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The holidays are here — and with it, the pressure to find gifts for your favorite and hardest-to-shop-for people. Why take a wild guess and risk a re-gifting situation (or worse, a post-gifting return and exchange trip), when you can make it easy on both of you by getting them something they’ll actually use? Yes, we’re talking about gift cards, but it doesn’t have to be as impersonal as it sounds.
How to Choose the Best Gift Cards
You could stock up on generic restaurant gift cards and call it a day, but that might not go well for those with picky palates (read: foodies) or people who live in areas where said eatery isn’t available. Gift certificates to retailers with online and brick-and-mortar shopping is an easy way to please the most particular pals on your list.
The best gift cards don’t have to be wrapped or even delivered in person. All of our picks on this list offer e-gift cards that can be purchased, sent and redeemed online. They’re great if you don’t feel like braving the crowds at the mall or if you have a recipient who may not be a store-bought-gift-type. A bonus: gifts cards make for a great last-minute gift too.
What Are the Best Gifts Cards Online?
Here, we’ve rounded up ideas for the best gift cards to buy for a range of recipients, from foodies and fitness fanatics to friends and family who are thirsty for knowledge (and wine).
1. Blue Apron Gift Card
Give someone the gift of home cooking this season with a gift card to Blue Apron. A $130 card gets them a two-week delivery of Blue Apron’s most popular two-serving meal plan. Your recipient gets three recipes a week, with everything you need to create a meal for two.
What we like: your recipient can choose from a variety of menu options, from signature offerings that include popular meat, chicken and fish dishes (think pork roasts and hearty curries), to a vegetarian option for delicious meat-free dinners. Blue Apron’s dishes are health-focused and made from fresh, carefully-selected ingredients, with diabetes-friendly recipes and WW-approved meal plans too.
Want to send dinner to an entire family? Send them a Blue Apron gift card and apply it to Blue Apron’s “Signature for 4” plan, with recipes to feed up to four people.
Blue Apron
2. Gold Belly E-Gift Card
Foodies and travel fans alike will love a gift card from Gold Belly, which delivers food and merch from hundreds of restaurants, bakeries and celebrity chefs from across the country. Loved that barbecue you had in Kansas City? You can get ribs and brisket (and burnt ends) delivered. Want authentic Chicago deep dish pizza? Gold Belly has that available for delivery too. It’s not just quick eats either – we’ve ordered baked goods from Bouchon and Balthazar, pork belly buns from Momofuku and fried chicken from Blue Ribbon.
There are a ton of gift ideas from top chefs as well: think everyone from Jose Andres and Daniel Boulud to Nancy Silverton and Stephanie Izard (of Girl and the Goat). And you can order cookies from Ina Garten (a.k.a. the Barefoot Contessa), vegan cheesesteaks from drummer Questlove and that iconic chocolate cake from “Ace of Cakes” star Duff Goldman.
Send a one-time gift card with denominations of your choice, or sign your recipient up for a monthly subscription ($85) which gets them a delivery of top eats and special merch each month. Everything ships fresh or frozen in secure, food-safe packaging and is delivered straight to your door.
Gold Belly
3. Sam Ash Gift Certificate
Shopping for a musician who’s particular about their gear? Regardless of their preferred instrument, a Sam Ash gift certificate will let them pick their own brand-spanking new drum sticks, synthesizers, tuners, pedals, or whatever’s pulling at their musically-inclined heartstrings.
Sam Ash
4. Amazon Gift Card
One of the most versatile gift cards available online, an Amazon gift card lets you purchase everything from music downloads, to electronics, home goods, food and more. Send a gift card by email, and your recipient can redeem it instantly online at Amazon.com. Choose from more than a dozen designs for every occasion, from festive celebrations to a birthday or “just because.”
This is one of our favorite gift cards to send to someone; whether it’s for a colleague, neighbor, friend or family member, an Amazon gift card is always appreciated.
Amazon
5. CLEAR Gift Card
As people start slowly easing back into travel, only one gift card can help them avoid the crowds and lines at the airport. The CLEAR gift card is the perfect gift for both casual travelers and frequent fliers alike. Use the gift card towards an annual CLEAR membership, which lets you breeze through airport security by skipping the general security line and using a dedicated members-only lane. CLEAR is also a touch-less process, using biometrics — like your eyes and face — to identify you, rather than physical papers and documents.
What we like: while CLEAR is a clear winner these days at the airport (no pun intended), you’ll also be able to use CLEAR to bypass lines at stadiums and concession stands, when sporting events start up again.
The CLEAR gift card is an unexpected but much-appreciated gift for the traveler in your life. A one-year membership costs $179. Once they sign-up, your recipient just needs to present a valid government-issued ID to a CLEAR location (I.e. at the airport) to verify and confirm their status.
Clear
6. DoorDash Gift Card
The great thing about a gift card from DoorDash is that your recipient can use it to get everything from food to drinks to desserts straight to their door. DoorDash currently delivers from more than 310,000 restaurants, in 4000+ towns and cities across the country.
You don’t need to use your DoorDash account to order and send a gift card either if you prefer to keep your information private. Just head over to DoorDash.com to select your gift card design and denomination ($25-$200), and enter your recipient’s email address and the day and time you want the card delivered. You can also choose to have the gift card sent in the mail too.
Once your recipient receives their gift card, they can add it to their account and choose how they want to spend the money, whether to treat themselves to dinner, or to get dessert delivered for a sweet date night treat.
Doordash
7. Target Gift Card
You can’t go wrong with a gift card from Target. The mass retailer has something for everyone in need of restocks, from home essentials like furniture by celebrity interior designers and non-toxic cleaning products to stylish closet staples and office supplies. You can send a Target gift card via email, snail mail, or even text.
Target
8. Backcountry eGift Certificate
Outdoorsy types will be eager to restock their wardrobes for winter and spring (and perhaps take advantage of the end-of-season sales), so a gift card to Backcountry will come in handy. The online retailer offers a range of apparel, footwear, accessories, gear, and more for your adventure seeker’s favorite activities, be it climbing, hiking, camping, cycling, and beyond.
Backcountry
9. Shopbop Gift Card
If you believe the old Yves Saint Laurent adage, “Fashions fade, style is eternal,” then you know that whatever sartorial gift you buy this season might be buried in someone’s closet before the year ends. For the stylish, designer-loving people on your list, a Shopbop gift card is one stylish solution, and recipients can shop menswear and womenswear from a cool roster of cult-favorite luxury labels and streetwear brands ranging from Coach and Champion to Levi’s and Lacoste, to name just a few.
It’s not just clothing either: we love Shopbop for its range of stylish accessories, home decor items and luxe bath and beauty products too for an instant #Shelfie upgrade.
East Dane
10. Nike Gift Card
For the friend that pushes themselves to work out harder and smarter every year, or the sneakerhead who’s always ready to stock up on new kicks, a Nike gift card can cover their latest high-performance gear or their AF1 addiction. You can choose digital gift card designs ranging from the classic swoosh to the logo of your recipient’s favorite team.
Nike
11. Parachute Gift Card
Breathable, comfortable bedsheets might not be the first essentials that people think to splurge on, so give the gift of luxurious sleep to your favorite folks who could use some good shut-eye. We love snoozing on Parachute‘s soft-as-a-cloud linens, but the L.A.-based company also make cozy towels and other home goods that will elevate your giftee’s abode. With a gift card, your recipient gets to choose.
12. MasterClass One-Year All-Access Pass
If your giftee’s mantra is “knowledge is power,” contribute to their brain matter fund with a one-year, all-access pass to MasterClass. The online learning platform features classes helmed by the who’s who of across a range of industries, meaning subscribers can get schooled in photography by Annie Leibovitz, business strategy by Bob Iger, filmmaking by Martin Scorcese, and science by Neil deGrasse Tyson, among many, many other courses from over 90 celebrities, industry leaders and yes, “masters.”
MasterClass
13. Steam Gift Card
Shopping for a gamer? Rather than picking up something they’ve already played (and won), let them choose their own adventure — whether it be action, sports, an RPG, or even an oddly soothing game about a goose — and get them a gift card from Steam.
Steam
14. Nintendo Switch Online Membership
“Animal Crossing: New Horizons” was the unexpected mid-pandemic video game hit of the year — and if your loved one’s still building away on their virtual island (or maybe they’re more of a Mario Kart fan), they’ll likely appreciate another year of Nintendo Switch Online. You’ll want to make sure they have a Nintendo Switch too, which is back in stock online after being sold out for much for 2020. See latest Nintendo Switch prices here.
Nintendo
15. Wine Insiders Gift Card
Even if you don’t agree on which varietal is superior, you can still send a thoughtful gift to your belov