Why are the vast majority NOT interested in free miles/points?
 

I tell all my friends about how I have accumulated millions of free miles , but none actually try it themselves. The majority just say, "that's interesting" while surely thinking I must be crazy . A few seem interested and ask lots of questions. But when I send them the reading to do to get started, they never start.

I am curious what psycho-analysis explains why 99% don't care about getting stuff for free?

Same reason why less than 3% of the population retire rich...

Lazy, stupid, and could care less...

We start school and find teachers work 70% of the year, we find a score of 70% is average, we find 45% pay no taxes. the ones that do work pay 40% of their income in taxes...

The seats up front are very few, so we should be glad very few love collecting miles.

I have the same type of friends.

I think they just dont "get it". Some people are more ambitious and driven in life, and others are not.

I think most people are interested in it, but think it's harder than it actually is. You also have to put in a fair amount of research up front.

Before you start dismissing school teachers, I think you should learn that the phrase you're looking for is "couldn't care less". Also, if the median or mean score for people taking a test is 70%, then it is by definition average... we don't "find" it anything.

Quite the opposite actually - those people spend time and energy on real useful thing (including becoming rich for that matter). I am yet to encounter anyone who got rich by doing mileage runs.

Your return from mileage running (and/or free miles points) is more travel but most people could not care less about that stuff. The end result is spending more money unless you have a good practical use of what you get in return.

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work." -- Thomas Edison

The irony is it is NOT a lot of work. If you use roboform, awardwallet, online spreadsheets, auto bill-pay, id monitoring, then the system runs itself.

That's a good point I had not thought of. Most people do not travel often. At most they might make one or two trips a year. So the reward/work ratio is too low in their estimation. By the time they get around to using the miles, they already expired!

We don't travel very often...a couple times a year for personal..and my husband a few times a year for business. Yet this year alone I have managed to earn at least $12K worth of free travel... not to mention the past 2 years where we had at least 15 nights free in Hawaii (not the flights..got those this year!!).

We tell our families and my husband tells his co-workers..but nobody ever seems to want to take the time to learn more. My husband used to give me a hard time about "which card should he use" when we were out and about! He laughs about the "surveys" I take. He even shakes his head when he looks over and sees me on Flyertalk! It is a bummer if a day goes by when I don't earn some miles/points somewhere!!

I am a stay at home mom...so this is my "contribution" to the family! If I can manage to rack up SO MUCH just by what I do...imagine what other people are leaving on the table, especially if they travel for business!!

My husband got a little "freaked" by all the different credit cards we would get then put away.... I took the time to show him our credit score was still excellent. We charge EVERYTHING and pay it off every month...no interest for us EVER....

I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want free stuff!!

…and it took no work or time to set these up and learn how to use them. You are working for less than minimum wage but just don’t realize it. I wonder who the so called stupid ones really are. ;)

There may be a few "lazy" and "stupid" cases (as opposed to ALL of us extremely "smart" and "hard working" FT'ers) but I think your last observation is more likely: Believe it or not, some people aren't fanatical about traveling and actually spend their time and effort enjoying some other activity. Hard to believe I know, but I actually KNOW several people like this! They think traveling around the world cheaply is great if that's your thing, but they've got other priorities.
Now, for those that would actually love to travel and explore the world but never get around to following some simple tips by their friendly FT'er friends, well, then they can either afford to ignore our advice or they may actually fall into one of your first 2 categories. Usually though, in my experience of trying to pass the word along to family and friends it's more a case of not being able to believe it can be this easy since everyone "knows" how applying for and having more than 1 credit card will do irreparable harm to your credit...etc. Or in other words, they are very smart and hard working and very fiscally responsible individuals (in this case, to a fault) who just haven't been able to step out of their faulty credit card biases yet.

I think you just proved my point. To most, having to do all those things is a lot of work.

There are several factors I suspect that results in the lack of interest or action.

I've noticed the following categories my friends/family are in during the past half decade that I have been doing this:
1) Those that are amazed by it and want to participate -
a) but do absolutely nothing about it because the amount of work required to research the free credit card offers and promos
b) want to do it but are unable to (bankruptcy, low income, unable to qualify for credit)
c) continually say they are going to get around to it, but never do
d) those that start the process but don't follow through (i.e. never make the spend because they forgot or didn't put priority to follow through)
e) are paranoid or lack the understanding of how the credit card promos work, and fear their credit score would be a nuclear wasteland should they attempt to (and they refuse to do actual research on the matter)

2) Those that think it is a ridiculous endeavor to get miles and points via credit cards, because they add no "tangible value", unlike a "cashback" credit card

3) Those that just completely don't understand any benefit of a promo or credit card and prefer to pay cash (or minimize using credit cards) for everything

Of all the categories I've encountered, the most frustrating are the repeat offenders 1a, 1e, and 2. They say "wow, you went on an incredible trip, you are so lucky you can do that"... and they say it more than once when they hear I went on another "amazing" trip. Yet I give them the info and it doesn't sink in.

Stop washing your time with telling those people. The fewer people sign up for the offers, the more points for us since issuers have to keep on increasing the points offered.

Originally Posted by show_me_the_points
"The irony is it is NOT a lot of work. If you use roboform, awardwallet, online spreadsheets, auto bill-pay, id monitoring, then the system runs itself."

If you actually think these efforts are resulting in working for less than minimum wage then someone is obviously not grasping the big picture here. (But I won't call you stupid.)...

Just One Recent Scenario:

Apply for 2 Capital One credit cards: 10 minutes.
Upload 2 FF mile statements: 10 minutes.
Receive and activate cards: 10 minutes.
Set up online bill payment for each card: 15 minutes.
Make two $1,000 charges: 10 minutes.
Make 2 $1,000 online payments: 3 minutes.
TOTAL TIME: 58 minutes.
RESULTING MONETARY COMPENSATION FOR TRAVEL: $2,290

SUMMARY: 58 minutes = $2,290 = slightly more than minimum wage :D

And there are often much more lucrative opportunities than this out there all the time.
So I suggest stop wondering who the stupid ones are and start widening your horizons!!