Restaurants are rolling out Buy $50, Get $10 deals. Here’s the 10-second check that tells you whether to take one — or buy a discounted card instead.

Every fall, restaurant chains roll out the same holiday gift card deal: buy $50, get a $10 bonus or reward card. It looks like 20% off. Landry’s version started October 1 and runs through December 31. Rainforest Cafe, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., Joe’s Crab Shack, and Saltgrass are all in on it.

Before you buy, do one comparison. CardCash already sells many of those same cards at a discount. For some brands, that discount is higher than the bonus can ever be. When it is, the discounted card wins. That holds even if you would use every dollar of the reward.

Step 1: Find the real ceiling

You pay $50. You get $60 to spend. You saved $10 out of $60, which is 16.7%.

That is the bonus’s ceiling. The “20% off” figure compares the bonus with what you paid, not with what you got. And 16.7% is the best case. You only reach it if you use the whole reward card.

Step 2: Check the reward card’s rules

On the Landry’s deal, the $50 gift card works like cash. The $10 reward card does not. Landry’s says it is valid only from January 1 through March 31, 2027, and it is not valid February 12–14. It needs a minimum $25 food or non-alcoholic drink purchase. It can’t cover tip, delivery, merchandise, or another gift card. One reward card per table, per visit. It can be used once, so any amount left over is lost.

Each rule makes it a little more likely that some of the $10 goes unused. The honest value of any bonus deal is its ceiling times your odds of actually using the reward in the window it allows.

Step 3: Look up the same brand on CardCash

CardCash sells Landry’s Restaurants and Rainforest Cafe gift cards today at up to 23.4% off. Bubba Gump is up to 19.1%. Joe’s Crab Shack is up to 18%. No reward card, no January start date, no Valentine’s blackout.

Line those numbers up against the 16.7% ceiling:

Option	Best case	Strings attached	Vs. 16.7%
Landry’s Buy $50, Get $10	16.7%	Reward valid Jan. 1–Mar. 31, 2027, not Feb. 12–14. Min. $25 food. One use, one per table.	The ceiling
Landry’s Restaurants or Rainforest Cafe on CardCash	Up to 23.4%	None beyond a normal gift card	Beats it
Bubba Gump on CardCash	Up to 19.1%	None beyond a normal gift card	Beats it
Joe’s Crab Shack on CardCash	Up to 18%	None beyond a normal gift card	Beats it
Saltgrass on CardCash	Up to 5%	None beyond a normal gift card	Loses

For Rainforest Cafe, Bubba Gump, and Joe’s, CardCash is already higher than 16.7%. You do not need a probability problem. Buy the discounted card.

Saltgrass is the reminder that you have to check the brand. At up to 5% off on CardCash, the holiday bonus’s ceiling is the better number — if you will dine there between January and March.

The rule you can reuse all fall

When any restaurant posts Buy $50, Get $10:

1. Divide the bonus by the total value. That is the ceiling ($10 ÷ $60 = 16.7%).

2. Look up that brand on CardCash.

3. If CardCash’s discount is higher than the ceiling, buy the discounted card. You’re done.

4. If CardCash’s discount is lower, take the bonus only if you will use the reward card in its window. Put the expiration in your phone the day you get it.

Buying cards to give away? Buy on CardCash. The person you gift it to does not care about a reward card that starts in January and dies in March.

If the $50 card goes unused

The reward card expires and CardCash does not buy cards with expiration dates. The $50 gift card is a normal Landry’s card. If it lands with someone who will not dine there, they can check whether CardCash will buy that balance, and for how much, instead of letting it sit.

The question isn’t whether the $10 looks free. It’s whether CardCash already discounted the same card by more than the bonus’s ceiling. Today, for Rainforest Cafe, Bubba Gump, and Joe’s Crab Shack, it has. Promotion terms and CardCash discounts checked October 19, 2026. CardCash discounts are the best available on cards in stock and vary by card.