Terms of other cards should also be read closely to ensure they can be used for intended purposes. Most cards cannot be used toward paying off credit cards from retailers. Albertsons does not allow use of its gift cards for gasoline purchases.

Kmart does not allow cards to be used in its restaurants or photo studios. Home Depot does not allow gift cards to be used for online purchases, or as a deposit on tool rental, for example.

Theft replacement

Different companies handle theft or loss of cards in different ways — which may cost consumers plenty.

Terms of 10 of the 41 cards examined said they will not be replaced if lost or stolen, so owners should treat them just like cash. Those 10 included: Albertsons, AMC Theaters, Barnes & Noble, Build A Bear Workshop, Cheesecake Factory, Marriott, Olive Garden, Outback Steakhouse, Red Lobster and Starbucks.

Another six did not make it clear on packaging whether replacement is possible. Twenty-five said cards may be replaced, but usually required a receipt or proof of purchase and a card number, which purchasers should keep on file. Most retailers offered replacement for free, while bank-issued cards usually required fees of $5 to $7.50.

Security may be a problem with some cards. News reports have said some scammers have obtained numbers of unsold cards and manage to use much of a card's value after it is sold and activated. To guard against that, many cards now include PIN numbers, covered with scratch-off coating.

However, the Morning News found that several cards still lack such PINs with scratch-off coating, including some for ShopKo, Olive Garden, the Cheesecake Factory, Marriott and Outback.

Despite problems with some gift cards, the Morning News found several that had no expiration dates, no maintenance fees, were clearly replaceable, were not overly restrictive about what could be purchased and clearly had PINs for security.

They were: Best Buy, Blockbuster, Cabela's, Circuit City, Gap, Lowe's, Nordstrom, Old Navy, PetSmart, Sears, Southwest Airlines, Target and Wal-Mart.

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E-mail: lee@desnews.com