A Sam’s Dock gift card is bought online and emailed to the person you choose, with a code they enter when they book a charter on Lake Lewisville. You pick the value and pay 15% less than it. They get the full value to spend on the boat and the day they want.
It is one of the few gifts that turns into a whole day out with friends or family. This guide covers how the gift card works, how much to put on it, when to buy it, and what the person receiving it needs to know to book.
How a charter gift card works
Everything happens on the Sam’s Dock gift card page, and it takes a few minutes:
- Choose a value. The page lists each value beside the price you pay for it. You pay 15% less than the value on the card, and the recipient gets the full amount.
- Add your details. Enter your name, email and phone number, then confirm them with a short code sent by email or text.
- Add the recipient. Enter their name and email. A phone number and a personal message are optional.
- Pay. Pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay.
The recipient is emailed the gift card with its redemption code, and you get a copy of the same email. After paying you can also save the card as a PDF or open it to print, which is handy if you would rather hand it over in a card or wrap it up with something small.
The card shows the value, the redemption code, the date it was issued and an expiry date if one applies. Gift cards sold today show no expiration date.
How much to put on the card
The simplest way to choose a value is to decide which charter you are giving. The rate is for the whole boat on a three hour charter, it includes the licensed captain, the crew and the fuel, and it depends on the boat and the day of the week:
| Boat | Guests | Mon to Thu | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Holiday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miss Selina Party Boat | 30 | $975 | $975 | $1,175 | $1,050 | $1,325 |
| Miss Teena Party Boat | 40 | $1,175 | $1,175 | $1,385 | $1,250 | $1,575 |
| Blue Goose I Party Boat With Slide | 50 | $1,675 | $1,675 | $1,925 | $1,725 | $2,175 |
| Blue Goose II Party Boat With Slide | 50 | $1,675 | $1,675 | $1,925 | $1,725 | $2,175 |
A few points help you land on the right value:
- Weekdays cost less. Monday to Thursday is the lowest rate on every boat. If the person you are buying for can sail on a weekday, a smaller value covers the whole charter.
- Allow for tax. Sales tax is added at checkout, so a value a little above the rate covers the charter in full.
- Bigger groups, bigger boats. A boat carries 30 to 50 guests. A birthday for the whole family needs more room than a date for two, and the larger boats cost more.
- It does not have to cover everything. If the charter they book costs more than the card, they pay the difference by card at checkout.
Split across a full boat, a charter goes further than the headline price suggests. On a Saturday, the Blue Goose works out to about $39 per guest before tax, which makes a gift card a natural thing for a group of friends or family to chip in on together.
Gratuity for the captain is not included in the rate.
When to buy it
A new gift card can be used four days after it is bought, so leave a few days between buying it and the day the recipient wants to book. There is no need to buy it close to the charter date: the recipient chooses the date when they book.
That makes a gift card easy to give well ahead of the season. A card given for the holidays or a winter birthday can be saved for a warm Saturday in the summer, and summer Saturdays are the dates that book out first, so it is worth telling the recipient to book early once they know their date.
It suits plenty of occasions:
- birthdays, anniversaries and graduations,
- a holiday present for someone who has everything,
- a thank-you for a team, a client or a friend who helped you out,
- a group gift, where several people put in towards one day on the water.
What the recipient needs to know
Using the gift card is part of the normal online booking. The recipient picks a boat and a date, and at the review and pay step enters the redemption code from the email. The value comes off the booking total, and anything left to pay is paid by card as usual.
A few things are worth passing on with the gift:
- Book with some notice. Online booking needs about a week of notice. For a date sooner than that, the reservations team can check it by hand through the contact page.
- Sign the waiver. It needs to be signed within 24 hours of booking.
- Arrive early. Guests should be at the marina 30 minutes before the start time to check in.
- Bring the essentials. Every party boat has one large cooler, and it comes empty, so bring ice and drinks. Food is welcome on board.
If you chose the value with a particular boat or day in mind, say so in your personal message or when you hand the card over. It saves the recipient guessing, and it means they book the charter the card was sized to cover rather than finding a difference to pay at checkout.
If they want to read up before choosing a boat, the complete guide to boat charters on Lake Lewisville covers the boats, what is included and how the day works. When they are ready, they can compare the boats and check available dates.
A gift that becomes a day on the water
Most gifts are opened and put away. A charter gift card gets the person you give it to out on the lake with the people they choose, with a captain and crew looking after the boat so they can enjoy the day. Printed and tucked into a holiday or birthday card, it also gives them something to open on the day itself, with the charter still to look forward to.
Sam’s Dock sails from Eagle Point Marina on Lake Lewisville, about 30 minutes from downtown Dallas. The lake is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which looks after recreation and natural resources around it.