Paying With 2 Cards

[tarheelmjfan]

Has anyone paid for their hotel room with one card, then secured their other charges with another? We like to pay for as much as possible with our check card. Putting the room & charges both on that card would exceed the amount we can charge, w/o contacting the bank & temporarily removing the cap. That's not really a big deal, but could potentially turn into a hassle on check out day. We were thinking of paying for the room with our check card, & securing the other charges with a credit card, then paying it off when we get home. Will this work? This is going to be the 1st time weve decided to charge everything to the room, so we're not sure. Our only experience doing something similar is on cruises. Since the cruise is paid off in advance, our onboard charges are all that are going on the check card, which doesn't exceed the amount allowed w/o us having to approve it. I hope that made sense. Thanks again for all your help.

 

[psharrock]

We have done this before, either pay in advance by talking to the accounts dept, or ask them to charge your card with the accommodation on check in, and then use another card for other charges

Paul

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Thanks We'll plan to use 2 cards then.

 

[bubba's mom]

They should ask you if you want charging privledges and THEN mention "yes, but on THIS card instead".
I have a little "story/warning" for everyone using charging privledges: We put everything on our Disney Visa (i know, i know, but we're saving toward 2008 Disney cruise)...anyway, we charged everything back to the room (having it put on that card---the ONLY card we brought/use). So, day of checkout, everything looks good on bill and we check out via TV. Later in the day, I try to use my card to buy our party (of 13) lunch @ Confisco's (pretty big bill, as you could probably imagine w/ 13 peeps). She had trouble w/ my card and had to CALL to get approval. Well, later that evening, on our way out, we shopped at Universal Store in CW...about $60 bill there. Declined! Try again. Declined again. ***?? Try DH's card (same card/account). Declined again. Luckily, I had cash, and just paid cash. We left after that for Ocala to stay w/ my DFIL. Well, you bet as soon as I woke up in the morning, I was on the phone w/ my cc peeps. They tell me: (remember, we were at UO for 5 days/4 nites) first day you arrived, RPR charged $1400 to your card. Second day there, they charged $100 and then $1800. Well, cc peeps explained since there was such an enormous amount of charges out of my home state, they alerted my account and "froze" it. (They said they tried to call me at home...but I WASN'T AT HOME!!!) So, after getting it "cool" with cc peeps, I proceeded to call RPR -- in a really "fantastic" mood. The lady there tells my that they normally "charge" your entire room bill PLUS whatever they "calculate/expect" you to spend eating and shopping.....apparently this charge "pends" against your credit card account so RPR can "make sure" you have the money available on that card. The RPR rep did say she didn't know where the $1800 charge came from on the second day, that "must've been an error"....well, your freakin' "error" froze my charge card and it's the only one I took with me! So, FYI everyone, if your charge card ever gets declined, call the cc peeps and find out how much "pending" charges are against your card. BTW, I did check my statement online, and the correct amount WAS charged to my card....not $3300.... Just a friendly heads-up!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Oh no! Just when I was ready to charge to our room for the 1st time ever, I read this. How can they possibly guess how much you may spend? We like to use a card with a smaller limit, so if someone does get the number somehow, we don't have to worry about them going crazy with it. The limit is plenty more than the 3 of us will be spending, but not quite $3,300. I guess it's silly, but I don't like to give out the number for our card with a higher limit. It would be way to much hassle to have to dispute that many purchases. Now, I'm having 2nd thoughts. We could always do the opposite, & put the room on the CC & charge against the check card. I'm definitely not crazy about the idea of them having that much control over our checking account though. I was willing to use 2 cards so we wouldn't have to deal with the hassle of calling the bank. What good would that do, if we may end up having to call our CC bank instead? Hopefully, I'm making more out of this than is necessary.

BTW, they must have thought you looked like a serious partier, if you were going to spend $3,300 in 4 nights/ 5 days.

 

[bubba's mom]

Oh no! Just when I was ready to charge to our room for the 1st time ever, I read this. How can they possibly guess how much you may spend? We like to use a card with a smaller limit, so if someone does get the number somehow, we don't have to worry about them going crazy with it. The limit is plenty more than the 3 of us will be spending, but not quite $3,300. I guess it's silly, but I don't like to give out the number for our card with a higher limit. It would be way to much hassle to have to dispute that many purchases. Now, I'm having 2nd thoughts. We could always do the opposite, & put the room on the CC & charge against the check card. I'm definitely not crazy about the idea of them having that much control over our checking account though. I was willing to use 2 cards so we wouldn't have to deal with the hassle of calling the bank. What good would that do, if we may end up having to call our CC bank instead? Hopefully, I'm making more out of this than is necessary.

BTW, they must have thought you looked like a serious partier, if you were going to spend $3,300 in 4 nights/ 5 days.

the gal at RPR seemed like they do this all the time....take a percent of what you're spending for your room and add it to the room total to figure how much you'll be spending. Like I said, she said the second day charge of $1800 was an error and didn't know where it came from....they don't usually do that. You could probably call your card company the second night you're there to make sure it's okay.....in a way, it was kind of our fault.....I didn't put a "pre-travel notification" on our card account...so, I'm glad they caught it and were "looking out for us", but, it was an inconvenience. Actually, you are better off using two cards...if we had done that, we'd been fine....and so should you.....you don't really hear (at least on the DIS) of any other problems...so, don't worry....enjoy your vacation!! (Lord knows you've planned so hard for it!)

 

[tarheelmjfan]

(Lord knows you've planned so hard for it!)

Me plan? You must be joking!!! What gave you that idea???
I'm very much a fly by the seat of my pants kind of gal.

 

[Fan2CSkr]

Me plan? You must be joking!!! What gave you that idea???
I'm very much a fly by the seat of my pants kind of gal.

Uh Huh sure you are. You are the same girl asking about the bread basket the other day, yes? Oh your flying by your seat alright.

But seriously we are always asked if $1500 to be held is OK, if you want more or less its as easy as asking. Using a CC makes things easier. We used our debit card once and it was some tier system with the amounts heald each day and in the end I had to have them release my $ back and it took a few days. Didnt like that. You could straight out pay your room charges on you debit card and set up a charge account with your CC. Thats works well.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Uh Huh sure you are. You are the same girl asking about the bread basket the other day, yes? Oh your flying by your seat alright.

I need all those carbs to help my fly. Duh!!! Where else could I get all that energy?

But seriously we are always asked if $1500 to be held is OK, if you want more or less its as easy as asking. Using a CC makes things easier. We used our debit card once and it was some tier system with the amounts heald each day and in the end I had to have them release my $ back and it took a few days. Didnt like that. You could straight out pay your room charges on you debit card and set up a charge account with your CC. Thats works well.

$1500 sounds more like it. I like the idea of securing with a CC, then paying with our check card when we leave. That works for me.

Hold on a minute!!! What I meant to say was that it would probably work for me, if I'd actually given it a 2nd thought. Up to this point, it haven't spent much time planning anything. I figure we'll go to the parks occasionally, & grab a bite to eat somewhere when the mood strikes. Spontaneity! That's the word I live my life by.

I guess I should have considered the fact that we may want to do something else & have to pay for it. It's a good thing I decided to come here at the very last minute seeking advice.