New Credit Card Authorization Holds

[Turksmom]

To clarify, if I pay the balance every night via GC, I’d avoid extra holds? Does this work even if our daily charges exceed $100? We’re traveling with family and taking care of their expenses. I’d like them to be able to use to use MB for charging but we’re doing a split stay with a large group ($$$) and those holds could add up quickly, mucking up available credit. Thanks for clarifying for me!

Your experience may vary, but so far it seems to be that you'll have the $100 and you will have the holds from the first day- depending on when the front desk charges them; some have reported that the hold goes on right after making the purchase, others ot until later in the day. If you pay off that balance and don't exceed the amount that is already on hold in the future, there should not be additional holds. If you go over what is already held, it will generate a new hold in addition to that amount.
We're doing the same type of trip in November and I'm still trying to figure out the best way to pay for my MIL's expenses.

 

[kmg1107]

Your experience may vary, but so far it seems to be that you'll have the $100 and you will have the holds from the first day- depending on when the front desk charges them; some have reported that the hold goes on right after making the purchase, others ot until later in the day. If you pay off that balance and don't exceed the amount that is already on hold in the future, there should not be additional holds. If you go over what is already held, it will generate a new hold in addition to that amount.
We're doing the same type of trip in November and I'm still trying to figure out the best way to pay for my MIL's expenses.

Wow. Thank you. We leave in early Sept so I’ll have to figure this out too. Funny to have to consider this. We travel a lot and have never experienced anything like this. This could be tricky.

 

[Meglen]

I'm rather confused on the whole "freaking out" about the holds. As most here are saying the holds usally don't go through. But if they do than the card you have on file will have a few hundred on hold for Abit. Now I might be a bit harsh but.. your at Disney world.. you just spent thousands on a trip and will be spending hundreds on food and items thus racking up the holds. (if you don't charge to the room it will only be 100$). I feel like if this 100$ is going to make or break your bank account than maybe you shouldn't have gone?.

Just make sure before you go the card you have on file has enough funds to cover any holds that you may get based on spending habits or just don't use the magic bands to pay. Idk I don't understand the big deal. Sorry if this came off insensitive I just don't understand I guess.

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

I'm rather confused on the whole "freaking out" about the holds. As most here are saying the holds usally don't go through. But if they do than the card you have on file will have a few hundred on hold for Abit. Now I might be a bit harsh but.. your at Disney world.. you just spent thousands on a trip and will be spending hundreds on food and items thus racking up the holds. (if you don't charge to the room it will only be 100$). I feel like if this 100$ is going to make or break your bank account than maybe you shouldn't have gone?.

Just make sure before you go the card you have on file has enough funds to cover any holds that you may get based on spending habits or just don't use the magic bands to pay. Idk I don't understand the big deal. Sorry if this came off insensitive I just don't understand I guess.

The holds are not what has me worried. The stories of people having their charging turned off on the MB at random times for no apparent reason is what I am worried about. I really don't want to spend my vacation time at the front desk each day trying to figure it out. We like to charge everything back to our room and then go down each night/morning and pay those charges off with our gift cards. What we have been doing every trip and it worked out great. Yes, we could not charge back to the room and just use the gift cards at each purchase I know but prefer it the other way. I just want to know it is working before we go. For most people, it sounds like it is but there are the few that are having their charging turned off for no apparent reason and that is what I am trying to figure out why so we can hopefully avoid it.

 

[kmg1107]

I'm rather confused on the whole "freaking out" about the holds. As most here are saying the holds usally don't go through. But if they do than the card you have on file will have a few hundred on hold for Abit. Now I might be a bit harsh but.. your at Disney world.. you just spent thousands on a trip and will be spending hundreds on food and items thus racking up the holds. (if you don't charge to the room it will only be 100$). I feel like if this 100$ is going to make or break your bank account than maybe you shouldn't have gone?.

Just make sure before you go the card you have on file has enough funds to cover any holds that you may get based on spending habits or just don't use the magic bands to pay. Idk I don't understand the big deal. Sorry if this came off insensitive I just don't understand I guess.

I’m sorry. I’ll go back and read the full thread but with my split stay and 8 people charging to the room, no DDP, it sounded like some folks needed 2x the amount of credit available which is significant. I don’t want holds from our first stay impacting our ability to spend the second stay. But, let’s hope you’re right and it’s no big deal. I’m sorry if I misunderstood.

 

[Meglen]

The holds are not what has me worried. The stories of people having their charging turned off on the MB at random times for no apparent reason is what I am worried about. I really don't want to spend my vacation time at the front desk each day trying to figure it out. We like to charge everything back to our room and then go down each night/morning and pay those charges off with our gift cards. What we have been doing every trip and it worked out great. Yes, we could not charge back to the room and just use the gift cards at each purchase I know but prefer it the other way. I just want to know it is working before we go. For most people, it sounds like it is but there are the few that are having their charging turned off for no apparent reason and that is what I am trying to figure out why so we can hopefully avoid it.

I wonder if the people that have there charges turned off are from the same bank?. I know that we have to notify the banks of any travel (even 15 min up the road to MA). I wonder if the stop charge is the hotel or bank. Might help to know that factor to help with your worries

 

[Turksmom]

I’m sorry. I’ll go back and read the full thread but with my split stay and 8 people charging to the room, no DDP, it sounded like some folks needed 2x the amount of credit available which is significant. I don’t want holds from our first stay impacting our ability to spend the second stay. But, let’s hope you’re right and it’s no big deal. I’m sorry if I misunderstood.

You do understand correctly- some credit cards reduce available credit by the amount of the holds (all of mine do, but I guess some don't). Because each individual hold is not converted to a payment, but rather all holds are added together and processed as a lump sum, you must have double the amount charged available. For example, if you have 10k available and you spend $5100, the charge may be declined (again depends on card issuer). Some resorts are issuing a credit in the amount of the holds, so those funds are returned quickly, others just let the hold expire by the terms of your credit card. Even if you have a decent amount of available credit on a card- 2 rooms (if they aren't prepaid) plus 8 people charging everything will take a big bite out of it.

 

[Turksmom]

I wonder if the people that have there charges turned off are from the same bank?. I know that we have to notify the banks of any travel (even 15 min up the road to MA). I wonder if the stop charge is the hotel or bank. Might help to know that factor to help with your worries

No- I used 3 different cards from 3 different banks and had the same issue with all of them. At CBR, I was told that it had been a problem for months and as far as I know, it still hasn't been fixed. That was the part that annoyed me the most- spending hours at various guest services/ front desk locations because it was fixed/ not fixed.

 

[Meglen]

No- I used 3 different cards from 3 different banks and had the same issue with all of them. At CBR, I was told that it had been a problem for months and as far as I know, it still hasn't been fixed. That was the part that annoyed me the most- spending hours at various guest services/ front desk locations because it was fixed/ not fixed.

Hrm that's disappointing that they know of the issue and are not fixing it. This upcoming trip I'm just going to use my GC and credit card and not charge to the room. Maybe the next family trip everyone will just have a prefilled gc and we can move funds around if needed. Sure just tapping your band is ez but with all this hassle gc/right to cc just seem like the better choice.

 

[AngiTN]

To clarify, if I pay the balance every night via GC, I’d avoid extra holds? Does this work even if our daily charges exceed $100? We’re traveling with family and taking care of their expenses. I’d like them to be able to use to use MB for charging but we’re doing a split stay with a large group ($$$) and those holds could add up quickly, mucking up available credit. Thanks for clarifying for me!

Based on personal experience there may or may not be additional holds. It really depends on many factors

I'm rather confused on the whole "freaking out" about the holds. As most here are saying the holds usally don't go through. But if they do than the card you have on file will have a few hundred on hold for Abit. Now I might be a bit harsh but.. your at Disney world.. you just spent thousands on a trip and will be spending hundreds on food and items thus racking up the holds. (if you don't charge to the room it will only be 100$). I feel like if this 100$ is going to make or break your bank account than maybe you shouldn't have gone?.

Just make sure before you go the card you have on file has enough funds to cover any holds that you may get based on spending habits or just don't use the magic bands to pay. Idk I don't understand the big deal. Sorry if this came off insensitive I just don't understand I guess.

To clarify one point, holds NEVER go through. But, they don't just magically disappear quickly either. They are a virtual charge, for lack of better words. And many times the physical charge overlaps it do they double up your credit limit. THAT is the "freaking out" for some.

And then there are glitches. Now, glitches have existed long before this policy change. They are a PITA but thankfully, rare. As they've always been.

I wonder if the people that have there charges turned off are from the same bank?. I know that we have to notify the banks of any travel (even 15 min up the road to MA). I wonder if the stop charge is the hotel or bank. Might help to know that factor to help with your worries

I asked the same exact question and nope. Not anything consistent I've been yet.

No- I used 3 different cards from 3 different banks and had the same issue with all of them. At CBR, I was told that it had been a problem for months and as far as I know, it still hasn't been fixed. That was the part that annoyed me the most- spending hours at various guest services/ front desk locations because it was fixed/ not fixed.

Hrm that's disappointing that they know of the issue and are not fixing it. This upcoming trip I'm just going to use my GC and credit card and not charge to the room. Maybe the next family trip everyone will just have a prefilled gc and we can move funds around if needed. Sure just tapping your band is ez but with all this hassle gc/right to cc just seem like the better choice.

To be fair in this particular case, they do have a glitch but it's been around way longer than this policy. I believe the issue with fixing it is recreating it. It's very inconsistent and if they can't pinpoint the cause they can't fix it. Seeing how you had issues with 3 different cards, it shows it can't be the card and seeing how MOST guests never have problems it can't be everyone. There's something about your unique account that caused it. To make matters harder to troubleshoot if you go again and have no problems then that shows it's not your MDE account, it's something else. So it's easy to see how hard that is to troubleshoot. It's going to be like herding cats

 

[Searc]

I'm rather confused on the whole "freaking out" about the holds. As most here are saying the holds usally don't go through. But if they do than the card you have on file will have a few hundred on hold for Abit. Now I might be a bit harsh but.. your at Disney world.. you just spent thousands on a trip and will be spending hundreds on food and items thus racking up the holds. (if you don't charge to the room it will only be 100$). I feel like if this 100$ is going to make or break your bank account than maybe you shouldn't have gone?.

Just make sure before you go the card you have on file has enough funds to cover any holds that you may get based on spending habits or just don't use the magic bands to pay. Idk I don't understand the big deal. Sorry if this came off insensitive I just don't understand I guess.

You are right, you don't understand how it works. With the way Disney has implemented this, you need twice the amount available you'll actually be spending. Half for the amount Disney holds and the other half for the actual charges. So for some, if they have a room only that isn't paid until they check in, their hold and subsequent charges could be thousands of dollars.

 

[Searc]

I’m sorry. I’ll go back and read the full thread but with my split stay and 8 people charging to the room, no DDP, it sounded like some folks needed 2x the amount of credit available which is significant. I don’t want holds from our first stay impacting our ability to spend the second stay. But, let’s hope you’re right and it’s no big deal. I’m sorry if I misunderstood.

You are understanding correctly. That is how it currently works.

 

[Searc]

I wonder if the people that have there charges turned off are from the same bank?. I know that we have to notify the banks of any travel (even 15 min up the road to MA). I wonder if the stop charge is the hotel or bank. Might help to know that factor to help with your worries

Have you been reading this thread? People have said they contacted their credit card issuers and there were no problems on their end. Disney is/was the problem.

 

[kmg1107]

You are understanding correctly. That is how it currently works.

Thank you for clarifying. Yes, in our case it will result in thousands of dollars in holds. We leave in three weeks. I think I’m going to pay off the room only balance now, and then use two different cards for two resorts we’ll be staying at during our ten days on property. A hassle, but necessary now.

 

[Dave006]

Just make sure before you go the card you have on file has enough funds to cover any holds that you may get based on spending habits or just don't use the magic bands to pay. Idk I don't understand the big deal. Sorry if this came off insensitive I just don't understand I guess.

You just don't understand the size of the issues being discussed, it is not only just about a few $100 holds. It is not as simply having 2 x your charges in credit availability. That would still not be a fix but a temporary work-around.

Many guests are having charges declined at point-of-purchase even if they have very large available balances on the Credit card attached to their hotel folio for "unknown" reasons. They go to the front desk, find their credit card has been dropped from their folio, the front desk CM re-adds the card or even a different card only for the problem to happen again at some random time.

Dave

 

[sponica]

You just don't understand the size of the issues being discussed, it is not only just about a few $100 holds. It is not as simply having 2 x your charges in credit availability. That would still not be a fix but a temporary work-around.

Many guests are having charges declined at point-of-purchase even if they have very large available balances on the Credit card attached to their hotel folio for "unknown" reasons. They go to the front desk, find their credit card has been dropped from their folio, the front desk CM re-adds the card or even a different card only for the problem to happen again at some random time.

Dave

I can't even get my Disney account to KEEP my card on file in my profile, it already drops....I imagine we'll have tons of fun next year with my card dropping all the time.

 

[Turksmom]

You just don't understand the size of the issues being discussed, it is not only just about a few $100 holds. It is not as simply having 2 x your charges in credit availability. That would still not be a fix but a temporary work-around.

Many guests are having charges declined at point-of-purchase even if they have very large available balances on the Credit card attached to their hotel folio for "unknown" reasons. They go to the front desk, find their credit card has been dropped from their folio, the front desk CM re-adds the card or even a different card only for the problem to happen again at some random time.

Dave

Yes! This! (just ordered magic bands for next trip and purchase was declined initially- my address defaulted to resort address again!)

 

[AngiTN]

I can't even get my Disney account to KEEP my card on file in my profile, it already drops....I imagine we'll have tons of fun next year with my card dropping all the time.

Yeah, this whole, dropping off of cards is a long running problem.
No idea but I do imagine it's driving everyone bonkers to figure it out simply because it's so hard to duplicate. Something about the way a transaction hits the accounts causes the data to drop.
You can have 2 accounts set up exactly the same and one will charge happily their entire trip and the other will loose the card over and over again. It's really a nightmare. And I think this new process has exasperated the problem because it sends through so many more transactions. So that's many more instances of data dropping. Or at least possible instances for data to drop.

 

[sponica]

@AngiTN It's more a nuisance for me right now when I go to make a payment and the reservation portal isn't pulling up my stored card. Annoying but not the end of the world. Hopefully next year when we actually have our stay, the card won't drop every day....

 

[AngiTN]

Yes! This! (just ordered magic bands for next trip and purchase was declined initially- my address defaulted to resort address again!)

Wonder if this is ultimately why you are having issues with any card?
Something making your account address reset and that causes a mismatch in billing zip code when they run a preauthorization. When the system reads that mismatch, it deletes the credit card?
I've probably done a horrible job of explaining what's rolling around in my brain but I can see how that could cause a credit card issue.
Granted, that doesn't explain WHY that happens, just what that happening causes.