As is the custom in recent years, retailers expect gift cards to be huge business this holiday season. A survey recently took a look at the various cards being offered by major national companies and the fees, terms and conditions involved. The report is 20+ pages long, but Consumeraffairs.com has a nice summary of the findings. As usual, cards from retail stores tend to have the fewest strings attached. You'll find the higher fees and penalties with cards that can be used in lots of places, like a mall card, or one from the major credit card companies. AG Nixon sent a consumer alert on this issue last December.