Loyalty programs: Free perks or nefarious ploy?

If you don't want to fly a particular airline, don't That's every passenger's choice. This is another case of the current bloated government feeling that people can't be trusted to make their own decisions, so the government must be brought in to help make up their minds for them. THAT is the nefarious plot to steal your $$, under the guise of "we're just acting in your best interest" (!)

Just a nefarious ploy to steal our $$$.

I always have shopped for the flight I want - schedule, availability, price, etc. and never signed up for a program. It never mattered to me which airline I was on. These miles programs seemed like scams to me from the beginning.