Often decline (smallish) discounts/promos when asked for personal info or if there are too many hoops to jump through (e.g., requirement to participate in surveys, etc.).

..Which brings me to about 100 unsolicited market calls for cheap travel.. I've refused all of them. ^

Once Enterprise Rental Car offered me a 10% discount on pre-paid gas. I got on my pda and went to www.gasbuddy.com to find the local price of gas and determined that I was better off not buying the pre-paid gas in the first place. Does that count?

I once turned down a raise. It was a small raise, but just enough to knock me into the next tax bracket which actually had me taking home 20 dollars a month less. I was told I was the first person in company history to actually request a lower pay rate.

You pay taxes on a non-marginal basis???

I suspect that this is more common with airline tickets. Employees told to buy a coach fare might chose a fare class that is more likely to result in an upgrade. There are many ways to play this game, such as planning to buy tickets closer to the date of travel so that the lower fare buckets are gone. But in my company, supervisors receive a quarterly report of travel expenses and it's easy to discern who is spending more than probably necessary.

As a manager of staff who travel almost 100%, I think taking discounts is definitely the way to go. It's my responsibility to keep my team within a budget and any effort on their part is appreciated. I agree with the others, though, that it's about balance. I don't expect them to stay in the "Hotel Camas" next door to the facility simply because it's 100 pesos a night.

To add clarification.. I refuse discounts if its so far out, it doesn't suit my needs.

Same here. I travel like I'm spending my own money. If I can save, I do. What did the OP lose? 84 cents and a couple of hotel points?

just to clarify, i did take the discount.

Some discounts are not really discounts, like "wild card" deals on rental cars that sneak in class creep..basically selling you a rental on a compact, calling it a midsize, and charging you slightly more than the compact price. They have just moved a compact car for more than compact value by making you think you are getting a compact price on a midsize.

Others require subscriptions, while still others are simply markup tricks.

There are different levels of savings and personal inconvenience one needs to incur in order to get them. And there is different amount of vested interest in the company bottom line. Two opposite extremes as examples. As a consultants on a one-time gig for a client, I would probably just do what is most convenient for me and would not incur any inconvenience to save money for the client. If I am a manager and need to encourage wise spending for the team, I would lead by example and be frugal in my travel spending.

just to play devil's advocate, would you be willing to forgo all airline and hotel points to save $5 for your company?

At the rate at which I travel, absolutely. And I demand as much from the rest of my team.

If you are extracting additional personal benefit out of the higher price, I would think the most ethical approach would be to pay the difference yourself out of pocket.

^^^

And to tell you the truth, I was contemplating the forces of discount versus miles, and decided a while back, that I shouldn't be worshipping a loyalty program, rather the program should meet my needs.. I haven't had trouble flying to Hawaii for 8 years in row with my family, nor, have I had trouble flying to SoCal, YVR, Florida on points.. and I've always taken a discount over miles.