There are certain places when miles can come handy. For example if you fly from South Africa to Victoria Falls. You can get R/T ticket in Economy for 15K miles. Revenue ticket on the same route would cost $500.
But I do agree what was has happened with points/miles in last 10 years is the they become way more specialized in usage/application. It requires considerable amount of flexibility and time invested to find meaningful redemption options.
And it will get only worse, so my recommendation to everyone - don't hoard miles/points and redeem them as soon as there are meaningful options to do so.