OK Jerry - it goes like this -- Target has "stations" throughout the store where they have gift cards - you help yourself. Other stores have them near the cash register, so you have to be quick or have your spouse get them while you're paying for your stuff or somehow distracting the clerk. They're no good until activated at the cash register. Helps to have a big purse. Some stores (like Walgreens in our area) have them by the cash register only and you have to buy them so needless to say I don't get Walgreen cards. At restaurants you can buy 4 at $5 each and use them and ask to keep the card. You're not out anything. I did ask at Red Lobster one time and the waitress went thru the trash and brought me 4 - apparently they weren't the reloadable kind. After harvesting slot cards, you develop a "knack" for harvesting gift cards. I have never harvested gift or phone cards in Vegas - too many cameras around.