The Sunk Cost of Points

You're 2,000 points from a free flight. So you book an extra trip you don't need, spend $400 on the credit card, and earn those final points for a flight "worth" $250. You just lost $150 to earn something free. This is the sunk cost trap — once you've invested in points, abandoning them feels like throwing away money.

Programs deliberately set reward tiers just beyond your natural spending level. They know you'll stretch to reach them. Status tiers — Gold, Platinum, Diamond — add social identity to the trap. Losing your status tier feels personal, so you'll spend to keep a rank that buys you little more than a slightly wider seat and a faster line.