Shareholder, just curious, on that trip to NYC, had you not had the miles, would you have driven to NYC?

My point is either way the result to AC is the same: you didn't have the money to buy the tickets. AC did not lose revenue to points.

I think this happens 99.9% of the time. If (and it is a big "if") points are used for business travel, it is a result of "use the points, or don't go at all". AC actually benefits in this kind of scenario, as points liability is reduced.