Another way of thinking about it: unless your pre-tax income is well in excess of £200k, £33k per year is likely to be the vast bulk of your retail spending (and many people spend much less than that of course). The main "reward" you're getting for all that spending is a return flight to New York, for a couple, every two years (provided you pay all the taxes). Put like that, it doesn't really sound so very amazing, although it's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.