4 ms·

Reminder again to never hold gift cards. I had a family member who was gited a $3,000 travel voucher with an agency - I told them to exchange it in for flights

Reminder again to never hold gift cards. I had a family member who was gited a $3,000 travel voucher with an agency - I told them to exchange it in for flights asap as you can book up to a year out, change the tickets later and it's better to be a creditor with a national airline than a likely-going-out-of-business-because-of-online travel agency

nabla9 7y ago
Additionally, buy flights using credit card. If you used a credit card, you get your money back in the case of bankruptcy. If you used cash you may not unless you bought bankruptcy insurance.
- tomatocracy 7y ago
  What’s more, many credit cards provide at least limited travel insurance which may cover the cost of alternative flights and accommodation.
tomglynch 7y ago
This is literally an Airline going out of business, the opposite to the point you're making.
- barsonme 7y ago
  They do much more than just airlines. For example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cook_Hotels_%26_Resorts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cook_Hotels_%26_Resorts
dehrmann 7y ago
The gift card market just confuses me. Especially when it's people giving gifts to people (not corporate gifts), cash is something that has at least as much value as the gift card, is accept everywhere, isn't a liability on a balance sheet, and is easier to give.
- Scarblac 7y ago
  Ideally a gift should show that you know the other person well enough to pick just the right thing for them. Money is the other extreme, it says "I really have no idea what kind of gift you'd like", so apparently you hardly know each other. Gift cards are at least a small step up, you show you think the other likes to travel.
  - onion2k 7y ago
    Cash with a note saying "For you to enjoy in <person's favourite shop>" then.
    - why-oh-why 7y ago
      That reminds me of my grandma, she used to hand me money “for you to buy some X” I should give her a call.
  - TeMPOraL 7y ago
    I wonder whether this sentiment evolved naturally, or was created by merchants (the way we have an ever growing amount of holidays and customs that somehow oblige you to spend lots of money). On the one hand, giving a well-received physical gift shows that you know the person enough to get them something they wanted. On the other hand, it also risks they'll have an unplanned item that kind-of-but-not-quite matches what they actually wanted, creating friction and inconvenience in their lives. I know this is a custom, but personally, I'd much prefer to get a monetary equivalent instead. (One custom in my area I know where giving actual money is still expected is weddings. This is usually justified by the fact that organizing a wedding costs a ton of money, so this helps the newlyweds recoup the expense.)
- viraptor 7y ago
  Same, I really don't get gift cards as actual gifts. On the other hand, because they're less useful than money, you can often get them cheaper in some kind of promotion. I'm getting almost all of my groceries+fuel via gift cards which I can get from my car insurer with 5% discount. But there are many online markets that would probably give a better price of you have time to deal with them.
hnarn 7y ago
> Reminder again to never hold gift cards. $3,000 is no small amount of money, do people really feel so much shame in giving someone plain old money that they have to buy a gift card? A gift card is almost like buying a stock, except it's much more risky and gives you zero benefits compared to the cash that paid for it. If you want someone to be able to travel for $3,000 just give them $3,000.
- ljm 7y ago
  Some places will try to offer refunds or compensation in the form of gift cards or store credit, which ostensibly makes it a non-refund in many cases. Voluntarily spending £3k on a gift card seems utterly insane. I imagine a lot of people would feel quite confused or upset about that considering what they could also spend a few grand on.
tomp 7y ago
Depends on the country and industry... AFAIK in the UK, if you buy a restaurant voucher (e.g. via Groupon), the restaurant doesn't actually get that money, but it's held in a separate account until the customer actually uses the voucher.

nabla9 7y ago

Additionally, buy flights using credit card. If you used a credit card, you get your money back in the case of bankruptcy. If you used cash you may not unless you bought bankruptcy insurance.

tomatocracy 7y ago
What’s more, many credit cards provide at least limited travel insurance which may cover the cost of alternative flights and accommodation.

tomglynch 7y ago

This is literally an Airline going out of business, the opposite to the point you're making.

barsonme 7y ago
They do much more than just airlines. For example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cook_Hotels_%26_Resorts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cook_Hotels_%26_Resorts

dehrmann 7y ago

The gift card market just confuses me. Especially when it's people giving gifts to people (not corporate gifts), cash is something that has at least as much value as the gift card, is accept everywhere, isn't a liability on a balance sheet, and is easier to give.

Scarblac 7y ago
Ideally a gift should show that you know the other person well enough to pick just the right thing for them. Money is the other extreme, it says "I really have no idea what kind of gift you'd like", so apparently you hardly know each other. Gift cards are at least a small step up, you show you think the other likes to travel.
- onion2k 7y ago
  Cash with a note saying "For you to enjoy in <person's favourite shop>" then.
  - why-oh-why 7y ago
    That reminds me of my grandma, she used to hand me money “for you to buy some X” I should give her a call.
- TeMPOraL 7y ago
  I wonder whether this sentiment evolved naturally, or was created by merchants (the way we have an ever growing amount of holidays and customs that somehow oblige you to spend lots of money). On the one hand, giving a well-received physical gift shows that you know the person enough to get them something they wanted. On the other hand, it also risks they'll have an unplanned item that kind-of-but-not-quite matches what they actually wanted, creating friction and inconvenience in their lives. I know this is a custom, but personally, I'd much prefer to get a monetary equivalent instead. (One custom in my area I know where giving actual money is still expected is weddings. This is usually justified by the fact that organizing a wedding costs a ton of money, so this helps the newlyweds recoup the expense.)
viraptor 7y ago
Same, I really don't get gift cards as actual gifts. On the other hand, because they're less useful than money, you can often get them cheaper in some kind of promotion. I'm getting almost all of my groceries+fuel via gift cards which I can get from my car insurer with 5% discount. But there are many online markets that would probably give a better price of you have time to deal with them.

hnarn 7y ago

> Reminder again to never hold gift cards. $3,000 is no small amount of money, do people really feel so much shame in giving someone plain old money that they have to buy a gift card? A gift card is almost like buying a stock, except it's much more risky and gives you zero benefits compared to the cash that paid for it. If you want someone to be able to travel for $3,000 just give them $3,000.

ljm 7y ago
Some places will try to offer refunds or compensation in the form of gift cards or store credit, which ostensibly makes it a non-refund in many cases. Voluntarily spending £3k on a gift card seems utterly insane. I imagine a lot of people would feel quite confused or upset about that considering what they could also spend a few grand on.

tomp 7y ago

Depends on the country and industry... AFAIK in the UK, if you buy a restaurant voucher (e.g. via Groupon), the restaurant doesn't actually get that money, but it's held in a separate account until the customer actually uses the voucher.