If you plan to give a restaurant gift card this season, you’ll want to check into bonus gift card offers many restaurant chains are offering right now. For example, Bonefish Grill and Outback Steakhouse (must buy online) are giving a $20 bonus gift cards when you buy $100 in gift cards. Red Robin is also giving $5 in Bonus Bucks (similar to a gift card, but expires 2/28/10) when you buy $25 in gift cards. And at Applebee’s you’ll get a $10 bonus card when you buy $50 in gift cards.
Saving Cents With Sense, A Friendly Welcome, and Inexpensively all have great roundups of these offers.
If you regularly eat at restaurants that are offering these bonuses, you may want to consider buying gift cards now for your own use throughout the year in order to earn the bonus cards. It’s a great way to save, plus you can use coupons as well when you pay with a gift card. Most gift cards don’t start charging service fees until a year or so after activation, so as long as you would usually use the gift card during that time frame anyway, this is a good buy.
You can also check at wholesale clubs for gift cards – I got $100 in CA Pizza Kitchen gift cards for 79.99 at Costco!
Oh, good tip, Kelly! I don’t usually shop at wholesale clubs, but I do have a Sam’s Club membership. It might just be worthwhile to stop in and check out their gift cards, I suppose.