There seem to be hundreds in every supermarket and drugstore.
Have you bought any?
Gotten any?
Asked Santa for any?
Are these Visa, Master Card cards? Never seen them, but have heard of them.
I will probably be sending my niece and her daughter each a Target gift certificate.
They live in another state and I don’t get to see them often.
I want to get them something for Christmas, but not sure of their sizes, and not sure what they do or do not have in the house.
So, a gift card is easy to buy and enclose in a Christmas card, and at least I know they are getting something they like.
Impersonal? Maybe a bit - but they both love to shop so they are really getting two gifts - the gift of shopping and the gift of buying.
I’ve bought and received a handful. They really are helpful at birthdays and Xmas when your closest relative is 2100 miles away. Our family has come to realize that it’s best to put a gift card into an envelope with a card for 37¢ than it is to spend another $20 on shipping and worry that it will arrive in the proper number of pieces.
When you’re buying them for distant people, you need to check that the merchant is actually near the recipient. One memorable incident several years ago was when my brother got forgetful and sent one by overnight mail to home instead of my office. Guess he thought I’d be taking my birthday off. Rather than leave the envelope behind the screen door like they normally do, I had to trek 20 miles to the airport post office to retrieve it. Then it turned out to be from a store thirty miles in the other direction from home. :smack:
On the receiving end, they’re always the right size and color. Well, the denomination could always be larger. 
My wife and I got one from a family friend as a belated wedding gift when we came back to the States last August. The friend didn’t know what we wanted or needed (we hadn’t seen them for several years, plus my wife and I had already been settled in together for six years), but she knew we’d be hitting the shops in Boston and the outlets up in Kittery and Freeport.
Neither of us had seen one before and we weren’t quite sure what to do with it, but it turned out to be a very useful gift.
I get 'em every year. Apparently I’m hard to buy for. But usually it is to a book store, so I’m a happy man. 
I think the OP is asking about the gift CREDIT cards, not store-specific gift cards.
They came out last year, and I think they’re a pretty great idea.
You are just buying a debit card with a pre-set limit ($50, $100…actually whatever amount you decide) and they can be used by the recipient as a regular debit card (visa, mastercard) at ANY store, even online.
My brother and I got them last year, and they’re pretty great. Especially for someone like me who doesn’t want $50 in Target stuff, but I can find $50 to spend at the drug store and the grocery store and stop to get some lunch all with the same “gift” card.
They were a godsend to my brother who at the time didn’t have a credit card but was itching to buy stuff online. With his card he bought some rare CDs from overseas - online.
I was pondering these today actually, and I decided the only downside was that to use it online you have to have enough “credit” left. You can’t use it as a partial credit. So if you have $32 left and your Amazon purchase is $34 you’re SOL. But, you can always use the rest up at the grocery store.
I hope I get another this year - NewEgg is calling me
If you’re looking for a place to buy them, I know I got some last year at my grocery store’s customer service desk. I think National City Bank is offering them now too. You’ll probably get ads for them with your credit card statements as well.