That's because you are assuming that its allowed. I myself am not familiar enough with the facts nor the halacha to have a strong opinion. I'm wondering why you feel so strongly that its allowed to question the way in which the question was asked. I simply called as very respected rov, who is familiar with the intricacies of miles/points and selling, and simply asked as follows: "If I earned the miles totally legitimately would I be allowed to sell them", and he said no. This is not the forum for a detailed halachic discussion, but the questions to be explored are many and you need a qualified person that is familiar with both the halachah and the practical. ex: This rov told me that breach of a contractual agreement is assur lhalacha as well. Additionally, there is also an issue of livnei iver or misayayah liydei ovrey avairoh (depending on the specifics of the case) if you sell to a jew, and mateh akum if you sell to a non jew (as the improper use of miles leads to someone flying on a flight that he should not be on), dina d'malchusa, etc. The fact that the airlines are known to try to find violators and penalize them shows that they take it seriously as well, so the arguments that everyone does it and they know about it and don't care, is invalid as well. I'd love to hear more. TY
I'm not sure if you know totally legitimately means but according to the t&c (chase)
but they say they can shut down your account if they feel you are opening cards just to get the miles
If you read the terms in amex as well as chase no where (to the extent of my research) does it say you are not allowed to sell points, it does however say "you could be prohibited from earning or using points... If we suspect you have misused the program in any way for example by buying or selling points" (FYI a second example "by repeatedly opening or otherwise maintaining credit card accounts for the sole purpose of generating rewards") - chase t&c
Amex simply writes "points are not your property. You can't transfer points to any other person or program account" (doesn't look like there's any issue booking someone a BP flight and charging them for the service)
Seems to me that misused is not a breach of contract rather a risk you take that now they have the right to take away your points or even shut you down
According to the above non of the halachic issues of lifnei eivar or mateh akum etc apply (especially dima dimalchusa which never applies to begin with for the state law specially doesn't rule in favor of the credit card company (except in Utah I believe))
This all regarding amex and Chase and please correct me if I'm not understanding the terms correctly or I'm not qouting correctly
Fyi: Even if you want to say that it really means not to sell points then you should probably follow what it says not to open or maintain cards solely for the points