Look gift cards in the mouth

Consumer surveys are showing that three in every four holiday shoppers plan to give at least one gift card as a present this year and will spend a total of $18.5 billion nationwide on what is the third-most-popular item on their list.

If you are one of those buyers, beware: Many cards have hidden charges or other traps that could unexpectedly drain the cards' value.

A review of the fine print in the terms of usage for dozens of gift cards by the Deseret Morning News shows that while most offer full value without expiration dates or hidden fees, about a third had potential catches.

Some charge up to $6 a month in "maintenance fees" until a card is drained. Some charge up to $1 as a service fee every time the card is used. Some charge up to $1 to check how much value remains on a partially used card.

Some charge up to $19 more than the face value of the card as a start-up or processing fee. Some cards will expire, and the company may charge up to a $15 fee to recover any value that was left on an expired card. Some companies will replace lost or stolen cards, while some will not. Some will do it only for a fee.

Cards from banking companies — such as prepaid Visa or Mastercard gift cards — tend to have more hidden fees than cards from retailers. And while such companies advertise their cards are good anywhere that Visa and Mastercard are accepted, fine print shows they might not be easily usable at many restaurants, gas stations or ATMs.

Also, some companies do not disclose terms and hidden fees easily. To find some, customers must remove cards from packaging in order to read the fine print on the back, or they must call the company by telephone for terms. Some also do not list terms on Internet sites for cards sold online.

"We encourage folks to look very, very closely at the terms for usage of gift cards, including the rates charged, maintenance fees, whether they have an expiration date. Some will devalue your card over time," warns Francine Giani, executive director of the Utah Division of Consumer Protection.

Following are some of the traps the Deseret Morning News found that could drain gift card values.

• Maintenance/dormancy fees

If gift cards are not used quickly, many companies charge such fees until the value of a card is depleted.