Theres still a very good reason to use them - buyer protection.
I use a Virgin Atlantic reward card and have it set to pay off automatically, never running up debt. It both protects me as a buyer, and has the benefit of taking ~£500 off annual family holidays, and gives me a free companion seat in the process, effectively halving the price for one of the passengers.
If there's a problem with the item, you can "return" it to the bank — after all, they own it! So in practise you can ask the shop for a refund, or you can ask the bank.
It is a stronger protection than a debit card chargeback.
As an example, I bought flight tickets from an obscure budget airline on a credit card. Months later, beyond the usual debit chargeback time limit, the airline went bankrupt — but my bank purchased that service, and isn't going to provide it! They refund immediately.
https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/our-expertise/cards/chargeback-...
You know you're paying higher sticker prices to finance that, right?
Go on Virgin Atlantics site, search for any flight, you can then apply points to that, or redeem a companion voucher. That doesn't bump the price up prior to redemption.
I dont "pay" for the points I get, as I'm not spending any extra day to day. The credit card is free.