Oops — Almost Forgot About That Gift Card
Photo by aussiegall
I was furious with myself last Friday morning when I realized that it was October 31st.
No, not because it was Halloween. Rather, I was furious because Friday was the day that my $25 American Express Gift Card was set to expire from the AmEx Spring Fling Promotion this summer, which came with the reward of an AmEx $25 Gift Card that could only be used at Best Buy, Fandango, and Borders.
I Hate “Open Loop” Gift Cards
I have already said it once, but let me say it again — if you have a choice, avoid these “Open Loop” gift cards at all costs. By “Open Loop”, I mean these American Express, Visa, and MasterCard gift cards you can buy that are good anywhere credit cards can be used. They may seem like a good idea in theory, but they are perhaps the most consumer-unfriendly form of flexible spending out there.
Want to give little Johnny or Sally a flexible gift? Give them cash. I’m not sure why cash is considered such a taboo gift — it really is the same thing as giving them a Visa gift card, just without the annoying hoops. Consider:
- “Open Loop” gift cards cost you money – most have some sort of $3 - $5 service charge associated with them that you have to pay for. Why don’t you forgo the gift card and give me the extra $3-$5 in cash. It will make me even happier.
- “Open Loop” gift cards can be annoying to use — ever tried to use one of these things for part of a lager purchase? I always take a deep breath, as invariably some sort of complication comes up in using up all of the money on the card. I suppose you could avoid that problem by simply buying something under the cards value, but then you lose money.
- And most annoyingly — “Open Loop” cards have expiration dates and inactivity fees — you’re balance is going to start going down over time.
Don’t want to give cash? Buy a store gift card. These days most merchants don’t have expiration dates on their cards.
Running Against The Clock
This Spring Fling card was particularly annoying; it had an expiration date set a mere couple of months after it arrived, and it didn’t slowly lose value — rather, it simply lost all value after October 31st.
Alas, when I remembered this on Friday, I was nowhere near a Best Buy or Borders to use the card in store. My first instinct was to try to buy something at BestBuy.com. Luckily, Best Buy lets you buy Best Buy gift cards online at no cost and with no tax — so it looked like a $25 gift card was going to work perfectly.
Of course, that would have been too easy. During check-out, BestBuy.com refused to accept a card that was within 15 days of expiration – no way around it. Argh.
Thankfully my second choice worked out — Fandango had no problem taking the card, and I was able to buy myself a $25 Fandango gift certificate that does not expire. Several theaters around me participate in Fandango’s ticket-purchasing program, so I’ll be able to use it at some point.
The Lesson
I’m just thankful I was able to use the gift card. I would have felt like an idiot if I had left the card expire — not only because the money would be lost, but also because the only reason I had the card to begin with was because I was trying to take advantage of the promotion.
In the future, I think my strategy with these cards is going to be to immediately buy a merchant gift card — to someplace like Best Buy, Barnes and Noble, or iTunes, for example, where I know I will eventually use the money. Buying a store gift card with an AmEx gift card is a great way to get all of the money off the AmEx gift card and to put it in a form that won’t expire.
How do you handle these cards? Are any of you fans of them?
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Oooh, that was a close one! i hate those types of cards too, but i’ve been good about spending them rather soon so i don’t forget. there’s always *something* i need/want that i normally wouldn’t buy for myself, or for a friend
but mainly for myself. haha….
@Budgets — I guess part of my problem is that I always want to use other credit cards to earn maximum rewards on my purchases — there are very few categories where I’m not looking at something like 5% back using one of two cards (groceries, gas, food, books, entertainment, etc.). I definitely need to fight this mindset and spend them right away,
I think one good idea is purchasing an iTunes gift card for myself — I don’t buy songs too often, but certainly often enough where it would be a good use of my money and would take care of th expiration problem.