11 Surprisingly Simple Ways to Get Free Gift Cards

How do you earn free gift cards? Sounds too good to be true, right? Wrong.

With pretty minimal effort, a number of restaurants, retailers, and services will give you free gift cards. No kidding: Free Amazon gift cards, free Visa gift cards, and free grocery gift cards are totally possible.

You can earn a gift card by doing things you already do, like shopping online, cleaning out your closet, and grocery shopping.

Download the KCL app to find more free gift card deals and money-saving tips and coupons.

 

1. Get free gift cards from Amazon, Walmart & more when you trade in used electronics.

Dig out that old cell phone that’s been collecting dust, and trade it for a gift card. These places trade electronics for gift cards:

• Abt.com: Camcorders, cameras, car audio systems, notebook computers, tablets, gaming systems, and cell phones can be swapped for an Abt.com gift card.
• Amazon: Trade Amazon Alexa devices, Kindle e-Readers, tablets, game consoles, cellphones, and more for Amazon gift cards.
• Apple: Receive an Apple gift card for any iPad, iPhone, Mac desktop computer, iPod, Apple Watch, and more.
• Staples: Get a Staples e-gift card for your unwanted tech gear. Laptops, tablets, e-readers, and phones are eligible for trade-in in stores, and tablets, smartphones, iPods, and MP3 players are eligible for online trade-ins.
• Walmart: Get a Walmart eGift card for cell phones, tablets, video games, and wearables.
• Verizon Wireless: Receive a Verizon Wireless electronic gift card for giving up your old cell phone, smartwatch, tablet, iPod, and more.

 

2. Get a free Amazon gift card when you cash out your Ibotta & Fetch Rewards earnings.

If you haven’t started already, you need to use receipt apps like Fetch Rewards, ReceiptPal, Receipt Hog, and Ibotta to save money. Besides the option to get the cashback, you can also opt to redeem your rewards for free Amazon gift cards (and other stores, too).

Stores may change, but you can expect gift cards from Amazon, Whole Foods, Target, Sephora, Applebee’s, and Best Buy.

 

3. Get a free gift card when you buy certain items at Target.

Target often offers a free gift card when you purchase something specific during special promotions. So often, in fact, that we’ve dedicated an entire article to learning how to grab free Target gift cards. This is just one of the easy ways to shop smarter at Target.

Other stores that do the same include BuyBuy Baby, Safeway, Bed Bath & Beyond, Victoria’s Secret, and Sam’s Club.

 

4. Earn free gift cards when you refer a friend to a service you use.

Keep in mind, you generally won’t receive a free gift card for just making a referral. A friend may need to make a purchase or keep an account open for a certain amount of time. Always read the fine print.

If you use one of these services, you’ll be able to get a free gift card for referring a friend:

• Ancestry.com: Earn a $10 Amazon gift card when you share AncestryDNA via Email, text, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, or Twitter, and your friend orders AncestryDNA.
• CenturyLink: Earn a $25 gift card per friend who signs up for CenturyLink.
• Comcast: You have three ways to earn up to a max of $500 for referring Comcast cable. Every friend who signs up for one Xfinity service will earn you a $50 Visa gift card, two or more services and it’s a $150 gift card. Get a new or existing Xfinity customer to join Xfinity mobile and receive an additional $25 gift card.
• PLS 3rd Learning: Refer friends to PLS 3rd Learning, and get a $25 Amazon gift card for anyone who completes a class.
• Ria: Get a $20 Amazon gift card when your friend transfers money with Ria.
• TurboTax: Score a $10 gift card when your friend completes their taxes with TurboTax. You can refer up to ten friends to earn a maximum of $250 in gift cards.
• T-Mobile: Get a $50 MasterCard card for every friend who joins T-Mobile, up to 10 referrals per year.
• Vonage: Score a $50 e-gift card at 50 national retailers when your friend becomes a Vonage customer.

 

 

5. Earn free gift cards by referring a friend to shop at certain stores/websites.

Like those referrals? There’s more where that came from. These companies offer free gift cards when your referred friends sign up or make a purchase:

• MOO: Receive a $15 MOO gift card when your friend makes their first purchase with MOO.
• Raise: You’ll get $5 deposited into your Raise account to use on any gift card when your friend makes a purchase (up to $100 per year).
• REI CO-OP MasterCard: Score a $20 REI gift card per friend who signs up and is approved for the REI credit card. Your gift card earnings for REI’s referral program are unlimited.
• Sam’s Club: Receive a $10 e-gift card for every friend who signs up for a Sam’s Club membership.

If you’re the one getting referred, you also earn a free gift card from Comcast, Sam’s Club, and many more. Anytime you’re looking for a new service, ask how you can get a referral.

 

 

6. Get free gift cards from Shopkick when you do your weekly grocery shopping.

We all know there are apps that earn you easy money, and the shopping app Shopkick is one of our favorites.

Earn rewards or “kicks” for scanning products in stores, buying certain products, and inviting friends. Trade points for Best Buy, Target, Starbucks, Sephora, and other gift cards.

 

7. Get free gift cards when you join the Gift Card Granny rewards program.

The Granny Rewards Program allows you to rack up points to exchange for Visa, Target, Bath & Body Works, Panera, and other popular gift cards.

Earn points by creating an account, signing up for the newsletter, referring friends, sharing coupons, and more.

Keep an eye on Granny’s Secret Deals, which features daily deals offering bonus gift cards or something else equally cool. Today Smashburger and Fuddruckers are offering $50 worth of gift cards for only $37.50.

Also, you can earn Granny Rewards when you refer a friend; you get $5 in credit for each friend who signs up.

 

8. Get free gift cards via cashback apps like TopCashback and Honey.

When you shop with cashback apps like TopCashback and Honey you can opt to get your earnings via a gift card.

TopCashback even offers you an extra 3% bonus when you select Amazon gift cards as your payout. The best part, unlike receipt apps, you don’t have to scan anything to get cashback with these apps. For TopCashback you have to shop via their online portal.

 

 

9. Get free gift cards when you take surveys, watch videos, or just change your search engine settings.

• Swagbucks: Earn gift cards from Swagbucks by watching videos, shopping online, answering surveys, and searching the web. You can even earn $5 just for signing up.
• Bing: Earn credits as you search for anything online through Bing. Cash credits in for $5 gift cards to Starbucks, Toys R Us, Amazon, and more.
• MyPoints: Shop online through MyPoints, take surveys, watch videos, and read e-mails for gift cards.
• InstaGC: Watch videos, complete surveys, shop online, and search the web with InstaGC for gift cards.
• iRazoo: Earn gift cards or cash with iRazoo by downloading apps, playing games, watching videos, taking surveys, and completing offers.

Want to learn more? We’ve got lots to say about how to earn freebies with Swagbucks.

 

10. Get free gift cards when you buy a certain amount in restaurant gift cards.

Many restaurants, including Olive Garden, Applebee’s, Outback, Chili’s, and BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, offer bonus gift cards when you buy a specified amount of gift cards; for example: for every $50 you buy in gift cards, receive a $10 bonus card.

These offers happen throughout the year, but you can almost always find one for the restaurant of your choice around the holiday season.

 

11. Earn free gift cards as a bonus for buying gift cards from certain retailers.

Just like with restaurants, you can find promotions for free bonus gift cards at stores.

DSW, Victoria’s Secret, Barnes & Noble, The Children’s Place, Half Price Books, and Rue21 are all stores that have offered this type of bonus.