Ganesh Sitaraman

And so what the point system is like is almost getting a little kickback every time there's a cut. And so if you're on a points earning card, you're getting that kickback. But if you're somebody who doesn't have one of these fancy credit cards, if you pay in cash, if you don't have enough money to spend hundreds of dollars to get all the best kind of point systems,

And so what the point system is like is almost getting a little kickback every time there's a cut. And so if you're on a points earning card, you're getting that kickback. But if you're somebody who doesn't have one of these fancy credit cards, if you pay in cash, if you don't have enough money to spend hundreds of dollars to get all the best kind of point systems,

And so what the point system is like is almost getting a little kickback every time there's a cut. And so if you're on a points earning card, you're getting that kickback. But if you're somebody who doesn't have one of these fancy credit cards, if you pay in cash, if you don't have enough money to spend hundreds of dollars to get all the best kind of point systems,

What's likely happening is you're paying higher prices for everything because businesses are including some of the costs they're sending to the credit cards in the prices of stuff and you're not getting the kickback.

What's likely happening is you're paying higher prices for everything because businesses are including some of the costs they're sending to the credit cards in the prices of stuff and you're not getting the kickback.

What's likely happening is you're paying higher prices for everything because businesses are including some of the costs they're sending to the credit cards in the prices of stuff and you're not getting the kickback.

Yeah, and the other challenge is even for people with the credit cards, even if you do have these points, there are all kinds of problems with how they work. And probably the biggest one, or maybe the easiest one is how I should put it, is that the point system really feels unclear. What's the average value? How much should I be thinking about these as I think about planning trips?

Yeah, and the other challenge is even for people with the credit cards, even if you do have these points, there are all kinds of problems with how they work. And probably the biggest one, or maybe the easiest one is how I should put it, is that the point system really feels unclear. What's the average value? How much should I be thinking about these as I think about planning trips?

Yeah, and the other challenge is even for people with the credit cards, even if you do have these points, there are all kinds of problems with how they work. And probably the biggest one, or maybe the easiest one is how I should put it, is that the point system really feels unclear. What's the average value? How much should I be thinking about these as I think about planning trips?

We do that, too.

We do that, too.

We do that, too.

And the reason is they don't tell you. Right. The airlines don't have a kind of exchange rate that is fixed and consistent. Right. they can change them whenever they want. They can reduce their value, they can reduce the value of the things you can get for the points, or for status if what you're interested in is status.

And the reason is they don't tell you. Right. The airlines don't have a kind of exchange rate that is fixed and consistent. Right. they can change them whenever they want. They can reduce their value, they can reduce the value of the things you can get for the points, or for status if what you're interested in is status.

And the reason is they don't tell you. Right. The airlines don't have a kind of exchange rate that is fixed and consistent. Right. they can change them whenever they want. They can reduce their value, they can reduce the value of the things you can get for the points, or for status if what you're interested in is status.

And so one of the things that we've seen is the kind of changing value over time in these point systems The other thing that goes on is sometimes what I think of as pretty deceptive kind of practices in this industry. So, you know, if you ever have that pop-up come up when you're buying a plane ticket and says like, you know, do you want to buy extra points? You know, the mileage multiplier.

And so one of the things that we've seen is the kind of changing value over time in these point systems The other thing that goes on is sometimes what I think of as pretty deceptive kind of practices in this industry. So, you know, if you ever have that pop-up come up when you're buying a plane ticket and says like, you know, do you want to buy extra points? You know, the mileage multiplier.

And so one of the things that we've seen is the kind of changing value over time in these point systems The other thing that goes on is sometimes what I think of as pretty deceptive kind of practices in this industry. So, you know, if you ever have that pop-up come up when you're buying a plane ticket and says like, you know, do you want to buy extra points? You know, the mileage multiplier.

And you can buy a thousand extra points for whatever, however much money. In a lot of cases, the estimated value of those points is a lot less than what they're charging you for them. They might be charging you three cents a point when the estimated value is one cents a point. I mean, that's the equivalent of saying, how about you give me $30 and I'll give you $10. No one would make that deal.

And you can buy a thousand extra points for whatever, however much money. In a lot of cases, the estimated value of those points is a lot less than what they're charging you for them. They might be charging you three cents a point when the estimated value is one cents a point. I mean, that's the equivalent of saying, how about you give me $30 and I'll give you $10. No one would make that deal.