<raises hand>
I'd argue yes, but as always it depends on your circumstance.
Assuming you value a mile at $0.02 *and* allocate no costs to any of the other perks from the card, as long as you spend at least $11,167 on the card every 12 months you'll break even.
$395 (anual fee) - $60 (1K credit) = $335 out of pocket cost for the card.
$11,167 spend will yield 16,750 M+ miles.
16,750 miles at $0.02 equates to $335.
The Freedom card does not matter as there's no annual fee (so no need to cancel it) and the 5x categories tend to be useful, or at least to me.
The Sapphire Plus allows 2x on dining and 2x on travel *AND* allows you to transfer the points to partners, something the Freedom card does not. (And remember, you can always move UR points on the Freedom card to the Sapphire card and then transfer to an airline, hotel, etc.)
Granted the Sapphire does come with a $95 fee but again using $0.02 as a value for a UR point (as 1 UR : 1 M+), you only need to spend $2,375 on travel/dining (2x) or $4,750 on everything else to break even.
I'd argue the 1.5x on everything is "the" feature of the Club Card, in addition to the lounge membership, and can be a useful way to score a bonus on all expenses that fall outside whatever promos Chase is offering for their UR products.
Arguably one of the better deals was the $506 spend at OfficeDepot for their Visa gift cards on an Ink product (as that would earn 5x UR), but since the music stopped on that one the straight and steady spend bonus for the Club card is an easy one to score.
Bottom line: with the right amount of spend you'll get something out of it and the extras (1K rebate, lounge membership, Hyatt status, etc.) are the icing on the cake.