But if they are part of a downward spiral, as you said, maybe the proper choice in the game is not to play with the "best" in a sorry group of players. If I can accrue miles more easily with a credit card (or just paying cash and flying someone else) than sitting in a tube, and the airline is incentivizing me to do that as opposed to buying cheap fares, I can abstract the mileage acquisition or elite benefits from the actual flying I need to do. Loyalty is for chumps when the airlines keep taking away benefits and watering down programs, at a time where they are making better profits than ever. I'm loyal to my wallet, just like AAG is.