Library · expiry
Gift-card expiry versus promotional-credit expiry
Real gift cards and bonus credits expire by different rules. Confusing them is how money quietly disappears.
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Two cards, both marked $25, both from the same store. One lasts five years. The other dies next month. They look identical because the difference is legal, not visual.
Real gift cards: years, not weeks
When someone pays money for a gift card, consumer law in many places protects it. In the United States, the federal CARD Act requires most gift cards to remain usable for at least five years from issue or last reload, and restricts dormancy fees in the meantime. Several Canadian provinces ban expiry dates on most gift cards outright. Other countries vary, so check your local rules, but the pattern holds: paid value gets strong protection.
Promotional credits: weeks, not years
Bonus cards, “get $10 with purchase” credits, loyalty rewards, and app coupons are not purchased value. They are marketing, and their terms show it: expiry in 30 or 60 days is normal, plus limits on where and how they apply. The store gave them free and priced them to push a quick visit. Treat every deadline on a promo credit as real, because it is.
How to tell which you hold
Read the receipt or the email, not the card. Paid amount on the receipt means gift card rules. Words like bonus, reward, promotional, or “with purchase” mean promo rules. When a purchase mixes both, a $100 gift card plus a $10 bonus, the two balances live side by side with different clocks. Record both, with both dates.
The spending order that never fails
Spend promotional credits first, always. They expire sooner, work in fewer places, and vanish without the legal safety net. Then spend down gift cards oldest first. This order sounds obvious, yet most expired value comes from doing the reverse: saving the “free” credit for later while spending the protected card now.
Put the deadlines somewhere loud
Promo deadlines deserve a calendar reminder a week before they hit, not a mental note. Gift card dates can live quietly with the card’s record. If your cabinet tracks expiry and reminders, file promo credits the day they arrive. A bonus you remember in time is a discount. One you remember late is a lesson.
Common questions
Can a gift card expire?
It depends on the card and where you live. In the US, federal law requires most gift cards to stay usable for at least five years. Promotional credits follow their own, usually much shorter, terms.
How do I tell a gift card from a promotional credit?
Check what you, or the giver, paid. Money paid for a card usually buys strong expiry protection. Bonus value added free with a purchase usually expires fast. The receipt and terms name which is which.
Which should I spend first?
Always the promotional credit. It expires sooner and has more restrictions. Spend it before its deadline, then return to the long-lived gift card.
Have a card this could help with?
File it in your cabinet so the balance and the reminder stay together.