Originally Posted by
Ditto
The kind of company, which like any other company wants to be profitable, and you give them no revenue by transferring points and them using them to book awards with other airlines
Originally Posted by
svellmann
A lot of airlines' frequent flyer programs are profitable businesses and I don't think they'd be transfer partners with countless banks around the world if this was causing them to be unprofitable.
Frequent flyer programs sell miles for money to airlines (own & others), credit card companies, rental car companies and more. Those companies then reward(bribe) you with those miles to get your business. Selling ff miles is a profitable business. In some years selling ff miles is more profitable than selling seats on aircraft.