The goal of award programs is not to lure business travelers into a specific airline (many times they cannot do this), but to incentivize them to travel more.

The goal of award programs is not to lure business travelers into a specific airline (many times they cannot do this), but to incentivize them to travel more. The highest members of the club are business travelers who fly a lot and spend a lot of money in the airline, while the newcomers are incentivized to do the same to get the status. It is gamification of traveling.