Today, travelers not only accumulate frequent flyer miles from flying on a variety of airlines, but there are also credit cards that allow you to add to your airline miles. While the benefit of extra miles is obvious to the frequent flyer who can take advantage of the free flights, what about the casual traveler? Not everyone wants to redeem their miles for more flights and it would be simpler to just be able to get cash. Gift Card Rescue provides a solution to those who have accumulated frequent flyer miles and would rather have cash then anything else.

How it Works

For some frequent flyer programs like Delta Skymiles, you can use miles to purchase gift cards to some retailers like Macy’s, Best Buy, Home Depot, and Red Lobster.

We recommend redeeming your miles for gift cards to retailers that we pay the highest value for, like grocery stores, Walmart, Macy’s, Target, and Best Buy (that way, you can get the most cash for your miles). It should be noted that Gift Card Rescue does not buy all gift cards, but only the ones listed on our merchant list.

After you receive your gift card

Sign up for an account here and select to sell us a card. You will receive a quote based on the value of the cards. You then ship the cards to us. Once we receive the cards, we will mail you a check within 48 hours. Concerned about the process or have additional questions? Send us an e-mail at customerservice@giftcardrescue.com or click here for more on how it works.

There have been a variety of scams people have fallen victim to when trying to redeem their gift cards. Here are a few tips and situations to help you avoid being ripped off of your money.

1. After purchasing the card immediately write your initials on the back of it in permanent marker.

When an unknowing consumer goes to use their gift card at the place of purchase, the cashier will switch the card with a different one containing no value. When the cashier tries to verify the card and the value is zero the consumer is out of luck. Don’t let this happen to you by just writing your initials on the back of the card you won’t be fooled by such a trick.

2. Scratch off the account & pin number on the back of the card & write it down while also registering your card online

Scammers will copy down the account & pin numbers off of cards in stores like Walgreens that sell gift cards to a variety of places like Olive Garden,  Best Buy, and Barnes & Noble. They will then call and look up to see when the card was activated and if so they will use the account number to shop online. If you card is registered to your name and you can prove ownership with the account and pin number you will be able to retain the value. Read the rest of this entry »

A big thanks to everyone who has tweeted @giftcardrescue and really expanded our fan base online. We’ve received a numerous amount of entries and went from being a small presence with only 230 followers to a online community with over 2,000 followers. We’ve made a lot of great connections with bloggers, twitterers, and others have even taken the step to connect with us on facebook. This will be the last twitter winner of a $50 Visa Gift Card, but you can still win a card just for signing up for our online newsletter here. Look forward and stay tuned as we’ll continue to have a lot more fun promotions in 2010 with even bigger prizes.

Okay so the moment you’ve all been waiting for Read the rest of this entry »

Discount Gift Cards are one of your best options for giving this Holiday season. Here I’ve compiled a list of five reasons why you should buy a discounted gift card with input from some of our followers on twitter. Follow Gift Card Rescue on twitter for your chance to contribute and be featured on our blog as well as win free gift cards.

1. You can save more with discount gift cards by combining in store savings. For example, if a leather Jacket at JCPenny normally retails at $100 but  is on sale for $75 and you make your purchase with a discount gift card then you will save in total 37% off of the retail price of $100!

2. A way to keep donating & giving. Everyone has been hit hard by this economy and we must all be thankful for what we have. Those hit the hardest had nothing before the economic downturn and need help now more then ever. A discount gift card allows you to make the same monetary donation to your local food bank, church, or school that you would have before.

3. Gift Cards let the receiver choose. Being able to choose your own gift makes a world of difference! I can’t even elaborate on the amount of times that Ive gotten a shirt where the size was too small or I’ve outgrown the trend (for some reason my aunt still thought at age 20, I enjoyed Pokemon).

Read the rest of this entry »

The Federal Reserve announced Monday that they were proposing new legislation that would limit the fees and expiration dates of retail gift cards. The main changes focus in on retailers no longer being able to charge fees for owners who using used their gift cards in the previous year.

This directly benefits the consumer because as long as after you buy the gift card and use a portion of it towards any purchase, the establishment cannot charge you any maintenance fees. It’s also rumored that gift cards will now be valid for a period of up to five years. Read the rest of this entry »

Wow it only took us a month to go from 1,000 to 1,500 followers! I think that we have one of the greatest online communities out there. Instead of just adding followers and following back, we like to actively engage with all of our followers. I think that has definitely made the difference allowing us to gain popularity so quick! Everyone is doing a really great job of spreading the word about Gift Card Rescue and it just goes to show why we are your number one choice in buying discount gift cards, sales, and exchanges.

And now for our third winner of a $50 Visa Gift Card after the break
Read the rest of this entry »

One of the best reasons to buy discounted gift cards from Gift Card Rescue is the added benefit of stretching your dollar further. Another way to frugally live and take advantage of the discount gained from gift cards and combine them with in coupons offered by the retailers themselves. Don’t want to go from one advertisement to the other shopping for the best deal? Good thing the internet is here to make your life a little easier.

While on twitter just a few days ago I was talking with one of our followers The Savalots. It’s amazing the connections that you can make on twitter. If you’re not on the social networking site already you should definitely give it a try and sign up. We give away a $50 Visa Gift Card every 500 followers with two winners already you could be next.

Anyways the Savalots is a blog dedicated to helping people save through online discounts, sales, and free stuff. If you find a gift card

that you like at Gift Card Rescue and want to make the purchase I encourage you to check out the Savalots to combine your savings and take it to the next level. An example of savings is right now in our store you can get a Gymboree Gift Card for 15% off while at the Savalots you can print a coupon (or use it online) at Gymboree for 30% off Everything! (Coupon is valid from 11/4/2009 – 11/8/2009). Combine those savings and there is no way you can lose.

Do you have a gift card that you forgot about with no idea the balance left on it? I’m sure you have as this problem happens to almost everyone. There are a couple of different ways to check your gift card balance, but instead of searching google for that one special 1-800 number, where your search results are probably coming up as where to buy a gift card or free gift cards,  just go to Gift Card Balance Now.

Gift Card Balance Now is a free service offered by Gift Card Rescue that allows you to check the balance of your gift cards anytime from anywhere on the web. It’s 100% free and secure so you don’t have to worry about anyone trying to scam you of your gift card credit. The only thing you need to have ready is your gift card number and the process is really simple from there out!

We can help you check your Gift Card Balance for free but if you have any issues with the amount of credit on the card, you’ll have to contact the Merchant Directly. Check out this new free service from your premiere choice in discount gift card sales, trades, and exchanges, Gift Card Rescue!

Also stay tuned this weekend for some Halloween Sales!

The only question here  when looking at the Frugals, is who to turn to for help first? The Frugals are a group of super hero’s who fight crime against your wallet. The group is made up of five heroes who’s talents combine to provide the best personal finance team found on the web. You can stop patrolling the millions of personal finance blogs out there on the web for just one network that combines all of the best resources into one. The concept of a network of saving sites for the frugally minded consumer was originally invented by Luke Knowles (founder of freeshipping.org) who got the idea after watching a documentary on The Incredibles. Unable to achieve his goal alone Luke teamed up with  his brother Jesse Knowles who is in charge of development of the websites as well as the Coupon Sherpa Iphone Application

One of the featured frugals is Coupon Sherpa the penny pinching, coupon clipping, deal digging, Himalyan haggling, he-man of bargains. Immediately you are greeted with the top coupons of the day that you can easily share with your friends via facebook, twitter, and more. The best part about Coupon Sherpa is that when a coupon is expired it’s removed from the site so you’ll never have to deal with false bargains again. The four tabs on top of the site let you navigate between online, printable, grocery, or mobile coupons so they are virtually usable by anyone. Coupon Sherpa is certainly a resource your wallet cannot be without.

My personal favorite Frugal, is Mr. Freestuff because according to my wallet nothing is better then free. In a string tight economy your dollar has to go further so why not give it a break with Mr. Freestuff? Everyday new posts are put up of products that are available to you at no cost. What makes the site even better is that the exact details of how to acquire the free stuff is right there for you. Not like some of those rebates on the web where you have to mail something in, send a DNA sample, and pass a retina exam. Mr. Freestuff breaks it down simply letting you take advantage of some of the best free deals on the web.

Look forward to more from the Super Saving Frugals and Luke Knowles as Gift Card Granny will be launching around November 7th and Rebate Ranger as early as January 2010.

My girlfriend absolutely loves all different kinds of jewelry from necklaces, bracelets, ear rings, and whatever else she can find. But, I don’t think I’m the only guy who isn’t exactly certain about what to buy when it comes to jewelry. I would much rather let my girlfriend happily decide what she wants on her own knowing that its from me. So a discounted gift card to a retailer like Tiffany & Company makes perfect sense for a present.

So if you find yourself in a similar situation why don’t you try this gift card giving idea out. First buy a picture frame and place a memorable photo inside. Then, take your gift card and put it inside of the frame right in front of the picture. Last, put the picture frame in a box and wrap it up with some of your favorite wrapping paper.

When your significant other shakes the box she will be anxious to discover what its contents are. She’ll tear through the paper only to find a picture frame. But, her curiosity will be sparked by the small gift card that lays in front of your memorable photo. That curiosity will quickly transform into bliss when she finds the gift card to Tiffany & Company.

And that is how you creatively give a gift card to a jewelry lover. Subscribe to our blog for more unique ways to give a gift card that will be released in the upcoming weeks!