Paying in cash at HOJO

[Hojoanaheim]

NostalgicDad & sasywitch-

I totally understand your frustration, and I can certainly appreciate how difficult it can be when you choose to not use credit cards- and I think it's great that you have given them up!

I actually don't have a credit card either, personally. I only have a debit card with the MasterCard logo on it, through my bank- so I know firsthand how frustrating it can be when you're trying to stay in a hotel or rent a car without one. I've actually had a car rental all set up for myself with a local company for two days, only to get there and find that they needed to authorize my card for the cost of my rental plus an additional security fee that took over a week to release after I returned the car. It was beyond inconvenient, and I can absolutely sympathize!

For situations like these, as I mentioned before, we can absolutely accept a check 10 business days in advance. All you'd have to do is call and speak with In-House Reservations so that we can figure out exactly how much you'll need to make the check out for, and then make sure your account is noted so that we know where to post the payment when we receive it. We actually have a number of guests that do this, and it's really easy!

I totally understand that this option may not be preferable for everyone- but I did want to make sure that people know that it's available for those of us who don't have credit cards, are proud of it, and plan to keep it that way!

Lorealle

 

[jory29]

I appreciate being able to use our credit card to make room reservations, and feel that Hojo's reservation/cancelation/changes policy is super. [I'm not sure how those who want to pay in cash would even be able to reserve their rooms, if not using a credit card?]

I would guess that the reason that Hojo's favors credit cards is that there is less risk of people passing counterfeit bills, and perhaps they appreciate not having to keep large amounts of cash in their own till. To me, it looks like both the consumer and the vendor in this case are better protected via use of credit or debit card. I would assume more than 90% of guests try to pay with credit or debit card, with the others paying in cash. Many consumers appreciate that they can pay for the room with their cards, because they sometimes receive incentives from their own credit card, as well, sometimes they don't have to pay their credit card statement until around 21 days or so later.

I'm not bothered by the policy, and I think there's a lot of people here who feel the same. I appreciate Lorealle coming to the boards to explain everything.

It looks like Hojo's is willing to work with those who want to pay cash, by allowing the rooms to remain reserved by having guests pay in advance by cheque (and obviously it has to be in advance so that they know the cheque won't 'bounce'), so kudos to them for making allowances to accommodate their guests needs. Accepting cash in today's world can be risky for a business when there is a lot of cash at stake per person. Plus, the chance of mis-counting smaller bills for a larger purchase are larger.

I can see that for those who use the debit credit card it is a problem, the large hold that freezes their money, but maybe they can choose to prepay via cheque 10 days earlier then, so as not to have as large of a hold placed on their debit card.

 

[jory29]

With the way the economy is now, I no longer have credit cards and pay only cash. I guess no HOJOS for me. Too bad cash customers get such a hard time. Sorry times when you are required to have a credit card. I understand the trashed room however, they are more than welcome to come inspect my room before I leave.

Cash customers don't always get such a hard time... sometimes in grocery or department stores, the debit machines are down, and then I have a hard time with my credit card.

I don't think inspecting the room before you check out would work, it would simply take too much time for staff to do so when so many check out around the same time.

 

[dalepool]

I am sure putting hold on a credit card is a pain to the establishment. There is a fee for a business to run a credit card. I would guess theirs might be in the 1.5 % of total amount. There is also a transaction fee of .35 to .50. They may also have to do what is called a charge back to CC at end of your stay, this again is charged a fee of 1.5% of amount on hold.

I have found that the hold is usually taken on the back side of the CC. So u can use card as if no hold on it. Say you have a cc with 1k usage. Hotel puts block on 100.00 of that. Now you would have 900.00 available credit.

Another idea might be to take the cash and get some disney gift cards. Use them like cash /CC for purchases you were going to do with your CC.

There are so many reasons I like HOJO. Best one for me is when I forgot a whole drawer full of clothes. By the time I figured out what I had done I called to ask about clothes thinking oh those are gone, where as clothes were packed and ready to ship when some one called to inquire about leaving them. I was not charged a penny for shipping. I had a trip planned for 4 months later so I made sure to give a nice card with a nice tip to go with it to the housekeeping staff for going out of their way .

Hope you have a wonderful trip.

Patty

PS Check sometime -- There are a few Hotels that put hold on the cc u used at check-in and you never know about it.

 

[bumbershoot]

I travel frequently and find HOJO's policy reasonable and consistent by industry standards. All hotels need to protect themselves against damages to a room.

I agree completely.

DH travels internationally, I book his hotels using hotels dot com, so they have prepayment right up front, and still they need to swipe a card just in case he trashes the room or orders room service, etc etc.

And I believe it's in place only to encourage guests to pay with a credit card rather than with cash.

Which of course keeps you and your employees safer, because it's unlikely for a thief to assume you have tons of cash in the reception area!

It is odd, because not all hotels do this. I stayed at the Annabella, paid for room in advance and had a $100 "hold" placed on my debit card for incidentals. The hold was released immediately upon check out.

If one hotel can do it, they should all be able to do that.

Did you pay with one of their specials? That's different from how hojo does it; they don't do the pay up front thing. And that's what makes them so great to deal with, because you can book, and as long as you cancel before a certain time period, you're not out a thing.

As I mentioned, even when entirely prepaid with hotels dot com, the places DH has stayed require that hold.



All of this said, it is REALLY up to your debit/credit company as to how those holds are done! While planning our honeymoon cruise, we heard repeatedly that RCCL puts a huge hold, to not use your debit card, etc etc. We went, used our debit card for our seapass, and didn't see a hold *at all*. We had wamu at the time, and i never saw a hold, other than the $1 authorization charges that amazon would do when we'd buy something there. And refunds came through nearly instantly. Other banks would take much much longer for refunds, and their users saw, and were impacted by, huge holds.

I saw it working for amazon, too; customers would call complaining, but the problem was on the bank's end, not amazon's.



Now we weren't paying cash, so perhaps the charge is more of a charge, not a hold, I don't know.

 

[awdsmama]

NostalgicDad & sasywitch-

For situations like these, as I mentioned before, we can absolutely accept a check 10 business days in advance. All you'd have to do is call and speak with In-House Reservations so that we can figure out exactly how much you'll need to make the check out for, and then make sure your account is noted so that we know where to post the payment when we receive it. We actually have a number of guests that do this, and it's really easy!
Lorealle

Question - I plan on sending a check to pre-pay so it's one less thing to budget while we are there.

What is the amount of the "incidentals" hold that is placed for check-prepaid reservations?

Is there an option of giving you/HOJO that amount in cash upon checkin instead then having it refunded at the end?

I'm staying March 26-30.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Question - I plan on sending a check to pre-pay so it's one less thing to budget while we are there.

What is the amount of the "incidentals" hold that is placed for check-prepaid reservations?

Is there an option of giving you/HOJO that amount in cash upon checkin instead then having it refunded at the end?

I'm staying March 26-30.

This is an old thread and staffing has changed (also some policies have changed too). I'd call Hojos directly (their in house has a toll free number now listed on their website) and find out what it currently is.

 

[awdsmama]

This is an old thread and staffing has changed (also some policies have changed too). I'd call Hojos directly (their in house has a toll free number now listed on their website) and find out what it currently is.

Wait you mean pick up the phone and call someone..like in person not on email? Do people do that still? HAHA just teasing.

Yes I'll call later if I don't see a reply today or tomorrow since there is still a Hojo rep on here

 

[soaringirl]

Hojoanaheim, thanks for the information! I was just wondering the same, since I prefer either to pay in a Visa prepaid card or traveler's, and this answered my question!

 

[hootey]

Most of the hotels in europe put holds on the entire amount, plus deposits on debit or CC.They don't care if you are paying cash or not. This also applies to rental car companies. The american companies are beginning to do the same. Most will not allow you to check in or rent you a car unless the "hold" amount on your CC or debit is approved..

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Hojoanaheim, thanks for the information! I was just wondering the same, since I prefer either to pay in a Visa prepaid card or traveler's, and this answered my question!

That response is from 2010

 

[Kittyskyfish]

Wait you mean pick up the phone and call someone..like in person not on email? Do people do that still? HAHA just teasing.

LOL!!! *thankyouthankyouthankyou....*