For our first month, the sum total of airline and lodging expenses if we had paid cash would have been $40,728. But by using points and miles our out-of-pocket expenses were only $837.

For our second month, the sum total of airline and lodging expenses if we had paid cash would have been $13,259. But by using points and miles our out-of-pocket expenses were only $2,937.

For our third month, the sum total of airline and lodging expenses if we had paid cash would have been $4,106. But by using points and miles our out-of-pocket expenses were only $1,136.

Full details in the Africa trip section.