To think 'experiences' are a bad gift to give someone?

[Ved]

Bought sometimes for around £30 to £40, but often end up costing the recipient much more to use them. (With travel expenses, and sometimes accommodation, as some of them take 3-4 hours or more to get to in a car, and even longer on a train or a bus?!)

AIBU to think no-one should be buying an 'experience' as a gift for someone, unless they know they want it?

I think you are projecting your views and assuming you speak for everyone.

I think all gifts should be bought on the basis that the recipient wants the thing - be this an experience or something else.

I love them, but then they are usually near me so no extra expenses

I love an experience present; afternoon tea, spa break etc. My DH hates them and can never be bothered to organise it after he's given the gift. I always tell our DCs never to get him one. Each to their own!

I think they are fun but then I'm in London where most things are and not restricted to travel.

I love them but cannot imagine buying one for someone who would need to travel a distance for it.

The date stipulations annoy me but other than that I think it’s a lovely gift

I think its a nice way to help someone discover something new or do something fun. It could be local or a spa trip. The thought behind it is important, especially if you know the recipient will appreciate it. Also, if they choose not to do it, they don't have to.

I guess that’s because of where you live but it’s easier to find experiences if you live in a convenient place like a city.

You're projecting.

Who bought you one and why dont you like the person who bought it. 🤔

I know people who really love them but Dh and myself don’t so we’ve had a few and they’ve expired and I don’t buy them for others.
Would be slightly different and I said to someone oh I really fancy xxx and they bought me a voucher for the specific place but the ones we’ve been given in the past were things like red letter days and the terms and conditions attached were annoying along with the date exclusions. Lots of choice but ended up being a nightmare to claim them.

YANBU - the number of hotel teas, gin afternoons, spa days (Mondays to Thursdays only) and various other treats that I have been given but not been able to use makes me feel super wasteful.

And I am not alone. A luxury hotel near me makes circa £25k on unclaimed teas given as vouchers.

Awful. I was given an afternoon tea voucher for a place you can’t get to without a car. I don’t have a car. I don’t eat cakes and sandwiches and stuff like that. So I would’ve had to have persuaded a friend to drive me to a place I didn’t want to go to, pay for the friend to have tea with me and have to eat food I didn’t want to eat.

Luckily, Covid intervened,I couldn’t go and that was the end of that.

YANBU, they can be annoying gifts unless chosen very carefully.

They are great if you know for certain the recipient will want it and - preferably - knows in advance you are buying it.

They are not so good if it's something you think they might like, rather than something you actually know they would like.

Spa day experiences for example are supposed to be universally liked and the perfect gift for any woman. However, I would hate to spend a day being man-handled and covered in goo by women with orange faces.

I know many women who feel the same way as me and of several (including one gifted to me) of spa day experiences going unused.

It totally depends on the person. I buy them occasionally. Only for people I know will enjoy them. And for whom a little expense on food or whatever is not an issue for a nice day out they wouldn’t have done otherwise.
or I might buy the ones that just give them a free meal.

I love an experience day gift. Haven’t had one yet that I haven’t enjoyed. Our adult DC buy them for us.

Exactly. It's such a waste (IMO) unless you know that person wants it/has spoken about it. Most people are not going to live near to where the 'experience' is, and as I said, it ends up costing the recipient more money to redeem, than the giver forked out to buy it.

I hate them. I got one for a spa day, but I don't enjoy spa days. I honestly find a day at the spa boring and awkward. The person who gave me it insisted that I would learn to love them

They're pretty renowned for being a waste of money for people so although some posters here seem to enjoy them, they have a poor reputation overall

I’ve only ever loved them. I’ve had escape room vouchers (live near a major city so no issue with transport) spa vouchers and afternoon tea vouchers. Have really enjoyed every single one and think they’re great gifts personally.

PIL buy us experiences which are things we would enjoy BUT we don’t even live in the UK. It’s difficult enough planning a visit and fitting in everybody we’d like to see, without trying to plan in an experience. Last summer, the nearest opportunity was 1 hour away from their home, with only 1 possible date while we were visiting. I gently mentioned that it would be better to do something spontaneous in future as we don’t want to risk losing the money. I hope they take it on board.

I'm bad enough buying vouchers for myself from Itison and the like and then struggling to use them and those are always only for places I'd choose to go. If it's a gift experience for something else it is usually nice when you're there but just a pain to organise and I don't need extra tasks on my list! Plus you often need to pay extra to use them at a time that isn't downright inconvenient. The biggest winner is always the voucher company.

I hate them.

I suspect I am neurodiverse, but I am not diagnosed with anything.

An experience voucher sits heavy on me from the moment I get it. It doesn't feel like a gift but an obligation. I get stressed about booking it, the restrictions, the expiry date. I don't like not having been part of the planning and deciding if it is something I want to do.

I had an experience voucher the Christmas before Covid which wasn't possible to use and years later it still feels bad when I think of it- like a kind of guilt. I hate things being wasted, even things I didn't want in the first place.

I have asked everyone to please not get me any giong forward.

It can be a really nice gift if it’s somewhere you’d like to go that isn’t an inconvenience. Someone gave me a beauty treatment voucher for somewhere 3 miles away and with a 6 month expiry. I thought it was the perfect gift tbh. Really enjoyed it and it wasn’t any inconvenience to me.
If it was 30 miles away and something I didn’t want to do particularly, then yes it would be a bad gift.