For what it's worth, here's my 2c. Unless you're looking for a really sweet rod that you only use when you're smoking your fine cigars and eating cheese and wine, I wouldn't spend the extra $$ for the lifetime warranty thing. Most of these warranties don't cover the things that actually break rods, they only cover manufacturing/material defects. If they are unconditional warranties, you most likely will pay $50-60 to get a new rod anyway. You can get a great rod from a number of companies and use it for several years. If it does break, buy another one, if not, great buy another one in case it does end up breaking.
In my case, I bought 2 rods 5 years ago with the Cabela's label on them. They ran about $60 US each. I have come to find out from a friend at G-Loomis that they were made for Cabelas by G-Loomis that year. One was a GL 3 blank and the other is an IMX. Needless to say, I saved serious cash and got a couple sweet rods.