New Credit Card Authorization Holds

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

That is different than what my credit card account says. Mine says I only need to contact them if I'm traveling internationally.

That's on Chase's website: https://www.chase.com/personal/credit-cards/travel-notification

Technically at least this webpage it doesn't say you have to notify them either way. Just gives the information on how to notify them which differs from domestic vs international travel.

Just passing along the information as it was being spoken about Chase in general. We didn't notify of our international travel to Jamaica with the SWA CC (like I said it's backed by Chase).

Pretty sure companies don't require you to notify them anymore like they used to. Some may or may not and some it's just a suggestion. I remember when I was traveling to St. Lucia I had my debit card and my credit card with me from my bank and when I called to notify them of travel they said it wasn't really necessary but thanks for letting them know. That was back in 2013 and it probably was more common to notify of travel back then. It still says on their website it's recommended to notify of travel though my bank's website doesn't differientiate between international and domestic in terms of notifying them (was just mentioned about travel in general).

 

[Dug720]

That is different than what my credit card account says. Mine says I only need to contact them if I'm traveling internationally.

I have called them and been told that they don't need it domestically. They are who told me to make a PIN-based transaction when I get where I'm going.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I have called them and been told that they don't need it domestically. They are who told me to make a PIN-based transaction when I get where I'm going.

Like I said Chase doesn't say either way that you need to do anything. Just how to contact them with the method varing based on domestic or international.

To say you only need to international isn't actually accurate which is what I was responding to.

 

[Searc]

Like I said Chase doesn't say either way that you need to do anything. Just how to contact them with the method varing based on domestic or international.

To say you only need to international isn't actually accurate which is what I was responding to.

It is accurate.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

It is accurate.

You didn't understand what I was saying. To say you ONLY have to notify Chase (as in the entire company in a general sense) when you're travelling international is not accurate. If YOUR account strictly says you ONLY have to notify them fine but according to Chase's website, which I linked to you, you CAN notify them both domestic and international and it doesn't say you HAVE to notify them at all.

 

[Searc]

You didn't understand what I was saying. To say you ONLY have to notify Chase (as in the entire company in a general sense) when you're travelling international is not accurate. If YOUR account strictly says you ONLY have to notify them fine but according to Chase's website, which I linked to you, you CAN notify them both domestic and international and it doesn't say you HAVE to notify them at all.

I understood perfectly what you were saying. I just don't agree. Maybe it depends on your credit limit.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I understood perfectly what you were saying. I just don't agree. Maybe it depends on your credit limit.

I think you're disagreeing on something different.

Have to and likely should are two different things. To travel international you do NOT have to set up a travel notification. Meaning your card will not be automatically declined if used elsewhere. That's the difference I'm talking about. If your Chase account said you can't use a card international UNLESS you notify them of a travel then I would totally agree with you. Obviously we took it to Jamaica with no issues and no travel notification, no nothing. The card was used heavily there too because of no foreign transaction fees (though our Delta SkyMiles card would do the same). You CAN set up a travel notification and it is probably a good idea but you don't HAVE to unless you're telling me your card is no good unless you set one up.

I don't know what credit limit would have to do with it though TBH.

 

[Megsmachine]

Our bank suggests that we let them know when we are traveling out of state. Period. We have had our accounts frozen before when we’ve been out of state. And this is our bank, we don’t have credit cards.

 

[saskdw]

Sounds to me like some of you need to deal with different banks. Glad I don't have any of these issues with my Canadian banks.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Our bank suggests that we let them know when we are traveling out of state. Period. We have had our accounts frozen before when we’ve been out of state. And this is our bank, we don’t have credit cards.

That's what I was getting at. Some companies are both domestic and international that you can put in for a travel advisory, some don't care either way, some it's just highly suggested and more for international.
My own bank, which is a regional several states bank, just says when you're travelling in general.


I can select my CC, my joint checking account card with my husband and my own checking out or I can select just one or more of those. That's the same thing you can do with Chase meaning you can set up a travel alert for both domestic and international travel.

I don't set up an alert every time I travel out of the state though my bank tells me I can. Sometimes I think weird things can happen that trigger a possible fraud detection. If I told my bank every time I left the state I'm sure the webpage would break lol being that I live on the border between two states. I just was in a different state last night coming home from the airport totally didn't notify my bank then.

 

[3threebabies]

Update day 7, our room charge balance is $0, so the holds on our account should be the $100 baseline. Nope, 7 pending charges totaling around $900. If we had a balance it be $1080.

Our bank account is now “overdrawn”. Not really, but it’s taken about 4 days for the holds to fall off. So that’s kind of annoying.

You did not specify if credit or debit card. If you used a debit card (you said overdrawn), the hold process would be different than with credit cards. This thread stated earlier that resorts, restaurants, car rental companies, etc. regularly notify customers to be aware of their personal bank’s policies for holds. It appears as if customers who have used credit cards for charging have had holds placed and lifted efficiently as expected. Specifically see detailed summary from @PJofNB. Now if you did use a credit card, that could be concerning for people with low limits.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Sounds to me like some of you need to deal with different banks. Glad I don't have any of these issues with my Canadian banks.

I think as time has gone on things have changed. I remember travel alerts being so much more talked about in terms of advice. With Chips in cards, fraud protection updates and methods of contacting the customer to ensure the charge was indeed valid (like a text or phone call which are more immediate), ease of filing a claim for fraud charges on cards, and likely just how the card issuer looks at charges and patterns, etc it seems to have adjusted to less of an urgency in notifying. Certaintly it's still advisable though and I would agree moreso out of the country. That doesn't mean that sometimes things pop up that have people scratching their heads as to why their account was flagged.

 

[cmwade77]

That's on Chase's website: https://www.chase.com/personal/credit-cards/travel-notification

Technically at least this webpage it doesn't say you have to notify them either way. Just gives the information on how to notify them which differs from domestic vs international travel.

Just passing along the information as it was being spoken about Chase in general. We didn't notify of our international travel to Jamaica with the SWA CC (like I said it's backed by Chase).

Pretty sure companies don't require you to notify them anymore like they used to. Some may or may not and some it's just a suggestion. I remember when I was traveling to St. Lucia I had my debit card and my credit card with me from my bank and when I called to notify them of travel they said it wasn't really necessary but thanks for letting them know. That was back in 2013 and it probably was more common to notify of travel back then. It still says on their website it's recommended to notify of travel though my bank's website doesn't differientiate between international and domestic in terms of notifying them (was just mentioned about travel in general).

With Chase, do yourself a favor and notify them, even domestically, I had an issue when I went to Disney World and it didn't take long to sort out on the automated system once I got enough coverage that I could hear it, but we were at AKL Kidani and there are chunks with no cell coverage and the WiFi is not strong enough for WiFi calling.

 

[cmwade77]

The way I understood the policy, the "normal" would be for the total holds to equal the total charges to the room, rounded up to the next $100. But, the actual charge would be a separate authorization. Therefore, the total amount being held on your card would be a little over double what you charge to the room (this is common practice at resorts and cruises).

Again, common practice for resorts and cruised to void the pending hold and then charge the final charge, not to keep the hold and charge the final charge.

 

[cmwade77]

We are just back, checked out 2 March after arriving 21 February. In our case, starting 27 February, successive holds were placed on my credit card to keep the total at no more than the balance owing plus $100. (My bank lists these as "pending transactions" but states that in some cases, pending transactions are pre-authorizations that are later adjusted to match the actual charge; they give gas stations as the most common example.)

Specifically, on 27 March we had a small balance owing against room charges from the previous couple of days. A hold for this amount plus $100 was placed on the 27th. On the 28th, we charged a number of meals to our room using our magic bands and made a few small purchases. When the total of these new charges exceeded $100, a new hold for the additional charges was placed. In the evening of the 28th, we charged some additional souvenirs using our magic bands. A second hold on the 28th was added for the additional amounts after the transaction that brought the total of the new charges over $100. A third new hold appeared on the 28th after an additional purchase that exceeded $100.

So, by the end of the day on the 28th, we had four separate holds on our card, with the total of all four holds equal to the amount owing on our room charges plus $100. A new hold was placed each time a series of small charges accumulated to exceed $100 or after any single charge greater than $100.

We used cash to pay off most of the balance owing in room charges on 28 February, but added some new charges on 1 March and made an additional cash payment that evening. My bank currently shows a "pending credit" dated 1 March that offsets the 4 holds from 27 & 28 February and a pending charge for the correct net charges against the room, considering accumulated charges less the cash payments. This appears to be the pre-checkout charge to my card to clear the balance owing. We made some additional charges to the room for breakfast the morning of checkout; these currently appear as a pending charge dated 2 March.

In summary, the transactions appear reasonable. I will see what happens in the next couple of days as debits and credits either change from pending to posted or disappear. I am not sure at this point which will happen. The only potential complication in our case is that these are foreign currency transactions on my credit card, so debits and offsetting credits in USD could still cost me something, while a hold that is removed will not.

My apologies for the very lengthy posting. I will provide an update once all the credit card transactions are finalized (in "three to five business days", according to my bank).

So more in line with what the Disneyland resort has been doing for a very long time now, so it is surprising that others had the other experience.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

With Chase, do yourself a favor and notify them, even domestically, I had an issue when I went to Disney World and it didn't take long to sort out on the automated system once I got enough coverage that I could hear it, but we were at AKL Kidani and there are chunks with no cell coverage and the WiFi is not strong enough for WiFi calling.

Now I'm wondering if Disney is a trigger for at least some people lol.

Our SWA CC is the card on file for Disney. We actually just got back from Disneyland and used it--no issues never notified them either. Used it at Disney World back in 2017 no issues either. Wonder if it's because ours is through SWA?? IDK

It's something to keep in mind though that domestic travel notifications aren't necessarily a thing of the past; not having cell service for sure makes it harder to notify you (would make the more immediate notifications nearly useless lol).

 

[cmwade77]

Now I'm wondering if Disney is a trigger for at least some people lol.

Our SWA CC is the card on file for Disney. We actually just got back from Disneyland and used it--no issues never notified them either. Used it at Disney World back in 2017 no issues either. Wonder if it's because ours is through SWA?? IDK

It's something to keep in mind though that domestic travel notifications aren't necessarily a thing of the past; not having cell service for sure makes it harder to notify you (would make the more immediate notifications nearly useless lol).

No, the trigger was the fact that we made a charge very late in California just before our flight and another charge in Florida just after landing and the second one was a large charge (not to Disney) and they felt is was too close together to not ask.

And yeah, the cell service was an issue, btw, this was the end of January, so before the new hold stuff started as well, always best to notify them anyway, since you can do it online, it takes just a few seconds.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Again, common practice for resorts and cruised to void the pending hold and then charge the final charge, not to keep the hold and charge the final charge.

I would say both are common practice.

 

[angelmav]

I always find it amusing how new posters always seem to find these sorts of threads.

You are asking for trouble if you use a debit card with this system in place for sure. A CC is no guarantee it still wont bite you, but many people that use their Visa Debit as a CC will find they are locked out of money they planned to spend. Holds also seem to take a lot longer to drop off with bank cards. Though my Cap1 takes several days too. YMMV.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

No, the trigger was the fact that we made a charge very late in California just before our flight and another charge in Florida just after landing and the second one was a large charge (not to Disney) and they felt is was too close together to not ask.

And yeah, the cell service was an issue, btw, this was the end of January, so before the new hold stuff started as well, always best to notify them anyway, since you can do it online, it takes just a few seconds.

Ohhhh ok I gotcha. I could see how they would have some questions about that.