Restaurant Gift Certificates for Students: A Welcome Alternative

As time wears on, more and more retailers are moving from the older form of paper gift certificates to plastic gift cards. This move is more than just a reflection on the world's ever-increasing usage of plastic over cash and checks; it is a convenience and cost-saving measure that is being used for restaurant gift certificates. The result of this change from paper to plastic does more than simply benefit the company issuing the restaurant gift certificates; it makes it more convenient for you, the consumer.

For decades, paper gift certificates have been the preferred method of retailers, who advertise them as excellent ways to avoid the hassle of finding the perfect gift. The problem with these paper gift certificates is that since they are for a specific dollar amount, you either had to use the whole thing, or wait around after your meal to have another one issued for the balance. Since nothing says "after dinner conversation" quite like waiting for the restaurant manager to deliver your newly minted piece of paper, plastic cards are the preferred method of handling restaurant gift certificates nowadays.

Paper gift certificates were subject to tearing, fading, and water damage. They were easy to misplace, and often too large to fit in a man's wallet. A plastic card, the same size as a standard credit card, is a greatly improved way of using stored-value gift options. Because they fit in the same slots as a credit card, they are more difficult to misplace, and if they are damaged, you can have them reissued. On the back of the card there is a number that you can call to check your balance, and to report a missing or stolen card. With paper versions, if they're lost or stolen, you're generally out of luck. Another great feature of the gift card is that they're often reloadable, which makes the piece of plastic reusable.