I've always had full use of my gift cards, however my brother used to tuck them in a drawer and never use them again. We used to buy them off him and use them ourselves.
I just got a $100 gift card from work, use anywhere but for gas, hotel rooms, and I love it. I've been using it for groceries, movies, food, and it's been great! I want to see how long I can stretch it, but OTOH it's buring a hole in my pocket. I don't think it'll make it to the year expiration date.
