3 ms·

Spoiler alert, it’s basically a scam

by Aboutplants 7mo ago

TrickyRick 7mo ago
It most definitely isn't, but it takes significantly more effort than the bloggers want to make it seem like.
- burnto 7mo ago
  Yes it’s not technically a scam because it’s legal. But it has scam smells: layering, misdirection, lock-in, very fine print, gamification, adjacent complex social media apparatuses. I’d place it near MLMs, loot boxes, timeshares, robux, liquidity mining.
  - borski 7mo ago
    It’s not nearly as complicated as you make it out to be, and the literal point of what I posted is to try and simplify it. An MLM or timeshare it is not. Yes, it has gotten harder than it was a decade ago. But it is far from a “scam”
  - powvans 7mo ago
    Yeah, flying my family of 5 to Hawaii using skymiles accrued on my Amex. Totally a scam. They’re basically interchangeable with cash. I don’t get the issue. The main frustration I have is that I cant buy myself a ticket with cash and then pay skymiles for my child. If they weren’t of an age that they must be on the same reservation it wouldn’t matter. Feels more like a limitation of Delta’s abacus that sits behind their mobile app.
nilram 7mo ago
Agreed. Anyone interested should check out a report out of Vanderbilt, "The Loyalty Trap: How Loyalty Programs Hook Us with Deals, Hack our Brains, and Hike Our Prices." https://consumerlaw.berkeley.edu/news/price-loyalty-how-rewards-programs-trap-consumers-and-how-states-can-take-action-protect-them https://consumerlaw.berkeley.edu/news/price-loyalty-how-rewa... https://cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-URL/wp-content/uploads/sites/412/2025/10/17195957/The-Loyalty-Trap.pdf https://cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-URL/wp-content/uploads/sites/4... Small counterpoint: Working in a spot where I had visibility to various loyalty programs, several of them definitely rewarded loyalty. Big spenders would get better conversion rates than the regular consumer.
- borski 7mo ago
  The difference here is that I’m already earning points. I’m not doing anything new to earn them; I mostly remember “restaurants on this card, online shopping on that one” and apps like CardPointers can assist if needed. But this isn’t about selecting new loyalty programs or even being loyal; this is focused on more transferable credit card points, and airline miles you’re already earning. It’s about using them at maximum benefit, not earning them maximally.

Spoiler alert, it’s basically a scam

TrickyRick 7mo ago

It most definitely isn't, but it takes significantly more effort than the bloggers want to make it seem like.

burnto 7mo ago
Yes it’s not technically a scam because it’s legal. But it has scam smells: layering, misdirection, lock-in, very fine print, gamification, adjacent complex social media apparatuses. I’d place it near MLMs, loot boxes, timeshares, robux, liquidity mining.
- borski 7mo ago
  It’s not nearly as complicated as you make it out to be, and the literal point of what I posted is to try and simplify it. An MLM or timeshare it is not. Yes, it has gotten harder than it was a decade ago. But it is far from a “scam”
- powvans 7mo ago
  Yeah, flying my family of 5 to Hawaii using skymiles accrued on my Amex. Totally a scam. They’re basically interchangeable with cash. I don’t get the issue. The main frustration I have is that I cant buy myself a ticket with cash and then pay skymiles for my child. If they weren’t of an age that they must be on the same reservation it wouldn’t matter. Feels more like a limitation of Delta’s abacus that sits behind their mobile app.

nilram 7mo ago

Agreed. Anyone interested should check out a report out of Vanderbilt, "The Loyalty Trap: How Loyalty Programs Hook Us with Deals, Hack our Brains, and Hike Our Prices." https://consumerlaw.berkeley.edu/news/price-loyalty-how-rewards-programs-trap-consumers-and-how-states-can-take-action-protect-them https://consumerlaw.berkeley.edu/news/price-loyalty-how-rewa... https://cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-URL/wp-content/uploads/sites/412/2025/10/17195957/The-Loyalty-Trap.pdf https://cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-URL/wp-content/uploads/sites/4... Small counterpoint: Working in a spot where I had visibility to various loyalty programs, several of them definitely rewarded loyalty. Big spenders would get better conversion rates than the regular consumer.

borski 7mo ago
The difference here is that I’m already earning points. I’m not doing anything new to earn them; I mostly remember “restaurants on this card, online shopping on that one” and apps like CardPointers can assist if needed. But this isn’t about selecting new loyalty programs or even being loyal; this is focused on more transferable credit card points, and airline miles you’re already earning. It’s about using them at maximum benefit, not earning them maximally.