I'd suggest to make it possible to gift someone x years of your service, because that's something many people will happily do. The only thing to avoid here is any kind of automatic retention. One year is one year, period.
If I give someone cash [1], then they might just spend it on their power bill or rent or groceries or just let it live in a bank account. This is “fine”, but it doesn’t really feel like a “gift”.
If I buy them a gift card to Best Buy or something, they’re kind of forced to buy themselves something fun. You can’t really pay your rent with a gift card, it can’t sit in a bank account, you’re kind of forced to get yourself something you’ll enjoy.
I am not saying it’s the best gift or anything, I just think “idiots” is harsh.
[1] and assuming that the person is in an economically alright position
Gifts are about having thought about somebody, and cash is the equivalent of saying I couldn't be bothered. Hence, gift cards. I thought about you for half a second longer and gave you money to spend at a store off my choosing. Under that framing, calling people idiots because they give gift cards indicates an inability to grasp or accept that cultural norm.
So, it makes it easy when someone telegraphs their mental shortcomings to you.
That half second costs me far more time and effort to keep track of a gift card, especially if a balance remains on it. Either get the actual gift you want to give the person, or give cash.
A gift card only benefits the merchant who gets to hold onto cash and earn interest.
Or give something like an Amazon gift card which really is more or less like cash for most people. (Though Amazon knows this and their conversion rate is generally worse than most retailers who are more specialized.)
That said, I'm not a huge fan of gift cards. It's one more thing to keep track of but, hey, they're probably better than some gift you don't want and cash just isn't really acceptable in all cases.
A gift that can change her life.
Hey Dad, I'm pregnant.