Comments on: Visa gift cards: A good idea?

By: San

San — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:34:51 +0000

I just purchased a visa gift card giftcardmail and I am having trouble using it on Amazon.com which accepts gift cards..would you know if they accept it. I can not register it, there is a website visagiftmail but you can not actually do it there.

By: Kat

Kat — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:45:05 +0000

I tried purchasing something on the internet with a Visa gift card and it was rejected. So, I called the store directly and they accepted it. What’s up with that?!?!

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:19:09 +0000

And to answer kevins’ question you do NOT need a bank to get these. Yes, you can use them at stores but some dont take them and if you use them at a restaurant you have to use less than 80% of the total card balance, And in canada there in most convienet stores like Macs milk. The visa gc that I got had a free website that you could check your balance and it had all your purhcases of its the MyTreat gift card from visa. And there easy to use on ebay and on xbox live and you just make an account like you would for a regualr credit card and it works. But the ones MyTreat ones were in only 50 dollar amounts

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:13:28 +0000

Hi I recently bought a visa gift card, Yes there is positive and negatives to these as many others have said. The positives are if you cant get a real credit card bcuz of bad credit or no credit then you can buy stuff online from ebay and many other big names like I bought stuff from xbox live as well. And you dont have to be 18 to buy them as well. And they sell visa gc from convience stores so that easy as well. The negatives are you cant put more than one card towards a purchase. ex.( you buy something for $30 but the card is only 25 it’ll be denclined) as paul descibed. Also when you buy them there a $5 fee on top of it so it’ll cost you $55 for a $50 gift card. And you usually get stuck with money on the card that you cant transfer like ( if you have 4.50 on your card left you cant usualy spent that cuz itll have to be under 4.50) So you are basically paying extra for more convient spending.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:43:14 +0000

Anyone know if you need to have an account with the specific bank in order to purchase one of these?

I’ve also read that they are supposed to be available at stores such as CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart. However, I’ve only been able to find something called a “Vanilla Visa”, which is apparently not the same.

I’ve received a few Visa Gift cards in the past, and have always used them to shop online. The only catch is that you must first log into the card’s website and enter your own name and mailing address. This allows the online merchant to verify the card once you place an order.

But a common complaint about the “Vanilla Visa” is that it doesn’t have a website where you can enter your personal information. As a result, they are apparently very difficult to use for online shopping.

Ideally, I’m looking for a card that I can load with a specific amount, then immediately turn around and use to order something online. The Vanilla Visa also fails to meet either of these requirements- judging from online complaints I pulled up using Google.

Does anyone know of a realiable store where Visa Gift cards can be purchase? If not, has anyone had success with using Vanilla Visa/Mastercard/American Express cards to shop online?

By: alex

alex — Sun, 31 May 2009 23:47:51 +0000

Visa gift cards are a rip off . I received the one I have as a gift and tried to us it at a restaurant and it was denied. I was later toldby Visa that you have to tell them to deduct 20% because that is what Visa does. So if you have a card for $50.00 the restaurant can only put $41.00 towards your bill. You will get the $11.00 back in ten days, what a crock. I had an American Express gift card and the entire amount was used no problem.

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Tue, 19 May 2009 01:08:26 +0000

I have received American Express gift cards before. I ran into the problem that Paul mentioned when I tried to order something online. I wasn’t able to use multiple cards. I didn’t think of buying a certificate as he mentioned. I’ll do that if I ever get another one. I don’t buy them as gifts because I had such trouble using mine.

By: Craig

Craig — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:46:36 +0000

I like the gift cards and prefer them over any other type, especially if receive as a present. I understand why they become so popular, because you can use them anywhere, gives the person the option. Think they are here to stay.

By: bob

bob — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:20:17 +0000

Paul, that is a good point to mention thanks!

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:43:20 +0000

My mother sends me these as gifts all the time. The only disadvantage I see with them is when trying to purchase something online that is more than the value of the card.

For example, if I have a $25 Visa gift card, but I want to buy a book at Amazon that costs $26, the card will be rejected. I am not presented with an option to pay the $1 difference on a different card.

The way around this is to use the Visa gift card to purchase a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate and email it to yourself. Then, when you try to purchase the $26 book, you can use this $25 gift certificate and also use another credit card to make up the difference.