Everyone I worked with in my investment management career was a frequent long-haul traveler; I was the only one who had ever heard of FlyerTalk. In the finance world, most people get paid enough/travel enough that points scrounging is not a priority. I just looked at it as a game, mostly, until I retired in 2014 and had the time and desire to put my FT-derived expertise on MRs, ITA Matrix, etc. to productive use!