Gift cards

I received a gift card from my company as a representative of the team that won an award for “outstanding contribution by demonstrating core values.” Unfortunately, it’s a VISA gift card.

Visa gift cards are notoriously hard to use because you have to spend the exact amount of the gift card. One of the directors mentioned that he was embarrassed on two different occasions when he tried to use a Visa gift card to pay for dinner, and the authorized amount plus an expected tip exceeded the value of the gift card. This is not how most gift cards work. Most gift cards, if the amount is more than amount on the card, you use up the card and pay the difference. That’s not the case with Visa gift cards. One of the other directors said he has several Visa gift cards with a few dollars on them because of the “exact amount” rule.

What’s wrong with giving someone cash? I understand you may not want to put cash in the mail, but most people prefer giving a gift card to actual cash. I think George Carlin had the joke: “Instead of giving you cash you can spend anywhere, I will give you a gift card you can only spend in one place.”