I did this with 2% cards and airline/hotel cards so I could increase my float for WF and cycle faster.

1% profit is fine, what's more important is your hourly returns. If you can indeed make those nearly free 3k miles in 15 minutes, then I'd agree that it's probably worth your time. For other people, it could take them upwards of 2-3 hours - probably not worth their time.

For me, as apparently for you, such activities have generally been worth my time.