I got caught by surprise when I found out that the AMEX gift card I had purchased for my daughter and misplaced for a few months before I found it again and gave it to her it had expired and it was worthless. Another time that I tried to use an AMEX gift card again that was given to my wife as a present from her students, I found out that there was no value left in it because AMEX was charging a $2.50 per month maintenance fee. Needless to say that I will never buy or use AMEX gift cards again.