Without getting mired up in the discussion about whether Diamond is exclusive enough, it’s worth noting that your comparison between loyalty and rewards is indicative of where the industry is going. Several airlines have spun off their loyalty programs into independent rewards programs. Aeroplan from Air Canada is the most obvious example, although BA and VS are also on this general path.

Notably, AC was planning on bringing it back in house and dumping Aeroplan; it’s not obvious what the independent company’s value was without the airline. So it’s possible that specific move was more a sketchy accounting maneuver to dump the mileage liability on unsuspecting investors, or it could also mean AC found they were missing having control over the loyalty aspect of the program. In any case, just a few days ago they reached a deal to re-acquire Aeroplan. Very strange soap opera.

It’ll be fascinating to see what a largely-DL and AFKL controlled VS does during their upcoming spinoff process... could provide some clues for future thinking around SkyMiles.