You can apply the gift card to your balance anytime during the stay in my experience. I'm not sure they mean you are supposed to hand it directly to restaurant staff though.
Originally Posted by
lkrt
The gift card is a disappointment. Paying a few hundred euros more to be able to pay on site to be able to use the gift card just makes the gift cards pointless. Well, will probably have to use them for dining etc.
I have no idea what this means. Hundreds of euros???