Originally Posted by
HappyCoachFlyer
Use the gift card to pay for some "normal" bill (ex: water, satellite tv, phone, etc) on their website where you can put an exact amount in. Put in the full value of the gift card, and you'll have a surplus balance for a month or two that will slowly get used up.
This also works for MC gift cards of course, and it also works for small gift cards. I had a $10 MC "reward card" from some AA promo that I'd been trying to figure out where to use physically for months. Yesterday I used it to pay part of a Verizon bill online (at $10, it wasn't my full amount, of course), and Verizon reduced my amount owed by the gift card amount within minutes. It was quite easy.
And yes, I've prepaid lots of utility bills before (in cases where I was trying to either get credit card minimum spend for a bonus happening, or just trying to pay less often to minimize flat "convenience" fees).
(The policiies and recommendations for MC gift cards are basically the same as for Visa gift cards. I'm not sure why this thread is specifically titled as if it covers Visa only.)