Holiday Gift Card Bonus Deals 2026: Which Offers Are Live, and the Fine Print That Decides Their Value
In short
Buy $50 in gift cards, get a $10 bonus card: the 2026 holiday offers confirmed so far (Outback, Applebee's, BJ's, Lucille's, Lawry's), what last year's looked like, and how to get the full value out of a bonus card you can't use until January.
Every November, restaurant chains start offering the same deal: buy $50 in gift cards and get a $10 "bonus card" for free. It looks like 20% back, and sometimes it is. Usually, though, the bonus card can't be used until January, expires by February or March, and comes with a list of rules: one per table, no alcohol, no combining. A bonus card you forget about or can't use is worth nothing.
This guide covers three things. It lists the 2026 offers we could confirm as of November 7, keeping them separate from offers that ran last year but haven't been announced yet. It explains how to get the full value out of a bonus card. And it covers the discounted gift card options you can use right away, without waiting for January. We'll update this page as more chains launch their offers. Most announcements come in mid-November and on Black Friday weekend.
Two numbers to check before you buy
The bonus rate is the bonus divided by what you pay. $10 on $50 is 20%. That's the number chains advertise.
The true discount is the bonus divided by the total value you end up with. $10 on $50 gives you $60 of food for $50, which is 16.7% off. A 40% bonus works out to 28.6% off. This is the honest number, and it only holds if you use the whole bonus card before it expires.
Also remember that a bonus card is not a gift card. Gift cards are covered by federal rules on expiration. Bonus cards are promotional, so they expire on whatever date is printed on them, can't be replaced if lost, and usually don't give change.
Confirmed for 2026
Ranked by true discount. "Bonus usable" dates are in 2027.
| Chain | Buy → bonus | Bonus rate / true discount | Buy window | Bonus usable | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outback Steakhouse (Bloomin' Brands) | $50 → two $10 cards | 40% / 28.6% | Nov 4–8 only, while supplies last | Card 1: Jan 1–Feb 7 at participating Bloomin' Brands restaurants. Card 2: Feb 15–Mar 28 at Outback only | One per visit, per table. Bonus cards can't be combined. Excludes alcohol, tax and tip, and can't be used with Dine Rewards or third-party orders. Unused balance doesn't carry over |
| BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse, Cyber Weekend | $100 in eGift cards → $25 + a 20%-off VIP card | 25% / 20% | Nov 27–30 | Jan 4–31 | Only four weeks to use it |
| Lucille's Smokehouse Bar-B-Que | $100 → $25 (or $50 → $10) | 25% / 20% | Nov 5–Dec 31, in-restaurant | Jan 1–Feb 28 | Regional chain, and the offer is for in-restaurant purchases |
| BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse, standard | $50 → $10; $100 → $20 + 20%-off VIP card | 20% / 16.7% | Nov 5–Dec 31, online or in-restaurant | Jan 4–31 | In-restaurant offers differ in Arizona and Texas |
| Applebee's | $50 → $10 | 20% / 16.7% | Oct 12, 2026–Jan 3, 2027, online or in-restaurant | Until Feb 28 (not on the day it's issued) | Participating locations only. Check the minimum food purchase printed on the card |
| Lawry's (Lawry's Restaurants, incl. Tam O'Shanter) | $125 → $25 | 20% / 16.7% | Nov 1–Dec 31 | Jan 2–Mar 31 | Two bonus cards per check. Not valid during dineLA, on Valentine's Day or on St. Patrick's Day |
Sources: Outback's gift card page; BJ's Nov 5 press release; Lucille's Nov 5 announcement; Applebee's holiday gift card page; Lawry's promotion page.
Outback's offer ends tomorrow, Nov 8. It's the best rate on the list, but look at the second card's terms before you buy. You can only use it at Outback, and only from mid-February to late March. If you won't eat at Outback in that window, you're really getting one $10 card, which makes it a 20% offer.
Ran in 2025, not announced for 2026 yet
We haven't put these chains in the table because their 2026 terms weren't published when we checked. The details below are last year's offers, listed to show what to expect. They may change.
- The Cheesecake Factory (2025): a $15 bonus eCard for every $50 in gift cards bought online starting Nov 13, with in-restaurant purchases starting on Black Friday. The bonus could be used Jan 1–Feb 28, 2026. At 30%, this was one of the best regular offers last season.
- Red Robin (2025): $10 Bonus Bucks with a $50 card, $25 with a $100 card and $5 with a $30 card, through Dec 31. Bonus Bucks were valid Jan 1–Feb 28, 2026, at US restaurants only.
- Chili's (2025): a $10 bonus card per $50, through Dec 31, usable Jan 1–Feb 13, 2026, according to deal-forum posts from that time.
- Buffalo Wild Wings (2025): $10 per $50, Nov 3–Dec 31.
- Logan's Roadhouse (2025): $10 per $50 from Oct 27 to Dec 31, plus a few online days with a double bonus.
- Olive Garden and Darden's other chains, Texas Roadhouse, Panera: all have run $10-per-$50 offers in past seasons, but we couldn't find reliable terms for their 2025 holiday offers. None has announced a 2026 holiday offer yet.
How to get the full value out of a bonus card
1. Treat it as a January meal you've already planned. Bonus cards are valid in January and February because restaurants are quiet then, and the chains are counting on people forgetting about the card. Before you buy, check that you'll actually eat at that restaurant during the window. Then put the expiry date in your calendar.
2. Give the gift card away and keep the bonus card. Online bonus cards are usually emailed to the buyer, not the person receiving the gift. So the $50 card goes into someone's stocking and the $10 bonus card stays with you. Your family gets the same gift either way.
3. Buy in exact multiples of the tier. "$10 for every $50" means $75 earns one bonus, the same as $50. Buy $50 or $100, not amounts in between.
4. Use the bonus card on a bigger bill. Bonus cards are typically limited to one per table, can't be combined with each other, and often don't cover alcohol, tax or tip. Outback says outright that any unused balance is lost. Use the bonus card on a meal that costs well more than its value, and pay the rest with the gift card.
5. Earn card rewards and portal cash back on the purchase. A gift card bought at the restaurant register usually counts as dining on your credit card. Online eGift orders often go through a third-party gift card processor and may not, so check your statement. Some chains also pay through cashback portals. When we checked, Rakuten listed 2% on Darden gift cards (not on bulk or corporate orders). Our cashback portal guide explains how tracking works. To find out which of your cards has a dining or grocery bonus, see the card perks you're probably not using.
Discounted gift cards you can use right away
Bonus cards make you wait. A gift card bought below face value saves you money on the first purchase you make with it. Our discounted gift card playbook covers the full method. These are the holiday-season options:
- Warehouse clubs. Costco and Sam's Club sell restaurant and entertainment cards below face value, and the selection grows in November and December. One warning from this year: in January 2026, Synergy, a multi-restaurant gift card network sold at Costco, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and stopped operating. Costco offered refunds to members who had bought those cards. Cards for a single large chain are a safer buy than cards from a small network, and it's best to spend any card promptly. Whether a membership pays for itself is covered in our warehouse club math.
- Amazon and Best Buy regularly sell third-party gift cards at 10–15% off. Right now that includes Applebee's and Outback cards (live deals below). A card bought this way doesn't earn the restaurant's bonus card, so it's a different deal from the ones above. You can do both.
- Grocery store fuel points. Kroger stores give fuel points on gift card purchases and periodically run 4x fuel-point weeks on gift cards. The most recent 2026 promotions were in September and October. Combined with a credit card that has a grocery bonus, this is one of the strongest options available. Some card issuers exclude gift cards from the grocery bonus or cap how much spending earns it, so check your card's terms.
- Target gift card sale. In recent years Target Circle members have gotten 10% off Target gift cards in early December. In 2025 it ran Dec 6–7, on up to $500. The 2026 sale hasn't been announced.
- Amazon reload promotions. Amazon has run targeted "reload $X, get $Y" offers on some accounts in the past. Look for one on your account's promotions page. We haven't seen a broad one confirmed for this season.
Live on DealSelected right now
These deals have been checked by our editors and fit this guide. Prices and availability update on the cards themselves.
Kroger: Purchase Fee Waived on $150+ Visa/Mastercard Gift Card (Nov 4-10)Fee waivedKrogerView deal
Before you buy
- Only buy for restaurants you'll actually go to in January and February. A bonus card you can't use isn't a discount.
- Put both expiry dates in your calendar: the bonus card's start date and its end date. BJ's gives you four weeks. Outback's two cards have two separate windows.
- Expect more offers around Black Friday. BJ's bigger bonus applies only Nov 27–30, and chains often add one-day double bonuses that weekend. For the rest of that week, see the Black Friday 2026 guide.
- No legitimate business asks you to pay with gift cards. Bonus season is also when gift card scams increase.
This page will be updated as more 2026 offers are announced, especially Cheesecake Factory, Red Robin, Chili's and Olive Garden. Until a chain publishes its terms, it stays in the "not announced yet" list.
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About the author
MiaLive well, save happily
Mia has lived in North America for years and can't see a full price without wanting to wait for a sale. She likes grocery runs, digging into credit card perks, stocking up on household basics and making home cozy. Her idea of a good day: something great at half price, or a hidden deal nobody else has spotted yet. Saving money isn't going without; it's spending on what's actually worth it.