I always follow these moral-ethical debates with interest, as FT seems to be a laboratory for how people make decisions in the bigger world. Also, as a criminologist I’m fascinated with how people rationalize decision making.

I think that it’s important to let people know where I’m coming from before giving an opinion: As I own a business, I buy stuff I would use anyway and get miles/points. So, it seems disingenuous of me to criticize someone for, say, buying magazines and selling them on Ebay. My buying and using magazines and Kelloggs and taking (a legitimate) business expense appears to me to be on no higher moral ground then buying and selling the same products; and certainly not higher ethically than giving stuff to charity.

Yet, I’m uncomfortable with the “everyone must decide for themselves” route. As has been pointed out, everyone benefits when everyone plays by the “rules”. Over-exploitation, like over-fishing, leaves everyone worse off.

Some things are plain wrong. Buying and then canceling purchases after the miles have posted cannot be defended.

I believe that we need to recognize (with our buying habits) that Gold Points, etc. are in business to make money. If one takes advantage of a loss leader promotion, it seems good manners to consider becoming a customer. I try to use Goldpoints as a portal, even when the return isn’t epic. Perhaps scoring big off Goldpoints means one should consider Radisson as a possible hotel option. And although Latinpass’s customer service blew, I will use them whenever possible, all other things more of less equal.

It’s hard to say where smart consumer-ship ends and exploitation of an offer starts. But, in general, it’s impolite to make a meal out of what should be a snack. Getting to a party early and eating all the bacon wrapped shrimp before the other guests arrive isn’t illegal, but it is boorish and will lessen future invite opportunities. So maybe it's boorish to buy a huge amount solely for points/miles, though how to define huge is hard to say.

We all know in our hearts that the people who put together the Valuemags promotion never expected that a smallish bunch of people would buy well over a million dollars in magazines simply for the points. That Goldpoints could have or should have known does not seem to be good enough reason to get ticked off at them for not posting “what is owed” immediately. It does not seem unreasonable for them to take two months to deal with the onslaught (and the losses) and then post the points.