I wouldn't buy points at 1.1 cent. You earn them at 1 cent per point on any regular purchase. You can earn them at 2 or 3 cents for other purchases.
However when redeeming them for international 1st class you can get 7 or 8 times that in value.
Then there's the argument that if you weren't planning on paying for 1st class then they're not really worth that much.
However I look at it as I earned them at 1 cent on the dollar, but I'm spending 100,000 on a $7 or $8,000 plane ticket, which gives me 7 or 8 times the value of them.
Others calculate it differently, but that's my take.