Ask your hotel to upgrade your status

Travel tip: if you are going to be staying at the same hotel repeatedly over a period of several weeks or more, then call up the rewards department and ask them to upgrade your status.

At worst they'll say no and you'll lose a few minutes. But chances are, they'll say yes. Hotels seem to be less stingy than airlines in this department. Airlines will also do a status match, but typically only once in your life, and only to match the status you already have on another airline.

If you are going to stay in a hotel for 2 or 3 nights a week for, say, 10 weeks in a row, on some out-of-town project, then that hotel will probably give you gold or platinum status, or whatever they call it.

What does that get you? Usually some combination of: room upgrades, extra points, and free gifts.

Might as well take advantage of it.