Marriott just did a 20% gift card promo, although the implementation/fulfillment was a bit of a fiasco for some (luckily I got what I wanted without much fuss)
Originally Posted by
cre95
Gift cards are an interesting phenomena in my view. Back in the days, you would get a physical gift for somebody or you would give them cash. Cash would provide the flexibility to the recipient to decide what to buy. Then came gift cards ... I was thinking of you but couldn't decide what to get you and figure a gift card would be a great option. So, rather than giving you cash (or check), I'll limit your flexibility and give you a gift card.
There was some columnist a while back saying that cash gifts/gift cards are basically paying each other for our friendship. Although as sad as that may be, it's still probably better overall than buying each other useless crap that will just collect dust in a closet somewhere (assuming it's a gift card for something you'll actually use...)