For guests in higher status tiers, hotels offer a long list of perks, including complimentary upgrades when available.

Since I've had elite status, I've usually gotten upgraded, even during the peak season. My luck continued on this trip. I booked a standard room, and the hotel upgraded me to a larger room with a balcony and a hot tub. The standard room would've been fine, but the upgrade definitely improved the experience.

5. A spending credit for purchases at the hotel

Hotel cards with high annual fees typically have spending credits that can help you get some of that money back. Mine included a spending credit for resort properties, and the hotel where my wife and I stayed qualified. Shortly after I got home, I saw a credit for $200 toward charges made at the hotel.

Many people aren't sure if credit cards with annual fees are worth it. That depends on your lifestyle and financial needs, but they certainly can be if you're able to take advantage of the benefits. I saved thousands of dollars on a single trip because of my hotel card. If you're looking for a way to save money on your hotel stays, look into card options with any hotel chains you like.