In today's world, I don't quite understand what FF programs have to do with flyer loyalty. I don't earn any miles by flying (or less than 1% of my total mileage accrual per year)... I only fly to redeem miles - and therefore, 99% of the time I never pay airfare to fly (only taxes and fees) - except in remote areas where I cannot use any miles (mostly on internal flights in small countries like WITHIN the Cook Islands or Venezuela or Iceland or countries like that).

I make around 2-300K miles per year on 4 airlines mostly by using a combo of credit cards and bank accounts/ debit cards. For those like me, FF Programs have almost nothing to do with buying a paid ticket on their airline, but more so with cross-branding with the hundreds of thousands of other product partners.

Sure, I have no status with any program and sure, I just don't care. I never fly for business and the only thing that matters to me is taking as many flights as possible with my miles - not whether I get upgraded or such... therefore I will probably never buy a business or first mileage ticket because why would I spend 100,000 miles to go to Europe in Business/First just one time and blow my miles when for 100,000 miles I could go to Europe in Economy two times... that's how my tiny reptilian brain works... and this disregard of "status" is another disincentive for me to earn miles by flying.

I guess one can still consider FF programs loyalty programs in some way - because the promise of miles gets me to use the same credit cards and deposit money in the same bank year upon year. Eliminate the FF programs, and what do you think will happen to the credit card companies, car rental companies, banks, florists, restaurants etc. etc. which nowadays attract business solely because they give miles in return? Because the airline is not paying for the miles, the partners are. Ultimately, I end up being a "frequent flyer" when I redeem miles 5 times a year on one airline, but rarely a "fare paying" flyer.