the problem with this discussion is there are too many unknowns. Maybe no one is losing. Maybe chase/amex/etc paid all of $1 for the miles that we are paying $3.95 for, so maybe theres a $2.95 profit that is distributed amongst all entities. Maybe it all evens out for everyone.... Without knowing how much credit card companies actually pay for the miles that they give us, theres no way to determine who is losing, or if anyone is losing. Maybe the airlines are the ones that are losing since they sell at a bulk discount to the credit card companies and we in return redeem those points at a much higher value than they sell at, but in the end you have to remember that we are not the only ones with miles earning cards and milers are only a small percentage of the people who use credit cards, so what they lose off us they may gain off of other people.