If consumers were rational, they’d see that as awards increasingly become dynamically-priced/fare-based, there is zero reason to be putting spend on a 1x airline credit card that locks you into one points currency when a 2% cash back card provides better value with fewer restrictions. And that would be a real problem for US airlines, whose mileage sales are a better business than selling transportation.

But fortunately for them, consumers seem to be irrational. I can’t count the number of people I’ve seen blow absurd quantities of miles on cheap cash tickets, because they see it as a free ticket and that decimates any rational thought inside their heads. If they looked at a 25k coach round trip as costing $500 (because that’s how much cash they’d have on hand if they put 25k spend on a 2% card), they’d be appalled at the value the airline is offering, but instead they’re just delighted because they got a “free” ticket.