# I'm going to buy $700+ in gift cards. Is there a retail chain who will reward me if I buy from them? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 18, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-buy-700-in-gift-cards-is-there-a-retail-chain-who-will-reward-me-if-i-buy-from-them/644467 "2012-12-18T23:43:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-buy-700-in-gift-cards-is-there-a-retail-chain-who-will-reward-me-if-i-buy-from-them/644467/1 "2012-12-18T23:43:25Z")
I will be buying an unprecedented amount (for me) of gifts this Christmas. Almost all of it will be in the form of gift cards. I’m leaning toward Amazon cards, but I’m open to other ideas (more about that later). Now, these days just about every chain retailer features a rack of variously branded gift cards, so I have my pick of brick-and-mortar merchants from which to buy the cards. Unless gift cards are a special kind of retail product (I’ll discuss that possibility below), each retailer would love me to buy from _them,_ and not the guy down the block, right? So, is there any chain retailer out there who will reward me for spending my $700 with them? By reward, I mean a discount, or a gift, or buying points, or whatever. Now maybe I’m wrong, and the local Walgreen’s down the block could not care less if I bought a million dollars worth of Amazon cards from them since Amazon will get that money, not Walgreen’s. If that’s the case, are there any gift card issuing merchants that will reward me for buying their cards instead of Amazon? Thanks all, in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-buy-700-in-gift-cards-is-there-a-retail-chain-who-will-reward-me-if-i-buy-from-them/644467/2 "2012-12-19T00:00:22Z")
Kroger has a fuel program where every dollar you spend equates to some amount of discount on gas prices, and last I heard (they advertised this fact heavily at one point) buying gift cards at Kroger does earn fuel discount just like grocery purchases. Kroger has a kiosk/aisle in most stores with gift cards representing most major retailers. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-buy-700-in-gift-cards-is-there-a-retail-chain-who-will-reward-me-if-i-buy-from-them/644467/3 "2012-12-19T00:08:30Z")
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**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-buy-700-in-gift-cards-is-there-a-retail-chain-who-will-reward-me-if-i-buy-from-them/644467/4 "2012-12-19T00:28:00Z")
If you’re willing to give people gift cards to a mom & pop type place, I’d bet they’ll give you a discount on them (or an extra couple bucks in the form of a card for yourself). Especially if you pay in cash. Also, if you have more then one credit card, check your reward situation to see which one will give you better points. For example, Chase might have 5% cash back at Amazon but American Express might have 5% cash back at Target. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-buy-700-in-gift-cards-is-there-a-retail-chain-who-will-reward-me-if-i-buy-from-them/644467/5 "2012-12-19T00:56:58Z")
[Outback Steakhouse](http://www.outback.com/gift-card/) will give you a $20 giftcard for every $100 you buy. [Applebee’](http://www.applebees.com/gift-cards)s will give you $10 for every $50. There are probably others, this is just what I remember from radio advertising. StG ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-buy-700-in-gift-cards-is-there-a-retail-chain-who-will-reward-me-if-i-buy-from-them/644467/6 "2012-12-19T01:00:22Z")
I think I saw OCharlie’s will give 5 for every 20 The thing is at those restaurants you have to buy the card at the location not at a third party provider like Walgreens to get the promotional offer. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-buy-700-in-gift-cards-is-there-a-retail-chain-who-will-reward-me-if-i-buy-from-them/644467/7 "2012-12-19T01:18:58Z")
Bi-Lo grocery has a fuel discount program, and through Monday, gift cards earn double points. I think the regular rate is a nickel per gallon off for every $50 spent at the store. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been buying gas station cards to accelerate the savings. ---
**Author:** ![shellofmyformerself](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@shellofmyformerself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shellofmyformerself)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-buy-700-in-gift-cards-is-there-a-retail-chain-who-will-reward-me-if-i-buy-from-them/644467/8 "2012-12-19T03:28:22Z")
Our Texas Roadhouse will give you a VIP card if you buy $500 or more in gift cards. You get 20% of your bill for the year and you can jump to the front of the line without having to call ahead when you flash your VIP card. You also get to spin the prize wheel. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-buy-700-in-gift-cards-is-there-a-retail-chain-who-will-reward-me-if-i-buy-from-them/644467/9 "2012-12-19T03:33:22Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > Kroger has a fuel program where every dollar you spend equates to some amount of discount on gas prices, and last I heard (they advertised this fact heavily at one point) buying gift cards at Kroger does earn fuel discount just like grocery purchases. Kroger has a kiosk/aisle in most stores with gift cards representing most major retailers. I believe you actually get double points on gift cards. They sometimes do promos where you get [4x the points on gift cards](http://giftcards.kroger.com/FuelProgram.aspx). ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-buy-700-in-gift-cards-is-there-a-retail-chain-who-will-reward-me-if-i-buy-from-them/644467/10 "2012-12-19T03:47:15Z")
Target with their Target card gives you 5% off. If you fill 5 prescriptions at Target you get another 5% (it stacks), so you could buy $700 in gift cards for $630. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-buy-700-in-gift-cards-is-there-a-retail-chain-who-will-reward-me-if-i-buy-from-them/644467/11 "2012-12-19T04:06:09Z")
Our local grocery store, [Giant Eagle,](http://www.gianteagle.com/gift-cards) give gas discounts when you buy gift cards. My gf does takes advantage of this year round, buying gift cards, then immediately using them. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-buy-700-in-gift-cards-is-there-a-retail-chain-who-will-reward-me-if-i-buy-from-them/644467/12 "2012-12-19T04:10:26Z")
You can buy restaurant gift cards from Costco for a twenty-percent discount ($100 in gift cards for $80). ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-buy-700-in-gift-cards-is-there-a-retail-chain-who-will-reward-me-if-i-buy-from-them/644467/13 "2012-12-19T04:33:39Z")
Blockbuster’s running a free $5 giftcard with every $25 bought in giftcards promotion right now. (If you can find a Blockbuster). ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-buy-700-in-gift-cards-is-there-a-retail-chain-who-will-reward-me-if-i-buy-from-them/644467/14 "2012-12-19T04:33:56Z")
Little Caesers offers $5 in free gift cards when you buy a $25 card. At least they did last year around christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-buy-700-in-gift-cards-is-there-a-retail-chain-who-will-reward-me-if-i-buy-from-them/644467/15 "2012-12-19T07:39:29Z")
Good God in Heaven, such an amount. If you run out of recipients could you send one to me? _Especially_ for Amazon (used books.) They’ll love it.