Originally Posted by Dirty_Idea

Interesting. As I mentioned earlier, loyalty programs are an investment. Extra capacity, lounge space, overheads, etc. I think few countries embrace the whole coupons on everything approach that the US does, so that might be why the points cards didn't work as well. But given we have flybuys and all, that might not be entirely the reason. Australia will also often prefer the local version of things. So while racking up Qantas points seems reasonable, doing so with Emirates might seem less so. But I can't help but feel that somehow the rewards availability also contributes. Perhaps the status aspects of the program appeal, but miles don't for that reason. But yeah, I noticed the Emirates Citi card had gone. I used to use that to book my Emirates flights. Having the card was a good reason to use Emirates and vice versa. Given that I now cannot actually use any miles I earned that would indeed seem like a poor value proposition.