The Surprising History of Points and Miles
#274: Chris walks through the complete history of points and miles and breaks down the $140 billion machine behind them, so you can get more out of every point you earn. He covers the legal accidents that made credit cards wildly profitable, why loyalty programs are worth more than the airlines, the psychology behind why you keep hoarding points, and more.
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Resources Mentioned
Movie: The Man From The Diners Club
Book: Mileage Maniac by Steve Belkin
Video: How Airlines Quietly Became Banks
Articles
Credit-card cash reshapes US airline loyalty — and profit by Reuters
Interview with Matty Simmons by The Saturday Evening Post
Who Pays For Your Rewards? Redistribution in the Credit Card Market by Agarwal, Presbitero, Silva, and Wix
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Full Show Notes
(00:00) Introduction
(00:53) The Very Beginning of Points & Miles
(04:07) How Credit Cards Came to Exist
(08:24) The Legal Accident that Made Credit Cards Profitable
(15:50) The History of Rewards
(19:06) The Story of Air Pass
(23:20) The First Airline Co-branded Credit Cards
(25:21) How the Credit Card System Works Between Different Banks
(29:38) How the Airline Rewards System Works
(35:32) Airline Rewards Grade Devaluations
(37:31) Examples of Rare Airline Reward Point Opportunities
(39:33) The Endowed Progress Effect
(40:38) The Goal Gradient Effect and Chasing Airline Rewards
(41:09) The Sunk Cost Fallacy
(41:47) The Separate Mental Accounts Effect
(42:46) Quick Summary of the History of Miles & Points
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Editor’s Note: The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of our partner offers may have expired. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.