Major commercial airlines routinely make more operating profit from selling frequent flyer miles to massive credit card companies than they do from actually flying passengers around the globe.

A closer look

Major commercial airlines routinely make more operating profit from selling frequent flyer miles to massive credit card companies than they do from actually flying passengers around the globe. Delta and American Airlines are essentially just unregulated banks that happen to own a depreciating fleet of giant metal tubes. They mint their own digital currency out of thin air, sell it at a premium to financial institutions, and then constantly devalue those points right before you try to book a vacation. It turns out that cramming angry humans into tiny middle seats while charging them for tap water is a terrible business model compared to running a legally sanctioned loyalty points casino