no appt is necessary for buying AppleCare+; the whole process took literally 3-4 mins, as I went to the first associate that didn't have a customer. he checked my serial number, "visually inspected" for physical damage by looking at the top/bottom of laptop and the screen, and then rang me up.
how I get my gift cards:
a) buy apple gift cards from retailers when they're on sale/promo (basically free money and highly recommend this way). PCO, once in a blue moon, offers 20% discount in PC points back to your account.
b) buy gift cards from Kijiji, FBM, and local markets from people that sell gift cards <-- this method can be risky, as I've been scammed once out of the dozen plus times I've purchased online. there are many legitimate people that get apple gift cards as a gifts or have returned an apple product beyond the return date and want to get rid of their cards for quick cash. safest way for this method would be to meet in person, add the gc to your account, and then hand them cash, but I've been too lazy to meet in person and usually just do it online over e-transfer, which can be risky.
with this last method, I have a few rules to be "safe":
1. try to stick to smaller gift cards, like $80 for $100 gc; never buy ones that are $1500 for $2000 gc, unless you meet them at store and you purchase immediately with their card, before handing cash over.
2. if their account is new and/or closed-off with little to no info about them, I avoid them now. if they have multiple ratings and they've been on the platform a long time, they're more likely to be legit, in my experience.
3. if the discount is too good to be true, it's most likely a scam; this is how I got scammed, as I also didn't follow rule #2.
edit: wow, sorry, didn't mean to write a story.
TDLR: no appointment needed & I buy gift cards from retailers and secondary markets.
