Originally Posted by BigChair
WOW! Thanks for all the thoughtful replies.
As for as the moral issues, I find little difference in my “scenario” and the seemingly “approved” practice of opening a new CC account, making a single purchase and then closing the account to reap the miles. Or likewise the “approved” practice of doing balance transfers at zero interest for the sole purpose of gaining miles AND drawing interest on the transferred balance.
People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, right?
For me, there is a significant difference is these situations. The retailer is trying to do right by the customer, so it might have a lenient return policy to give you the benefit of the doubt. In its efforts to keep you happy it might fail to properly match up the charging card with the one to which it will credit. That oversight might end up costing the retailer some money.
The cc companies, however, are essentially saying "try this card out and we'll give you a bonus". They know full well that many will just take the miles, pay the annual fee and close the account. They're just hoping that enough people who keep the account going will more than offset those who close it early. Also, keep in mind that the annual fee you pay probably comes pretty close to the cc company's cost of the miles.
So, the difference is one business is fully aware of what you might do with respect to miles, but it rolls the dice. The other has no idea what you're doing with respect to miles, but it's trying to keep you happy. Personally, I think it's abusive (morally, not legally) to take advantage of the retailer here.