Do you need a last-minute Christmas present? Forgotten that one friend or family member? One obvious solution for the international Apple fan in your life is a gift card. However, doing this is not as simple as it may seem if the person doesn’t live in the same country as you.
Sending an Apple Gift Card to Someone Living Abroad
The first, most important thing to know is this – when sending any kind of Apple gift card to someone in a different country, you must purchase it from the Apple online store of the country in which THEY live. For example, if one of my colleagues living in the U.S. wishes to purchase one for me living in the UK they must buy it from the UK Apple online store. Not only is an Apple gift card only valid in the country in which it is purchased, doing this means it will be sent to the recipient in the right currency.
When you get to the Apple online store in the right country there is, at the time of this writing, a gift card option on the top carousel. Click on that, and then go through the purchase process. To start this, select the ‘Send by Email’ option. Fill in all the details, and the person you wish to send the Apple Gift Card to should receive it. An exchange from the U.S. to UK that we tested here at The Mac Observer happened within minutes. However, it can take up to 24 hours.
Buy the Right Thing
There are various types of gift cards. Currently, the all-in-one option is only available in the U.S. In other countries, there are App Store & iTunes Gift Cards, which allow the recipient to purchase from (you guessed it,) iTunes and the App Store. There are also Apple Store Gift Cards, which allow the recipients to purchase products in physical and online retail stores. Check which kind you are purchasing before you hit send!
Of course, sending an Apple Gift Card to someone in the same country as you is easy. Just head over to the Apple online store and purchase it!
There was a discussion on all of this on a recent episode of the Daily Observations podcast.
[Updated December 24, 2021]
Although this was last updated 12/21/2021… it is April 2022 and Apple no longer allows sending gift cards electronically. I followed your directions, and logged to the Turkey Apple store. The only option available was to “send a gift card in the mail” which then opens iTunes. The fine print on the page also says of the gift card: “It cannot be converted into cash, cannot be sold second hand and cannot be used for shipment outside of Turkey.”
Hello Rascal and sorry for the delayed response. You are completely right! In the case of Turkey, gift cards may only be sent by mail, however, the email option is accessible in other countries.
Amalia: Can I purchase an Apple gift card to be sent to my friend’s e-mail and he is located in the Netherlands? Can he use this gift card for any purchase – including connection to the Internet where he is presently studying in the Netherlands?