A guide to gift card expiry dates

There’s nothing worse than the sinking feeling of finding a gift card at the bottom of a drawer or in the back of your wallet and then realising it has expired. Let’s hope Aunty Jan doesn’t ask about the non-existent holiday I took with the expired Jetstar gift card…

Up until very recently, most gift cards sold in Australia had 12 months expiry from the date of purchase or activation. There were some brands/retailers that gave customers a little bit longer, but there weren’t many. The expiry laws varied from state to state, but New South Wales was the first to introduce a minimum of 3 years expiry in late 2017, with South Australia following shortly after in 2018.

In November 2019, new Federal legislation came into effect stating that any gift card sold (whether they be physical or digital) in Australia must have at least 3 years expiry, which meant all states now had the same gift card expiry laws. The extended expiry dates are a massive win for all of us who have accidentally let a gift card expire. We’ve been given even longer to get our act together and use our gift cards.

So which retailers have been extra nice to their customers and given them even more than 3 years? You’d be surprised to learn that there’s actually quite a few, and we’ve done the hard work for you and listed them below. These can all be purchased right here!

No Expiry Date

• BCF
  • Big W
  • BWS
  • Caltex Woolworths
  • Dan Murphy’s
  • JB Hi-Fi
  • Kathmandu
  • Supercheap Auto
  • Rebel
  • The Good Guys
  • Woolworths
  • Xbox

5 Years

• The Hotel Card

4 Years

• Coles
  • Kmart
  • Target

Be sure to keep in mind when you’re sending a digital gift card to a loved one through e-gift it and you choose to have it delivered on a future date, the expiry date is from the date of purchase, not from the date the recipient receives it.

Happy gifting!

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