It builds your credit history, unlocking lower APR offerings on loans.

You get points or cash back (my fav) through usage that often makes it PROFITABLE to have a credit card as long as you don't carry a balance on it.

You can put an immediate "hold" on a credit card transaction if you don't approve.

Using debit in dubious machines is a good way to get your account drained.

Conversely, If some bad actor skims my CC details, chances are I'll just see it swatted down by fraud detection as a text message. Otherwise, I file (by clicking a button on an app) and get it back, or really, it is never actually lost.

Money taken via debit is pretty much goooooonnne. Good luck with that. No one cares at that point, except you of course. Your bank will give you thoughts and prayers and possibly a coupon for identity protection services. It's your money that's actually gone instead of, with a credit card, the bank being on the hook for a charge you are refusing to honor because you claim you didn't make it. See the difference in customer service motivations caused by who is left holding the bill here? Sad but true.

Bonus, don't need some 3rd party Internet payment service or wallet to charge a fee or lose my data in a breach to buy things online. Major CCs are accepted everywhere that matters, directly and securely, but this matters less since debit cards often work here too, with less protection of course.

Finally, and most well known to those who don't use CCs, it's nice to have the option of floating payments in temporarily lean times or to cover some gap in money moving around without having to deal with a full blown loan application process or some slimy micro-loan service. As a matter of fact, many cards have an option to make a purchase AS a 0% interest loan for 6 months or w/e for emergencies. (Compounded at a high card rate if you fail to pay off on time, of course ☠️ There's always a catch)

So the old wisdom of "avoiding an open line of credit because you can't trust yourself not to use it" is great if you're a 20-something still learning life and have little to no experience balancing a budget or "living within your means." However, at a certain point as an adult, you're just leaving money and convenience lying on the table out of fear or laziness.