In today's marketplace the only "giftcards" with the lowest fees or no fees to the consumer are merchant cards. This is because the merchant pays processors the fees directly and most regulatory bodies cracked down on fees with these closed loop cards.
Open loop card fees are the most expensive. A recent survey showed the following:
Activation feed can range from as little as $2.00 to $9.00
Transaction fees ranging from 35¢ to $2.50 on some cards ( this is every time the card is used)
There are also inactivity fees and replacement cost fees.
The net of this is that on a $100 open loop card (visa/MC) you could end up paying 10% in fees easily.
This is a market poised for disruption by virtual currencies to better serve the under-banked and eventually the general population. Volatility in virtual currency is a current impediment for this moving forward. Nobody wants to wake up in the morning and see their $100 card become an $85 card overnight