"Ask and You Shall Receive. Joel Widzer, consultant and author of The Penny Pincher's Passport to Luxury Travel: The Art of Cultivating Preferred Customer Status has seen quite a few perks in his years in transit. But one of his favorites was given just for the asking. Mr. Widzer was underwhelmed when the bellman showed him his room at the Ritz Carlton Kapalua, in Maui. 'I tipped him $40 and asked if there was anything he could do for me,' says Mr. Widzer. 'He upgraded me to a two-room oceanfront suite,' he says. Who knew bellmen had such pull?"

Savvy Business Travelers Receive Extraordinary Hotel, Airline Perks
from Business Fare (Wall Street Journal)

"Don't bother asking how to join. If you qualify, they'll let you know." - Joel Widzer, airfare expert, about the new super-elite programs that airlines reserve for their best frequent fliers.

If You Have To Ask, You're Not Wanted
from The Denver Post

"Super-elites are the Skull and Bones of the sky," said the frequent-flier expert Joel Widzer, referring to the blue-blood secret society at Yale. "Don't bother asking how to join. If you qualify, they'll let you know."

A Flier Status Elite Enough To Eclipse Mere Platinumrom
from The New York Times
May 10, 2005

"The best time to ask for an upgrade is in the early afternoon on the day you arrive--typically before business travelers check in and snap them up."

Luxury Upgrades
from Kiplinger's Personal Finance
March 2005