Converting Visa Gift Cards?

[buffalogirl]

My parents received 4-$50 Visa gift cards. I've received this type of gift card in the past and remember it being a hassle to spend them-had to spend the exact amount, cashiers unsure if they should be treated as debit or credit.

I think I read somewhere that you could use the Visa cards to purchase other gift cards... like for grocery stores, restaurants, department stores, etc., making them easier to use. Has anyone done this?

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[LuLuO]

I used a visa gift card a while back to buy a disney gift card at Walgreens. The cashier gave me trouble over it, but called the manager, who also gave me a bit of trouble over it but he did eventually put it through. It should be treated just like a credit card. You can purchase gift cards with credit cards so there should be no problem. You may just have to be insistent on it though.

 

[RMAMom]

Every time I get a visa gift card as a gift or a rebate I always buy a gift card from my local Wal-Mart or grocery store.

 

[buffalogirl]

Thanks for the responses. I'll pass that info along to them.

 

[buckler]

Do not try to buy a Home Depot gift certificate in a Home Depot store. They put a $1 hold on a credit card to "test" it and then put through the full amount. So when you try to buy a gift card it gets rejected for being over the amount (a total of $51 in charge attempts). Then you'd have to wait a few days for the $1 hold to be cleared off before you could use the card elsewhere and get the full $50 off (you could only charge $49 on the card until the $1 hold cleared).

You should be fine at a grocery store. I've purchased grocery store gc's in the full amount of the VISA gc and it went through without a hitch.

Another tip is to use it to pay utility bills online. Some utilities will let you pay over the amount or make multiple payments from different cards. So say they owed $37 on a bill they could pay the full $50 and have a $13 overage toward the next month's bill. Or if they had a $200 bill they could pay with 4 cards. This will vary depending on the utility. Some charge a fee for making a credit card payment so you wouldn't want to use it for one of those.

 

[Justsyd2]

I've never had a problem using a gift card. I used one last night. My purchase was $369.00. My gift card was for $25.00. I told the cashier to put in $25.00 credit (GC's can't be used as debit) and it went through, then I paid the remainder in cash.Works every time. Sometimes you just have to tell the cashier how to do it.

 

[Redwitch]

I use mine to buy Disney Gift Cards online. If I use more then one card, I have to call after the online transaction as they only can take one card and your CC as back up. But, I never had any real difficulty.

 

[Traveliz]

I use mine to pay for my Verizon bill online.

Liz

 

[mary0305]

We received several Visa cards for a Verizon rebate. If the cards have not ever been used, take them to your bank. They will run them through like a credit card and give you the cash. Person cashing them in must be the same as the name on the card.

 

[buffalogirl]

OP here, lots of great ideas-thanks so much!

 

[ssawka]

Like PPs, I have never had a problem with the Visa gift cards, and I get quite a few of them through rebates on computer equipment. Maybe it's because I never tried to combine them. I just use them for my next purchase that is greater than the value of the card.

 

[AlbertZeroK]

I once used 4 prepaid cards with various amounts on them and my debit card at Wal-Mart. Just tell them credit and you are paying X dollars, keep doing it till you run out of cards or you pay off the bill.

I also use them for online bill pay as one time payments.