If you earn FF miles other ways too, it is IMHO a WAY better rewards program than Thank You points.

That is because you can transfer DC points to airline miles in as little as 1000 mile quantities, so you can use it to "top off" awards.

Also, since you can transfer DC points to airline miles, you can use those miles for milsage upgrades or upper class seat awards, which you can't do with Thank You rewards.

Similarly, with hotel points, you can transfer DC points to hotel points to top off. You can only use Thank You rewards when you've earned ALL the points for the reward JUST from using the card that earns you Thank You points.

If, OTOH, you have no interest in using DC points for either miles or hotel points, then yes, the OTHER kinds of awards may not be any better than Thank You awards such as store-specific gift cards and such.