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I don't know if Starbuck's is still offering it, but for awhile if you bought a new $50 giftcard, or reloaded an existing card with $50, Starbuck's would send you a $10 gift card. I got a couple this way. 
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Luanne -
This was a great deal!
A local restaurant chain known for the attractiveness of its servers, as well as their good food offered a similar deal. For each $25 gift card purchased they would give you a $5 card. Since I eat there often, it seemed like a good idea. Having finished supper I asked if I purchased cards, could they be applied toward this meal. The pretty waitress responded "sure". So, I purchased $150 worth. She brought the gift cards and the bill for our meal . I put out Visa to pay for the card purchase and the card to pay for our meal. Bless her, she then proceeded to combine the two bills and applied the gift card first. In effect, I used the gift card to pay for its own purchase, and got a $30 free card for my efforts!
Now why cant I get timeshare deals like that!
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Retailers bank on unused gift cards 6-19%
Retailers bank on unused gift cards
About 6% of this year's gift cards will go unused, according to one estimate. Some put the figure much higher.
Shoppers across America have millions of gift cards tucked away in envelopes, drawers and wallets. And some of the nation's largest retailers are profiting as a result.
"It can be fun to get them, but then I forget about them," said Deborah Cabaret, 46, who has hundreds of dollars' worth of unused cards. "Or I walk into the store, I look around, I don't know what I want, and I leave."
Last winter, Best Buy (BBY, news, msgs) reported a $43 million gain in fiscal 2006 from cards that hadn't been used in two or more years. Limited Brands (LTD, news, msgs) recorded $30 million in 2005 revenue because of unredeemed cards.
Sales still rising
Even so, this holiday season is likely to see record sales of gift cards. The National Retail Federation, a trade group, estimates that shoppers will buy $24.8 billion worth of cards, up 34% from last year.
More places offer gift cards these days, including drugstores, jewelers, spas and even supermarkets. Shoppers are buying cards with higher dollar values, and more stores are packaging the cards with accessories to make them look less like plastic money.
About 6% of this year's gift cards will go unused, estimated Laura Lane, the vice president of unclaimed property services for Keane, a compliance and risk-management consulting firm.
Consumer Reports put the figure even higher, estimating that 19% of those who received cards last year had not used them because the cards were lost or expired.
"It can add up to significant dollars," Lane said. "I think the message to consumers is: Use it or 'regift' it."
More from MSN Money
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15 worst holiday gift ideas
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Gift cards challenge apparel as No. 1 holiday gift
Some gift cards get spent faster than others. Supermarkets and gas stations have close to 100% redemption rates, said Bob Skiba, who runs Ceridian's (CEN, news, msgs) Comdata gift-card division, based in Louisville, Ky.
"You don't have to buy a sweater every day, but you do have to eat and fill up your car," Skiba said.
Retailers say they would rather see customers use the cards.
"They have money in their pockets that's pointed to our store," said John Fleming, Wal-Mart Stores' (WMT, news, msgs) marketing chief and a former Target (TGT, news, msgs) executive.
In addition, a retailer can't report revenue from a gift card when it is sold. The revenue is recognized as the card is used or after it has gone a long time without being used.
Hot gift: Hot coffee
Research indicates that most consumers will spend more than the card is worth, using their own money to make up the difference.
A case in point is Starbucks (SBUX, news, msgs), the Seattle coffee retailer whose heavily promoted reloadable gift cards are among the hottest gifts of the holidays.
About 96 million Starbucks cards have been activated in the United States and Canada since November 2001, and customers have reloaded their cards about 38.6 million times, bringing in $2.17 billion in revenue.
If there are eight people in line at a typical Starbucks, chances are one of them paid up before even setting foot in the store.
"It's unique in the sense that most retailers aren't the kind where you have that everyday purchase," said Scott Krugman, a spokesman for the National Retail Federation, a trade group based in Washington, D.C.
In early November, Starbucks started offering its card in Britain, selling so many it had to order more than double the number in the initial batch to keep up with demand. The card is also available in Australia, Germany, Greece, Japan, Spain and Thailand.
Registered Starbucks cardholders, who number about 2 million, can reload their balances at a cash register or online, or sign up to have their banks automatically reload their cards whenever they dip below a certain balance.Comment
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Our local Fuddruckers is having a deal where if you buy a $20 gift card, you get a bonus $5 one, too. They also gave us a copy of the Sunday paper when we ate lunch there yesterday, with a $3 off $10 coupon good starting today.Comment
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Gift Card Rebates
Our daughter's school uses a program from Great Lakes (I believe they are in the student loan business) to earn rebates from the purchase of gift cards through the school. The rebates are from 3 to 10 and even 12%!
Due to this, we often buy gift cards for Christmas gifts and help the school as well!!!
This list is massive and we have given everything from fast food, home box stores, apparel stores, general retailers, grocery's, etc.
The reason they can offer these rebates is the fact that many get lost or are never used! This is a marketing phenominon in my mind. Get plenty of cash in hand without any immediate obligation. Then take all the interest on the float and claim the unused cards eventually as income!
If there was a way to offer this program to all of you I would do it!
JEMartin Comment
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