I have been frequently asking myself this question. I've collected an extraordinary number of Air Miles (close to 5 figures) mostly using my credit card. I have come to the conclusion that I should treat the Air Miles as one of those possibly-in-the-future contingent benefits, as they are so useless, and regard myself as insisting on using a credit card that does not earn miles simply because of the service benefits I get from that card.

But it still pains me every time I see an ad, or an FT thread, discussing some other UK-based mileage-earning credit card that I could use.