Exit Row Envy

I used to get a free weekend car rental up to 8 times per year. Now I get 1 partner point per dollar spent on actual rental fees. So let's crunch some numbers here: $30K spent at Avis will get me 30K Hilton points (which is effectively 1 free night at an average Hampton Inn). That seemed insultingly low, so I called customer service a minute ago to verify. Sure enough, that's the plan. It's a loyalty rewards program without any tangible rewards. Nice goin' Avis. See ya at the Hertz counter.