January 29, 2025 at 8:20 am

Man Uses Gift Card To Pay For Expensive Family Meal For His Father-In-Law’s Birthday, But He Wants His Sister-In-Law To Pay Him Back For Her And Her Boyfriend’s Meal

by Jayne Elliott

Source: Reddit/AITA/Shutterstock

Sometimes it’s fun to go out to a fancy restaurant to celebrate a special birthday.

It’s even better if you have a gift card for that restaurant that should cover the cost of the meal.

In today’s story, a man feels like his sister-in-law completely took advantage of the gift card he used to pay for the meal, and he is very upset about it.

Let’s see how the story plays out.

AITA for asking my SIL to pay her share of the bill when I used a gift card to cover most of the meal?

I (26F) and my partner (27F) planned a birthday dinner for her father (FIL) at a steakhouse.

A while back, I received a gift and a $200 gift card to this restaurant as a thank-you from a contractor I work closely with, which I thought would be perfect for the occasion.

During Christmas, I opened the gift (with the gift card) and my SIL (31F) was there to see me holding up the gift card.

She immediately suggested we use it for FIL’s birthday.

This wasn’t what he expected to happen.

I agreed, but I didn’t realize she’d interpret “we” to mean she could invite her BF (recently reconciled after a year-long breakup) and go all-out with their orders.

A few days before the dinner, SIL asked if her BF could join.

I was hesitant since he hadn’t been around for a year, and the family has mixed feelings about him.

My partner doesn’t like conflict and said yes, so he came.

The sister-in-law wasn’t holding back with her order.

At the dinner, things got awkward fast.

SIL and her BF ordered the most expensive items on the menu.

They both ordered surf and turf with extra lobster tail while the rest of us ordered modestly.

Their meal alone was over $150.

At the end of the meal, SIL then suggested dessert, but I declined since my partner and I already bought a cake for FIL.

He wants the sister-in-law to pay her fair share.

The bill came to be approximately $300 after tax and tip.

I used the gift card but still had to pay $100 with my credit card.

I asked SIL to cover her and her BF’s share and split the cost of FIL’s meal with me, explaining that the gift card wasn’t “free money” for her and her BF to splurge.

His wife isn’t on his side.

She got upset, said the gift card should cover everything, and stormed out with her BF.

Later, my partner and I drove my in-laws home and dropped them off in awkward silence.

On the way back, my partner told me I was out of line, but I feel justified since SIL’s actions caused the bill to exceed the gift card’s value.

AITA?

It definitely sounds like the sister-in-law was treating the gift card like free money.

I’d be upset too.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

It’s a reasonable request to split the bill.

Source: Reddit/AITA

He should’ve made it clear before dinner that they would be splitting the bill.

Source: Reddit/AITA

His sister-in-law was out of line.

Source: Reddit/AITA

He shouldn’t have used the gift card for this meal.

Source: Reddit/AITA

It’s too bad he took his sister-in-law up on her suggestion to use the gift card.

That’s not actually how gifts work.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.