Gift cards make great stocking stuffers — just as long as you don’t stuff them in a drawer and forget about them after the holidays.
Americans are expected to spend nearly $30 billion on gift cards this holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation. Restaurant gift cards are the most popular, making up one-third of those sales.
Most of those gift cards will be redeemed. Paytronix, which tracks restaurant gift card sales, says around 70% of gift cards are used within six months.
But many cards — tens of billions of dollars’ worth — wind up forgotten or otherwise unused. That’s when the life of a gift card gets more complicated, with expiration dates or inactivity fees that can vary by state.
For sure, but I had an “expires in 6 months” gift card for a restaurant over here a year ago. Could have done with not feeling forced to squeeze it in-between existing plans
That’s short.
Starbucks stars have actually got me to stop buying their product. I get an email saying my stars expire, but not how many, after 12 months and gave up on it
Starbucks is also fucking annoying because they won’t let you use the remainder of a gift card for a partial payment. If you don’t notice, they’ll use your gift card balance, and oh so helpfully also add more to your balance, then use that for the whole payment.
Six months seems downright criminal, especially if it’s to a small restaurant. Two years should be the absolute minimum.