> but it's ridiculous that people have this sense that shopping should somehow fund your vacation.

Some people are dumb and think tax refunds are free money when in reality they’re an interest-free loan to the IRS.

Money is fungible and instantly redeeming rewards for a statement credit is almost always the optimal way to use credit card rewards.

A person who wants to fund a vacation with rewards can simply redeem the rewards for a statement credit while simultaneously transferring that amount of cash to a HYSA or similar.