The hobby is all about the money. How could it ruin it for you?
When you apply for a Citi AA Executive MC you get a currency (100K AA miles) that you then use to buy and airline ticket.
We are all collecting currency that we use in the future instead of money. We are all searching for the deal that will allow us to travel for less money out of our pockets.
We are all in it for the money, be it the money we save, the money we earn or Both