I have the privilege of working with clients who are multiple six figure and seven figure earners. Last night, I had the chance to hang out with one of my favorite clients. He and I have worked together since 2009 and I’ve seen how his business has grown in that time.

He was bringing me up to speed on his business and travels. He shared that one of his employees has joined him at two workshops he’s attended. He pays for his employee’s hotel, meals and tuition to the workshop.

He said something that stood out…

He doesn’t pay for his employee’s flight. I was puzzled – that is until he shared that he flies with one airline exclusively. Because he has racked up a lot of miles with this one airline, he now gets a companion pass. With this companion pass, he can fly one person for free as long as he’s paid for his own trip.

You get perks when you’re loyal…

When you’re driven by price, you miss out on the bonuses that come with being loyal to one brand. I learned this the hard way. Very early in my business, I’d choose the cheapest flight and book the cheapest hotel. Sometimes, I’d fly to my destination on one airline, then return home on a different airline. All because I was price driven.

Now, I stick with 3 airline carriers and one hotel chain. I swipe my loyalty card every time I book with them. I’m racking up my points so I can use them for future travel.

The high cost of low prices…

When you’re always hunting for the deal, you waste precious time. Instead of using that time to earn money (such as making calls to clients, speaking to event hosts to find speaking opportunities or hosting a teleclass to drum up sales), you spend hours on the Internet visiting websites looking for the deal of the century.

Also, by booking your travel or hotel through a third party website, you incur additional fees should you need to cancel or change your booking. Once, I had to fly home early due to a change in my travel plans. I called the airline to modify my booking. They told me that I had to call the company where I initially booked my flight.

The company required that I pay the difference between what I paid for the flight and the cost of the flight right now. Okay, that’s typical. However…

• They also wanted me to pay a $150 change fee (which was much higher than the airline’s change fee of $75)
• Plus pay an additional $150 because I changed my booking less than 14-days prior to travel (this is the company’s – not the airline’s – unique policy)

Had I booked directly with the airline, I would not have had to pay the additional $300.

Finally, when you stay loyal to a particular airline and hotel group, your loyalty points can be used in the future, not just for business travel, but also vacation. Imagine being able to go anywhere you want in the world due to the points you’ve earned.

Instead of having to choose 1 or 2 places because it’s an all-inclusive deal, you can stretch and visit more exotic locations knowing that your airfare and hotel are free. Now that’s a wonderful reward for working hard and staying loyal to one brand.

Millionaires are millionaires because they get a lot of stuff for free. For some, it’s because of who they know. For others, it’s because they remain loyal. You can choose to envy the rich or you can play like them. The choice is yours.