2011 gift card comparison chart - HTML version

By Matt Schulz, Juan Rodriguez and Kate Tomasino

The table below breaks down gift cards offered by dozens of the nation's most popular restaurants, retailers, airlines and other businesses. You can also learn more about the latest in gift card trends in our 2011 gift card special section.

Never expires	No dormancy or maintenance fees	Loss & theft protection
PIN available	Reloadable      eCard available	Online balance check
Free shipping/delivery    Purchase fees

7-Eleven
Amazon.com
American Airlines
American Express
Banana Republic, Gap and Old Navy
Barnes & Noble
Bed, Bath & Beyond
Best Buy
Bloomingdale's
Brinker Restaurants (Chili's, Romano's Macaroni Grill, On The Border, Maggiano's)
Chase Visa
Chevron/Texaco
Citgo
Costco
CVS
Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, Seasons)
Dillards's
Discover
eBay.com
Exxon
Fifth Third Bank MasterCard
Frontier Airlines
Harris Bank MasterCard
Hawaiian Airlines
H-E-B
Home Depot
iTunes
JCPenney
JetBlue Airways
KeyBank MasterCard
Kmart
Kohl's
Kroger
Lowe's
Macy's
Marshall's/TJ Maxx
McDonald's
Meijer
Nordstrom
Office Depot
OSI Restaurants (Outback Steakhouse, Carabba's, Fleming's)
Overstock.com
Panera Bread
Pilot Travel Center
Pizza Hut
Publix
RadioShack
Rite Aid
Saks 5th Avenue
Sears
Shell
Southwest Airlines
Spafinder.com
Staples
Starbucks
Taco Bell
Target
Toys R Us
U.S. Airways
U.S. Bank Visa
Walgreens
Walmart
Wells Fargo Visa

Never expires	No dormancy or maintenance fees	Loss & theft protection
PIN available	Reloadable      eCard available	Online balance check
Free shipping/delivery    Purchase fees

Source: Joint CreditCards.com/Bankrate.com survey. 

Methodology: From late September through early October 2011, CreditCards.com surveyed gift cards from 63 major restaurants, retailers, airlines and other businesses. We tracked those cards in nine different areas that can impact a consumer. We gathered that information using several different methods, cross-checking them against each other for accuracy. We visited the businesses' websites, called their toll-free customer service phone numbers, called individual stores and/or visited individual stores in person.

PIN defined as a cardholder-created security code needed to conduct a transaction involving a card, whether its checking a balance, making a purchase or something else. It does not include PIN numbers that are found on the back of a card.

Free shipping/delivery is only for physical cards. Being able to send an e-card for free doesn't qualify.

See related: Gift card survey 2011: E-cards take center stage, 2011 gift card comparison chart, 18 ways to get gift cards for less, How to replace a lost or stolen gift card, Gift card rules: fewer fees, more time to use, 10 creative ways to wrap gift cards, Give gift of flight with airline gift cards, 2011 airline gift cards comparison chart, Gift card scams: How to spot them, avoid being a victim

Published: October 26, 2011

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