“He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.” — Chinese Proverb

Rich proclaims below, “Everything is negotiable!” This made me think of another money-saving idea: be bold and ask for preferential treatment. Act like a queen and you’ll get the queen treatment. This tip comes from Pat Veretto at About.com where she offers Five Ways to Make Your Money Go Farther. My favorite:

“Don’t be afraid to ask for preferential treatment anywhere. Call your credit card company and ask that they lower your interest rate and/or waive an annual fee. Call your bank and request a no fee checking account. Ask for discounts wherever you shop: senior citizen, student, preferred customer… whatever you can come up with. The worst they can say is ‘no,’ but they may very well say ‘yes,’ and you’ll never know until you try.”

What about better treatment at hotels? The Independent Traveler gives this suggestion, “There are ways to get upgrades and preferential treatment at a hotel just for being you. Join the hotel’s membership program and get credit for each of your stays; earn upgrades, discounts and even free stays this way. You can also get these types of perks through your airline’s mileage program, so ask which hotels participate.”

This is a good segue to another topic… leverage your loyalty. Preferential customers deserve preferential treatment. Christopher Elliott at MSN Small Business gives his 5 Rules for Collecting Frequent-Flier Miles.

He writes, “Frequent travelers often lose sight of what these programs are designed to do, which is to increase the amount of money you spend with a given airline or hotel. But it’s a two-way street. You should reasonably expect a company to offer something in exchange ” something that goes beyond an airline seat or a hotel room. Delta Air Lines’ Platinum Medallion members, for example, get priority on a waiting list when the class of service they want is not available when they make their reservation. Also available: unlimited upgrades, access to international airport lounges and a special in-flight VIP number.”

“The best thing about these perks is that you don’t have to spend any miles or money to get them. They’re yours for the asking once you’ve qualified. And that’s not all. There is any number of ‘off-the-book’ concessions that a company will make to a frequent flier. I’ve heard of travelers, faced with surcharges they didn’t approve of, flashing a frequent-guest card and ” poof! ” the annoying fees disappear from the bill. Now that airlines are fighting for their lives, they’re also more likely to bend backwards for their best customers.”

Finally, rental car companies are in the same boat as airlines and hotels. It’s a competitive business and they want you as a customer. Joel Widzer at Tripso provides his 8 Tips for Great Car Rentals. All stem from belonging to a company’s preferred renter club.

He writes, “Most major car rental companies also offer preferred renter programs or clubs (one example is the Hertz #1 Club). When you belong to one of these clubs, you get preferential treatment, including automatic upgrades when those cars are available. You can join these programs at any time, even if you are a first-time renter with that company.”

“While basic-level club memberships are often free, higher-level memberships (as in the Hertz #1 Gold Club, which allows you to bypass the rental counter) generally come with a price tag. What most people don’t realize is that it is often possible to avoid the membership fee by simply writing or calling your car rental company and asking them to waive it. They will do it because the car rental industry is very competitive, and they want your business.”

Moral of the story: Ask and you shall receive. Don’t be shy.