Gift cards are welcome stocking-stuffers for every difficult-to-buy-for person on your list, from the in-laws to college students (and they make good teacher gifts too).
But Santa never said you couldn’t walk away with a little something extra out of the deal.
Here is a growing list of gift cards that come with bonuses for those of us in Wichita. Most of them are for restaurants, but we may see other types of gift card bonuses as well.
Tips for maximizing your savings with gift card bonuses
Important note: The bonuses you get with gift cards are often promotional discounts with no cash value and won’t be good after their expiration date. (Unlike the actual gift cards, these bonus promos don’t usually carry over any unused balance either.)
That said, they’re still good deals! Here are some tips from Living on the Cheap’s Bryan Chavez on how you can maximize your savings with bonus gift cards:
- Know what you’re getting! Remember that price and participation may vary by location. Read the fine print for limitations, including minimum purchase requirements, date restrictions, or menu exclusions first! Also, many places don’t allow you to combine multiple bonus cards in a single transaction. Plus most (if not all) bonuses are not valid until after the new year.
- Most of the gift cards must be purchased by December 31 in order to get the bonus.
- It’s usually better to buy the gift cards in-store rather than online to avoid shipping charges.
- Gift cards don’t have to be gifts! If you have a favorite restaurant or merchant offering a gift card bonus, consider getting one for yourself. It’s like “pre-paying” for goods and services now and gifting yourself the bonus later.
- Get more bonuses by breaking down a large purchase. For example, if the bonus is for a $25 or more gift card and you’re buying a $50 gift card, why not purchase two $25 gift cards in separate transactions instead? You just doubled your bonus. Sometimes this isn’t necessary since the business gives the bonus based on the amount you spend, not the number of gift cards you purchase. As always, clarify first before buying (tip #1 above) because gift cards are typically non-refundable.
*Bonus tip! Since this is all about gift card bonus offers, here’s a bonus tip for you: If/when we see a 4x fuel points promotion on gift cards this holiday season, you might want to buy them there. The savings might be even better, depending on how much you spend and where you like to fill up.
Holiday Gift Card Bonus Offers
Now on to the deals! They’re in alphabetical order with both restaurant and retail gift cards, so just scroll through the whole list and you’ll get tons of ideas for gifts.
Applebee’s Gift Card Bonus
When you purchase a $50 Applebee’s Gift Card, you’ll receive a $10 Bonus Card for yourself. More details here.
Barnes and Noble Gift Card Bonus Offer
Get a free $10 Reward with any gift card purchase of $75+. Woo-hoo. That’s a lot of books! Offer details here.
Blaze Pizza Bonus Pizza Pass
Give a gift card, get a gift. Purchase $25 or more in Blaze gift cards and get a free pizza pass valid in January & February 2019. Details.
Bonefish Grill Holiday Gift Card Bonus Offer
Purchase $50 in gift cards between November 1 and December 31, and you’ll get a FREE $10 off coupon. More info.
Buffalo Wild Wings Bonus Gift Card
Give a $25 BWW gift card to your BFF and get a $5 bonus for yourself. Full promotion terms and conditions apply, and I found them for you here.
Burger Fi
Stop in to Burger Fi for a $25 gift card and get a $5 bonus card for yourself. (I think I would spend mine all on onion rings.)
Carrabbas Italian Grill Gift Card Bonus Offer
Get rewarded this holiday season with a $10 bonus Carrabbas when you buy $50 in gift cards from November 1 to December 31. The details are here.
Chili’s Holiday Bonus Offer
Buy $50 in gift cards and get a $10 bonus card from Chili’s. Terms and conditions apply, though they don’t make them easy to find.
Denny’s $50 in Coupons
Wowee. Usually the bonus amount is smaller than the gift card purchase, but with Denny’s it’s the other way around! Buy a $25 gift card and get $50 in coupons from Denny’s. This particular promotion ends Dec. 22 so shop early.
Designer Shoe Warehouse (DSW) Gift Card Bonus
Friends help friends buy shoes. Get a $5, $20, or $30 bonus card for DSW when you purchase $50, $100, or $150 gift cards. Promotion details here.
IHOP Bonus with Gift Card Purchase
Grinches don’t normally give $25 gift cards, but a $5 bonus coupon might persuade them.
Logan’s Roadhouse Bonus Card
When you spend $50 on Logan’s Roadhouse gift cards, you’ll receive a $10 bonus card for yourself to use later! This deal is good on physical gift cards or e-gift cards.
Longhorn Steakhouse Gift Card Bonus
They grill, you give. Purchase a $25 (or more) gift card and you’ll get a $5 bonus card from Longhorn Steakhouse. Nice! Here’s the offer.
Noodles & Company Gift Card Bonus
Noodles & Company is offering a sweet deal on their gift cards: from November 7 to December 31, guests will receive a $5 bonus card for every $25 they spend on gift card purchases.
Olive Garden Gift Card Bonus
For every $50 you buy in gift cards, you’ll get a $10 bonus card from Olive Garden between now and December 30. Find out more here.
Pepperjax Grill Gift Card Bonus
For every $25 in gift cards you buy, you will get $5 for yourself. Plus PepperJax will donate 5% of all gift card sales to our local-area food banks. Stop in at any location now through December 31st to purchase; see store for full details.
Outback Steakhouse Bonus Gift Card
You’ll get a bonus card for $10 off in January or February when you purchase a $50 Outback Steakhouse gift card during the holidays. Offer details.
Panera Bread Gift Card Bonus
Purchase or reload a $50 gift card for Panera and receive a complimentary $10 bonus card. More info.
P.F. Chang’s $20 Bonus Reward
This requires a $100 buy, but you’ll get a $20 bonus reward from P.F. Chang’s that you can redeem for food or non-alcoholic beverages in the new year. Reward details here.
Qdoba Mexican Eats FREE Entrée with Gift Card Purchase
This gift card bonus ends November 30, so hurry to your closest Qdoba restaurant and ask for it. I think you can only get it in-store. Buy a $30 gift card for Qdoba Mexican Eats and get a FREE entrée in December!
Red Lobster SHELLebrate the Holidays Bonus
Red Lobster’s Give a Gift, Get a Gift holiday gift card promotion is a perfect gift or stocking stuffer for the seafood lover in your life. For every $50 you spend on Red Lobster gift cards, in-restaurant or online, you will receive a bonus card – good for $10 off on a future visit in the month of January.
Red Robin Bonus Buck Reward
Give the gift of burgers this holiday season and you’ll score a discount for yourself. Get a free Red Robin $5 Bonus Buck Reward for every $25 gift card purchase. Yummy terms and conditions here.
Regal Cinemas Gift Card Deal
So, when you buy $50 in Regal gift cards at the theater this holiday season, you’ll receive a $10 concessions bonus card. The bonus card is redeemable in January and February. This might be one bonus you give away with the gift, because they go together so well. And maybe your grateful friend will bring you along to enjoy the movie with them. (This could also be a great Date Night!) Read more about the Regal gift card deal here.
Texas Roadhouse Online Gift Card Deal
Two-step over to the Texas Roadhouse website for this gift card bonus deal, because it can only be gotten online. Earn a $5 bonus e-gift card for every $30 you spend on Texas Roadhouse gift cards online.
Village Inn $5 Promo with Gift Card Purchase
Village Inn Rio Grande Skillet
Purchase a $25 Village Inn gift card from now until the end of the year and you’ll get a $5 Village Inn promo card. Twenty-five dollars will get your friends a lot of pie (especially on Free Pie Wednesday)!
That’s all we know of right now! Did you see a gift card bonus deal we missed? Please let us know about it in the comments!!!
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