Destroying motel key cards?
 

How concerned should we be about safety in a motel? In an article aimed at senior age travelers there are several suggestions, including destroying electronic key cards because they may have encoded credit card numbers and such. I had never considered this before.

Other safety tips are to beware of incoming phone calls, leaving on lights and TV when out, locking doors and windows, locating fire exits, packing your own pillow. Now that last one is a new idea to avoid germs from previous occupants.

But what say you about the plastic door cards? Are we really that much at risk just turning them into the desk when we leave?

Ozarks Bill

Destroy them if you wish, but you should read the snopes write-up on this for peace of mind. http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/hotelkey.asp

This was born of an urban legend, and although it would be possible to encode that information, none of the hotel chains contacted either did it or knew how to. There is no need for any information to be on the key.

My husband is a Platinum Marriott Rewards member and has always been told by his travel agent to destroy the electronic keys since they are encoded with your credit card info and phone numbers.
It's just a good idea.

Your husband's travel agent is a bit gullible - read the above post about Snopes. This is an internet hoax. There is no information whatsoever stored on those key cards. :)

Hotel personnel have your information in the hotel computer system. Even if your information was encoded on your room key, it would me much easier for them to just look you up on their computer if they wanted to, or even check the printed recipt for your credit card information. Why would they even bother with the room keys?

As a former hotel manager I can tell you that there is no way possible to enter your cc information into the key card.

You enter your employee pin number, room number, then swipe the card.

At best, you could only enter 8 or 9 digits.

I don't know who starts this crap but it is urban legend.

Those cards cost pennies. If it makes you feel better, keep the card.

Isn't Snopes.com the best site ? :)
I have gotten into the habit of checking everything I hear lately, to see if it is a hoax or not.
It is amazing how many wacky stories are out on the internet these days ..
For anyone who is nervous about safety in their room, Sharper Image and Brookstone both sell these gadgets that can hang on a door knob, that when turned on, make an alarm noise.
You might scare all the guests in the hotel out of their wits if it goes off, but some feel the need to be more in charge of security.

As "gotravel" writes, the info is NOT on the key, and in fact often there's no connection between the property management system and the encoder. One additional bit of info is encoded: number of nights.

At a hotel that I'm moonlighting at, the cards turned in are merely recycled. They may cost only pennies, but when you watch pennies, the dollars take care of themselves. A pizza joint pays half the cost of our cards as we have their advertisement on them.

Don't complain about rising hotel prices if you're one who leaves the TV and lights on. SOMEone is going to pay the utility bill!

Since there is strength in numbers, here's one more assurance that the story about key cards carrying your credit card and other vital info is a hoax.

You guys are making me paranoid :)

As a single female traveler of course I have safety concerns... what about "incoming phone calls"? If I am in the room, I answer the phone. Is it wrong?

Like all financially unsophisticted comments, ABSURD!!!!
M

Faina, don't worry, you can answer your phone!

I am blissfully ignorant of most of these rumors .. I use my hotel keys as bookmarks when I come home. I leave them in my bags, once I am checked out of a hotel, I think the key card is rendered useless.
Since a hotel has lights all over it, inside and out, why would a person leave on their room lights and television? What if you are sleeping? Silly.
Everyone should know where an exit is to a hotel they are staying in, that is just common sense.
Was this article in an AARP magazine or something? I wonder how many well traveled Seniors laughed at these suggestions.

I checked our Ms Scarlett out on Snopes and found out she's really a 51 yr old male, married to a short <your color here>-headed, wonderful gal who lives in Nor Cal and drinks wine all the time when not fooling around on Fodors.

Waitaminute!!! That's ME. Nevermind...but then again, have you ever seen us in a room together? :-?

I collect room card keys and they will be part of an art piece I'm doing called Travels w/ Kal!

OK, Howard, but you have to promise me: no prank calls!

Kal, like sure, you described Scarlett to a T.!!!! ROFL.
So much for herding cats, Cupcake, hehehe

LOL, Cigale ((F)) Kal, you weren't supposed to tell!!

Scarlett, it is not silly. I've heard several detectives and crime-watch segmemts on msnbc regarding this issue. Keep the lights and tv *ON* when you are *NOT* in your room to create the illusion that you *ARE* in the room. Much less chance of a thief breaking in.

Yup - snopes.com will give you the real scoop. My husband is in the credit card biz and he said the same thing. No CC info is on the hotel key card.

Where you should REALLY be concerned is when you use your CC at a restaurant. Unscrupulous employees at a restaurant can carry a "swiper" thingamajig in the palm of their hand and easily swipe your CC into the machine and "grab" your credit card info to download later to fake CC's.

Word to the wise: always double-check your CC statements and report any fraud immediately. Watch for tip amounts, too. A common fraud problem with restaurants and CC's is waiters/waitresses who will change the tip amount just slightly - by a few dollars. Think about it, when you scan your CC statement without comparing receipts, will you really remember if lunch at Morton's was $54 or $58? I know it's small, but someone above talked about counting pennies.... here's where to start at home.

:* :* :*
Who luvs yah baby!

I use all the tricks like those when traveling. The "Do Not Disturb", too.
If the light in the bathroom isn't hooked up to the fan, I usually use that, too. TV/Radio...messed up bed.

They can have my credit card number...probably spend less than Mrs Kal.

Thanks for clearing this motel door key card thing up! I guess safety is on the mind of everyone but sometimes we worry too much. This is a place for good answers.
Bill

If someone does get ahold of your CC number and makes fraudulent charges, it's pretty easy to take care of.

I had that happen a few months ago. My bank called because they suspected fraudulent activity, I confirmed the charges I had made, the bank issued me a new account number, transfered all my legitimate activity to the new account, and sent me a new card overnight. I was not liable for any of the fraudulent charges. It was very easy.

If I had been travelling, it would have been more difficult, but I always carry 2 cards just in case, so I would have just switched cards.

One of my girlfriends talked me into putting "Check I.D." on the signature part of my credit cards.

No one ever ever checked her I.D.

One day she got a call from Neiman Marcus in Atlanta at Lenox Mall.

Someone had stolen her credit card.

The only clerk to ever flip the card over and see "Check I.D." asked for the person's I.D. and because it was stolen, the person fled.

Not one bogus charge was put on her credit card.

How do you do that "check ID" thing? just write it in next to your signature or instead of it? or ask your cc bank to issue something special?

It's very seldom that writing that on your signature space would do any good. How often do clerks or servers even LOOK at the signature side of the card? I'd be much happier if they only checked THAT.

I agree that if the cardholder WANTS identification checked each time the card is used, then then card-issuer should plainly identify that as a requirement to merchants. Myself, I don't care much as I'm sure my signature is unique enough that a review of the original charge slips would immediately signal that it wasn't my signature.

In the meantime, if I paid too much attention to all these warnings, I'm afraid I'd spend all my time under the bed hiding from various boogie men ... especially during TV's "sweeps week".

"Is dental floss giving you brain cancer? Details at eleven!"

rb, I agree, since I stand RIGHT in front of the microwave oven all the time while it is on, I am fearless :D

Re credit cards (vs motel room keys):

I guess I'm the second clerk in the whole country looking at the signature line. And everyone in my very small business does the same, on my instruction. At least half of the cc's I see do not have any signature at all on them (and you should see how indignant cardholders get when we ask them for a photo ID at that point - sheesh!)I just don't get it...the card acceptance agreement details how the merchant must check the signatures, and the card itself reads "void without signature". I LOVE the newer cards with photos on them - no signature necessary! I guess it's all due to the fact that the cardholder is only liable for AT MOST $50 of unauthorized charges, and nothing for most cards. Makes people reckless - and the CC companies figure the easier it is, the more likely you'll use their card. Theft is just a "part of doing business" - they say - and they cover it in the astronomical fees they charge both the merchant and the consumer.