Well it’s worth mentioning that ‘rational self-interest’ is itself subjective. Some people think that opting to spend 3 days and thousands of pounds flying to Hawaii and back in return for being slightly more comfortable when they do have to fly is a worthwhile exchange. I personally consider it a form of insanity.

People do form an emotional attachment to brands through things like loyalty schemes. Whether they should or not is immaterial – it’s a well documented (and exploited) psychological phenomenon. I mentioned on another thread that I used to feel that BA appreciated my business when I walked into T5 as an economy passenger, and now I don’t. Irrational perhaps, but who isn’t?