The state of VPNs in 2016

I definitely agree that the best use case for a VPN nowadays is local network security. When traveling to places like China, it's very common for there to be multiple people intercepting and meddling with public WiFi traffic. Therefore, it's very important to have a VPN to prevent any unwanted sniffing.

In addition, it's always a possibility to register for a VPN anonymously if you think you can't trust the provider (which you often cannot). Some providers such as https://cryptostorm.is/ use a token system which furthers its users anonymity.