Visa Gift Cards
 

Can't find the right forum.

I'm not a big fan of the Visa gift card. I got a couple of the $100 cards and each time i go to a restaurant and the bill is over $80 my card get's rejected. I guess they tack on a 20% tip and it would be rejected if the bill is more than 80+anticipated 20% ($20) tip. How can I avoid this so I can use the full value of my card? IS it impossible at a restaurant? Kind of defeats the purporse of withholding 20% but won't let you use it! How about letting me use the full value and I tip separately.

VISA says:

http://usa.visa.com/personal/cards/p...html#anchor_15

I would politely ask the server to authorize the transaction for the exact amount of the bill and explain that you will leave the tip in cash. However, it sounds as if the 20% could still be added automatically based on the merchant classification.

It is frustrating trying to use it sometimes

It doesn;t work. The server one time ran the card 2 times for the total amount which was less than 100 but the card kept rejecting the transaction.
The 20% is added automatically. I'm trying to figure out a way to use the card for the exact amoutn without the additional 20% hold.

Sometimes buying a gift card works. Then use the gift card to pay is easier to do.

Understood, and the VISA website confirms that what you are experiencing is designed into the system, although the 20% add-on may not always be automatic. You would need to ask the server to submit the authorization for 17% less than the real amount, but I don't expect they will agree to do this unless you are a regular patron.

FOX85's suggestion should work if you eat at the types of restaurants which sell giftcards at supermarkets or pharmacies.

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.

Then use your actual money to go and eat out.

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.)

yeah just split up your transaction....also whenever possible keep these prepaid gift cards for as long as they are valid for..even if they have 1$ on them...these can come in handy...

You need to have them process your transaction as a 'Purchase/Sale' transaction rather than a 'Pre-Authorisation' transaction. However depending on their CC terminal setup, this might not be possible.