15. READ THE JUNK MAIL FROM YOUR CREDIT CARD COMPANY
More and more credit cards are partnering with hotel brands to offer discounted cardholder-only rates at certain properties. Increasingly sophisticated tools now enable American Express, for instance, to target specific card members with rates priced well below rack. Other credit cards are offering bonus frequent-guest points. MasterCard, for example, is rewarding thousands of points to Hyatt Gold Passport members who take advantage of Hyatt's Faster Free Nights promotion. So don't delete e-mail from your credit card company without first reading it.

16. GET YOURSELF ONTO HOTELS' INTERNAL MAILING LISTS
The best high-end-hotel deals are hidden from the general public. To find them, you have to enroll in frequent-guest programs. The most loyal customers are the ones who are offered the best room rates and perks, but even if you don't travel often enough to earn elite status, it's still advantageous to sign up for hotel-loyalty programs: Not only are you put on the internal mailing lists, but you'll have membership perks almost immediately. Register with the Web sites of other hotel groups that interest you too—say, Leading Hotels of the World or Preferred Hotels and Resorts—so they'll notify you by e-mail of their special offers.

17. CONSIDER RESORTS THAT NORMALLY CATER TO CORPORATE MEETINGS
Ever since AIG racked up a bill of $443,000 at the St. Regis Monarch Beach resort, in Dana Point, California, after asking the Fed for a bailout, firms that haven't been out-and-out canceling their corporate retreats have been downgrading to less lavish hotels. Nobody is feeling the pinch from the erosion of corporate business more than luxury brands like Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton. The more a hotel in a leisure locale (as opposed to a big business city) caters to groups, the more empty rooms and the better the deals. Some good prospects, in addition to those in Hawaii: Four Seasons properties in Jackson Hole, San Diego, Scottsdale, and Whistler, and the Ritz-Carltons in Florida's Amelia Island and Naples, Cancún, Jamaica, and San Juan.

18. BOOK THROUGH THE TRAVEL AGENT WHO SENDS THE MOST CLIENTS TO THE PROPERTY OR HOTEL GROUP THAT INTERESTS YOU
Some of the best deals at high-end properties go to the travel agents who produce the most business for that hotel company. When Ritz-Carlton reduces rates at its Florida and Caribbean properties, for instance, it notifies the agents who belong to its STARS program and provides perks exclusively for their clients—say, free upgrades or $200 resort credits. Four Seasons, Orient-Express, Rosewood, and other hotel groups pass along similar benefits to their top producers. (To know which agent to use for which destination, see "128 World's Top Travel Specialists," August 2008.)

19. PHONE THE RESORT AND SPEAK TO THE RESERVATIONS MANAGER
Most chain hotels don't have an on-site reservations desk—you'll end up talking to a central reservations center—but high-end properties do, staffed by customer-friendly employees. So, after finding the lowest rate on the hotel's Web site, call its reservations desk to see if there are any special offers other than what you found online. If your schedule is flexible, ask which dates within your travel window have the lowest rates. When you get an answer, say, "If I come on those dates, would there be a chance of an upgrade?" Four Seasons resorts are notoriously loath to discount room rates, but depending on how badly they need your business, their reservations manager could give you a free upgrade, a free night's stay, a $100 resort credit, or maybe all three.