This is actually a huge part of a modern airline's business. There's an interesting Wendover video[1] that argues the airline operations of the legacy carriers

This is actually a huge part of a modern airline's business. There's an interesting Wendover video[1] that argues the airline operations of the legacy carriers is just a loss-leader for their financial functions like credit cards, points partners, etc. United (my home airline) recently adjusted their frequent flier system to basically stop anyone without a credit card or tons of business travel from getting status. Looks like Southwest wanted a piece of that pie. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggUduBmvQ_4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggUduBmvQ_4