Hotels and Debit Cards
 

Can anyone tell me anything about using a debit card (versus credit card) at a hotel at check in? I am told that debit cards might not be accepted. Why? I just booked hotels for a cross country trip on either Priceline or Hotwire. My rooms are prepaid. But I am hearing that hotels may not accept debit cards ( I don't have any credit cards) and that they will block $$ when you check in. My room is prepaid. Does anyone have any experience with this? What can I expect??? Thanks!

You should call the hotels and ask. They usually ask for a "credit" card for incidentals, so I don't know about debits.

I used mine to book a hotel once and they held rather more than the cost of the room until I'd already stayed and checked out - since that "hold" was on the cash in my account, that was a pain.

They will take them but they will put a hold on a debit card for incidentals.

Usually $50 and it may take up to ten days to have it removed.

If the hold is only $50, you're lucky. I've heard more reports like liza's where $200 or more is "blocked" on a debit card causing problems with paying for other things.
http://www.pirg.org/consumer/banks/d...rds1.htm#block

One option is to insist on giving them a cash deposit for "incidentals" that should be returned to you on checkout. Contact each hotel and find out how much they'll require (if anything) for incidentals.

Many hotels hold $100 per day & it takes several days to release.

Credit card is much simpler.

I think how much the hold is depends on the type/price of hotel. If it's a basic motel type place they may put a hold on less. If you're staying at an upscale place where room service and other special charges can add up they typicaly put a hold on several hundred dollars - esp if you're staying more than 1 night.

I would contact each hotel and ask if they'll take debit and how much of a hold they use.

I "moonlight" at a hotel front desk, and worked in management during an earlier career.

Call, or ask at each hotel. Sometimes the value/price of the hotel has no bearing on the amount of the hold. I once found that a Super8 had a $350 hold on my credit card for a 1 night stay where the room was under $50. I work at a better Choice hotel, and we hold 10% above the expected room & tax.

I've been told by someone who used to work in credit cars (but haven't verfied it) that sometimes it's better to pay $5 of your bill with credit card and the rest with cash, just so the amount held is released, whereas if you pay cash in full, sometimes no communications occurs at all with the CC until the hold expires, often 5 days later.

I feel for people who are close to their limits making long trips. Anyone who holds your credit up should plainly post what the policy is.

I'm confused rb. This poster says the rooms are prepaid. So why would a hotel block that much for incidentals?

Many of my hotel stays are complimentary, but I still have to provide a card for incidentals.
I have had hotels put anywhere from 25.00 up to 500.00. I have not checked lately because I am using a corporate card.
ASK before you go and again when you check in!
My daughter does not have a credit card so I had a duplicate card made of mine and she can use it to check in hotels... If you do not have a card, possibly a parent would consider having a card authorized to your name?

Every hotel goes out for incedentals on a credit card or a debit card...so do car rental companys. Also, every hotel/car company will be different. I worked at a hotel here on the Strip and we went out for $150 per night, so if you are staying at that hotel for a few nights, that is a lot of money locked up. Also, some get released immediately, some take a few days for the money to get released. You can ask the hotel to put a cash deposit down, most should except this, be prepared to put $50-couple hundred down. When you check out, they settle the charges (phone calls, movies) and you get the remainder cash back right then.

mclaurie, hotels will go out for this much money even though rooms are paid in case the occupants have various charges for room service, movies, phone calls and also in case there is damage to the room or stolen items.

I wonder if the debit card hold is "cash withdrawal" or "purchases".

If up to $500 can be blocked, and the daily cash limit is $500, well... this may be trouble!

Don't tell anyone, but when I was a travel agent years ago and I was preparing to issue an airline ticket I would run a credit card authorization.
Weeeeelllllllll.... if I got distracted, I would run another authorization.
I had no clue that I was placing a hold on those funds.
So this was something that never caused any problems until one day when I started issuing a $$$ tkt to Lagos.
I accidentally put a 30,000k hold on this guys Amex.
Amex thought 3 tickets to Nigeria was a little suspicious, so they locked the card until they could contact the client. The client found out when he went to pay for a lunch with a customer. Ouch.
Not really sure if this happens with travel agents these days.

Not 30,000k... make that 30k.

Thanks everyone. I have called and been told that they will place a hold of $20.oo per day to $100 per day. So I think I am going to try to give them cash to hold until I check out. I don't plan on using any 'incidentals' so it shouldn't be a problem - I hope.... This is a real pain if you are on a budget!

Just one more suggestion. If anybody ever does use a card for incidentals and only uses a small amount of the hold or nothing at all, insist on a release of the hold at checkout. The hotel clerks hate it, some of the inexperienced ones may have problems doing it, but if you stand your ground, they have no choice but to do it, otherwise it may take anywhere from 3-10 days, depending on what kind of policy the issuing bank has.

What happens if the funds are not released upon checkout is that it goes into automatic mode. The business has certain number of days to claim that hold and if they don't, the hold is released by the bank automatically after the wait period. As I said, there is no standard, so it could take couple of days or more than a week, depending on the business/bank agreements.

Just insist on a charge reverse and it works.

I'm not sure how that would work for a debit card, but I assume it would be the same.

I often use a Bank of America debit card, and when I check my account, the transaction reads "HotelName - Pending Transaction - $xxx.00" I keep enough funds in the account where I need not worry about any overdraft, but many are not so furtunate.

Again, I think businesses should be forced to plainly post their policy. It's only right to do so.

My advice to the OP is: Get a credit card. In today's world, you are really at a disadvantage without one.