Originally Posted by
jinglish
"The cost of the miles is baked into the ticket price" is true only in the very general sense that mileage redemption costs come out of airline revenues; there's no fixed mileage value either in earning or redemption. It's a nebulous rebate program.
Not to mention that airlines
make money on the programs overall. The cost of the miles (in terms of what revenue AS is forgoing) is being subsidized by BofA writing checks and handing out miles.