I'm not the biggest fan of them either, but there are lots of ways to get them for an amount greater than you paid.
Also there is something to think about with gift cards I asked a friend why they always got me them as gifts and found what they said interesting. For them they wanted to get me a game, a Lego Set, or something similar. The gift cards let my friend give a gift while I get to choose which specific thing I get.
I've never pirated rentals before, but there was a guy who got busted at my work for the like. It was at the post office and he had been.. borrowing(?) mail video rentals, taking them home and making copies. He would return them to the mail stream the next day. I'm not sure how the inspectors caught him, but it was rumored he bragged about having hundreds of shows and movies. He never even had a subscription lol.