Originally Posted by
Helena Handbaskets
Joe would not benefit, as far as I can see, if you did not exploit the miles opportunity, and he does not suffer more because you do use the miles. As far as I can tell. Someone else may be able to enlighten me...
I think the main argument is the whole "total cost of doing business" bit.
For example, the very fact that a merchant accepts American Express means that I'm effectively buying 1 Starpoint (or whatever) per dollar by shopping there. If I use cash, I'm still paying for the Starpoint - I just don't receive it. Therefore, if a merchant accepts Amex, I must use Amex.
Perhaps oddball logic, but it's basically the same with all of these deals. The airline bakes the cost of a fraction of a future trip into every one of my paid trips. If I never take the future (award) trip, I've still bought parts of it over time.
Does it bother me? No. I definitely don't want to see non-EQM/RDM fares proliferate amongst the airlines I use. I definitely don't want to see merchants tacking on fees every time I use a credit card. But I can see where one might muse "What would the world without miles look like?" It's even more complicated now that the mileage programs are profit centers in and of themselves.