Earn 75,000 bonus miles! Double cash back! Free flights! Discounts galore!

The enticements for credit card rewards programs promise fantasies. And for the privileged members who can convert taps of plastic into points, and those points into luxury, the process can feel like digital alchemy, or at least a delightful refutation of that adage about a free lunch.

But as the Opinion Video above explains, that lunch — or that points-purchased round-trip ticket to the Seychelles — isn’t really free.

Which raises the question: Who’s paying for it?

Well, we all are.

James Robinson (@ByJamesRobinson) is a filmmaker. Emily Holzknecht (@emilyholzknecht) is an associate producer for Opinion Video.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.