Question about Incidentals....

[diskids2]

I wanted to prepay for my two room three night stay at the RPR and I followed the procedure. I did not pre pay for the incidentals, so I inquired about the authorization hold and/or cash deposit that would be necessary and I was told $1200.00. $200 per day per room.

Is this what the rest of you have experienced? It will be my first visit to RPR, so I have no other experience with it.

 

[ThemeParkGuy]

Last november I paid with a debit card at hard rock and told them I did not want any charging priviliges. the only expenses was for the room. I did not have any pre-authorizations attatched to the card.

 

[mjohnson96]

I don't remember that from last year and we put charging privleges on our card. My poor little credit card would not be able to allow that much

 

[rpbert1]

I would check my spending on the TV for my account, and just go to Checkin and pay off the balance ,then start again.
I think they put a $500 hold on CC

 

[mjohnson96]

I went and called RPR so I can make sure we have enough on the small card for them to hold against. They told me they charge the rest of the stay and then authorize $100 per night so since we are staying 5 nights they would authorize $500, not charge it but many CC compaines take the authorization against your avail balance. It can take up to 14 days to fall off after the authorization date.

 

[aubriee]

I wanted to prepay for my two room three night stay at the RPR and I followed the procedure. I did not pre pay for the incidentals, so I inquired about the authorization hold and/or cash deposit that would be necessary and I was told $1200.00. $200 per day per room.

Is this what the rest of you have experienced? It will be my first visit to RPR, so I have no other experience with it.

What procedure? I'm still debating on doing an August trip, but if I do, I want to pay for the full six nights when I book. Would this be a problem? They don't limit you to paying for one night only do they? I always want to have as much of my vacations paid for before we arrive.

 

[mjohnson96]

What procedure? I'm still debating on doing an August trip, but if I do, I want to pay for the full six nights when I book. Would this be a problem? They don't limit you to paying for one night only do they? I always want to have as much of my vacations paid for before we arrive.

You can always request a Credit Card authorization form to pay off the rest of your trip. That is what I did and a supervisor emailed me the CC form and I just filled it out and faxed copies of the identification they need and they charge what I want. This will also work if you want to charge extras to a CC as well.

 

[diskids2]

Hi!

Yes, as mjohnson said...I called reservations and told them I wanted to prepay my two rooms. They emailed me a credit card authorization form and I filled it out and faxed it back to them. They charged my card the same day.

As far as the incidentals issue....I called the front desk of RPR and they told me it was $100 per room per day. So I forwarded the email that I got from Accounting and then they weren't so sure. So they transferred me to the GM's executive assistant who read the email I received and is checking into it for me.

$100 a day was more reasonable, but $200...that was not sitting well with me.

I was also told that I didn't have to put anything down or use my cc for a hold, if I didn't want to order movies, use the mini bar, use the phone, use the internet, or charge back to the room.

They also said I could pre pay for anything (like movies or the internet) just before I wanted to use them....which seems fair as well.

I'll let you know what they end up telling me.

 

[robandkelly13]

I'm confused. Does this work like when you have charging priviledges on your KTTW at WDW or is it different? I've always used my debit at WDW and never had any problems and that's what I plan to do at RPR.

 

[mjohnson96]

I'm confused. Does this work like when you have charging priviledges on your KTTW at WDW or is it different? I've always used my debit at WDW and never had any problems and that's what I plan to do at RPR.

Basically they are preauthorizing your account for $100 per nights stay up front so that you can charge to your hotel room. Once you check out only the amount you actually used will be charged to your Credit Card. I would never reccomend using a debit card to add charging privliges to a room. Sometimes Debit Cards make it much harder to remove the pre-authorizations and they can count toward your available balance (Bank of America).

 

[robandkelly13]

Basically they are preauthorizing your account for $100 per nights stay up front so that you can charge to your hotel room. Once you check out only the amount you actually used will be charged to your Credit Card. I would never reccomend using a debit card to add charging privliges to a room. Sometimes Debit Cards make it much harder to remove the pre-authorizations and they can count toward your available balance (Bank of America).

Does WDW do this too? I've used our debit card to back up our KTTW for years asnd countless trips with no problems.

 

[diskids2]

I know that at WDW, they do not charge or authorize your room until you either reach the pre-determined "credit" limit (say $500) OR you are checking out. That is probably why you never had issues with your debit card.

As far as my discussions with Universal regarding my incidentals question...it was confirmed that they pre-authorize a charge of $100 per room per day. I forgot to ask if they will pre-authorize the entire stay at once or do it on a daily basis. They did tell me that if we come near the $100 mark the computer will automatically pre-authorize me for another $100.

You still have the ability to pre pay "a la carte" for items you want to use, like pay per view movies or the internet.

As far as using my debit card for this...I wouldn't. Pre-authorizations use up part of your "available credit" and on debit cards that is your money. I have never used it for this purpose, but have heard that it can take a really long time for a pre-authorization to come off of a debit card.

 

[mjohnson96]

I know that at WDW, they do not charge or authorize your room until you either reach the pre-determined "credit" limit (say $500) OR you are checking out. That is probably why you never had issues with your debit card.

As far as my discussions with Universal regarding my incidentals question...it was confirmed that they pre-authorize a charge of $100 per room per day. I forgot to ask if they will pre-authorize the entire stay at once or do it on a daily basis. They did tell me that if we come near the $100 mark the computer will automatically pre-authorize me for another $100.

You still have the ability to pre pay "a la carte" for items you want to use, like pay per view movies or the internet.

As far as using my debit card for this...I wouldn't. Pre-authorizations use up part of your "available credit" and on debit cards that is your money. I have never used it for this purpose, but have heard that it can take a really long time for a pre-authorization to come off of a debit card.

They do charge it all up front, that is what the front desk informed me. At checkin they charge your entire stay plus the $100 per night if you want room charging available.

I used to work in a hotel accounting group, it is like pulling teeth to get a pre-auth to come off a debit card.

I also had this happen to me, a hotel we stayed at accidently put a $500 tip instead of $5 tip on a lunch check so it caused the hotel to preauthorize it. The hotel had to fax all sorts of forms over to the bank to get them to remove it.

 

[yumaseven]

I have stayed at all of the hotels at Universal and they are all the same. Upon check in they will bill you for the outstanding balance on the room. If you choose, you can have them authorize whatever amount you want in order to be able to use the hotel room keys to charge at the park and at citywalk. Usually I'll start out with 500 dollars and only add more money if I need to. You can check to see how much you spend every morning on the television with guest services. Also, if you do end up with a credit upon checkout. It usually takes it one to two days to show back up in your account.