The reliability of "things that go to space" is much, much lower than civilian airplanes.
True. But think of the status of going from point to point anywhere on earth in less than an hour. How much risk is that worth?
I think Elon said there is probably a market for delivering stuff to antipodes in under an hour, price doesn't matter. It's not a large market, and you don't get a steady daily business, but there will always be demand for it.
Until, of course, this sort of thing becomes trivial and super-reliable, and then the price will drop through the floor.