I travel a lot on business and one thing I always do is to sign up for any loyalty scheme that I think may be useful.  Today showed how useful this can be as I made the journey to one of my clients sites in The Netherlands.  I used my KLM gold card (soon to be platinum) to go through the fast track security lane and then to get into the lounge at Newcastle Airport.  When I picked up my hire car from Hertz at Amsterdam, I showed my Number #1 Club gold card and got a free upgrade from a Fiat Panda to a Volvo V50.  Then tonight when I checked into my hotel I showed my Flavours gold card and was upgraded to a junior suite.  Finally when I return on Thursday night, I will use my KLM gold card (soon to be platinum) to gain access to the Crown lounge at Amsterdam where I can have free food and drink.