Budget Accommodations

» Michelle Snow - Don't let the holds ruin your vacation.

I learned the hard way to budget for the holds when traveling now. But I really think it should be mandatory for hotels to tell you upfront about them. I think too many people end up stranded without money because they didn't know about them.

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» greyblade - Incidental holds

Many front desk people are college-students that either don't know or don't care about providing the traveler with hospitality. Very few of them will actually know how to post a charge to your credit card without incurring the incidentals hold. This is automated into most modern hotel software, and can be difficult to work around.
Another way to avoid these fees is to pre-pay for your stay. Advance payments are generally not subject to incidental holds. Most hotels are more than happy to take your money now and incur the expense of your stay later.
In my experience, the issuing bank (the bank that issued your credit card) should release your hold within 3 to 5 business days of the date the hotel makes it. Generally, hotels will post the actual charge to your account within 24 hours of check-out, usually that same night. Any hospitality-oriented hotel manager (like yours truly) is willing to contact your issuing bank and request an immediate release of any outstanding holds, if you just give us your credit card's customer support telephone number.

-- posted by greyblade

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