It’s only really useful when you have a difficult hand. Well, by getting out of the game early you can save yourself half of your stake, which is advantageous because assuming you only surrender when you have a lousy hand you will be saving half of your stake from an almost certain losing hand. You might be wondering why anyone would choose to surrender in the first place. Early surrender allows the player to bail before the dealer checks for blackjack and is lesser spotted late surrender allows the player to get out of the hand only after the dealer has checked for blackjack. There are actually two different surrender rules: the early surrender and the late surrender. The option to surrender isn’t always available, in fact it’s fairly rare, but you can find a number of online variations that offer the option and select real world casinos will have it too.
If you don’t like the idea of surrendering then try thinking of it as a tactical retreat, because whether you like it or not, incorporating the surrender option into your strategy (assuming it is allowed in the house rules) leaves you more money to use for doubling/splitting etc when the cards are feeling kinder.
