Do your math...
Cost:
$1 [one dollar] + ((months you signed up for with the contract) * (monthly fee))
"Benefit":
$200 [two hundred] gift card.
So if you signed up for a nice 24 month contract at $50 [fifty] a month, your cost is $1201 [one thousand two hundred and one dollars]. Minus that gift card (why don't they give you cash? Because it's not worth as much as cash, as you have to spend it in their shop on their conditions) - you still end up with an iPhone plus contract that costs more than a grand. If your contract runs longer or costs even more than fifty quid per month, the phone costs even more.
Talk about TCO.
Cost:
$1 [one dollar] + ((months you signed up for with the contract) * (monthly fee))
"Benefit":
$200 [two hundred] gift card.
So if you signed up for a nice 24 month contract at $50 [fifty] a month, your cost is $1201 [one thousand two hundred and one dollars]. Minus that gift card (why don't they give you cash? Because it's not worth as much as cash, as you have to spend it in their shop on their conditions) - you still end up with an iPhone plus contract that costs more than a grand. If your contract runs longer or costs even more than fifty quid per month, the phone costs even more.
Talk about TCO.