Why McDonald’s, Dunkin’, Starbucks, and other chains keep making their rewards programs worse—and getting away with it

Aaron Braun had decided to play the long game with his Dunkin’ Rewards points. For five years, his employer, an IT company that kept him on the road, covered his coffee and breakfast via a company card linked to his Dunkin’ account, so he never bothered to redeem his points. In the Dunkin’ app, every purchase inches a progress bar further to the right, unlocking the first reward at 150 points, then topping out at 900. “My bar has been full forever,” Braun jokes. Last year, he was staring at a...