New Credit Card Authorization Holds

[Searc]

I don't know the actual practice of the new policy but if you don't want any type of hold on a card then could you just not have charging privledges on your MB and therefore as long as your room is paid for in advance via a package paid 30 days in advance, or room only paid at checkin with cash or gift cards then they would have no need for a hold. Seems there would be a way around it. Some folks don't have credit cards.

The only way to avoid the hold is by paying off your balance before arrival and not doing on-line check in. That is what I did and should have no holds on my account, as I won't be linking a credit card for room charges.

 

[PolyRob]

I wanna say around $380, I can’t remember the exact but it definitely wasn’t over $400.

So 7, $100 holds for less than $400?! Seems like the system is definitely having issues. I was also concerned that Chase would think all the pending $100 inquiries were fraudulent. I was hopeful that if I spent less than $500 a day and swiped my GC every night I could avoid some issues. Looks like I will just use the band for quick snacks and all meals and merchandise will be direct gift card swipes. I don't want to deal with billing or CC issues on vacation.

 

[gwynne]

So 7, $100 holds for less than $400?! Seems like the system is definitely having issues. I was also concerned that Chase would think all the pending $100 inquiries were fraudulent. I was hopeful that if I spent less than $500 a day and swiped my GC every night I could avoid some issues. Looks like I will just use the band for quick snacks and all meals and merchandise will be direct gift card swipes. I don't want to deal with billing or CC issues on vacation.

The possible fraud flags have been my concern. The CC companies only know what is generally "usual" for WDW in the past. Maybe in several months (or more) this will be less of a potentially annoying issue. I hope so.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

So 7, $100 holds for less than $400?! Seems like the system is definitely having issues. I was also concerned that Chase would think all the pending $100 inquiries were fraudulent. I was hopeful that if I spent less than $500 a day and swiped my GC every night I could avoid some issues. Looks like I will just use the band for quick snacks and all meals and merchandise will be direct gift card swipes. I don't want to deal with billing or CC issues on vacation.

I was rethinking using GC's every night at the desk. Now I'll use my GC for meals and drinks and just use the bands for small purchases. I have the Disney Chase card so I'm assuming they already know my spending habits at WDW.

 

[PolyRob]

The possible fraud flags have been my concern. The CC companies only know what is generally "usual" for WDW in the past. Maybe in several months (or more) this will be less of a potentially annoying issue. I hope so.

Good point! Hopefully its more expected by the banks over time. Maybe I will attempt more room charging for my Fall/Winter stay.

I was rethinking using GC's every night at the desk. Now I'll use my GC for meals and drinks and just use the bands for small purchases. I have the Disney Chase card so I'm assuming they already know my spending habits at WDW.

Haha. If I have to think about my Disney CC habits, I really only charge the initial room deposit (if I don't have enough GC to cover), airfare, and pre-paid dining for Disney. Sometimes on separate cards! Everything else has been covered by GCs for years. I think both Citi and Chase could give me some dirty looks. Maybe I will do a test and use a Citi card for the first resort of my split stay and a Chase card for the second. I can see which one flags (if any) or has the holds drop off faster lol

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

When I read about this new policy I thought it was reasonable, and had no complaints.

Then we were on our third full day and had multiple pending charges on account totaling almost $700.. then Chase started giving us issues assuming the charges were fraud (we had a horrible experience last trip where our account was frozen for almost two weeks because of a Disney billing issue...). So my husband went down, paid our balance with GCs and no more charging with the magic bands for us. We called billing the second day and asked them to explain (I just assumed they held $200 until you checked out then charged your account whatever your balance was, clearly I wasn’t paying attention.) the girl from billing could barely understand and explain to us the policy and how it worked. It was a mess. We will just pay as we go with GCs for now on.

Were the multiple pending charges that totaled almost $700 including the charge that actually went through?

Or was it $700 plus the final charge for $380 (approximately)?

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).

But, if the $700 did not include the actual charge to your card, that would be unusual, and could easily be problematic (even more so than the more usual practice described above).

 

[angelmav]

So 7, $100 holds for less than $400?! Seems like the system is definitely having issues. I was also concerned that Chase would think all the pending $100 inquiries were fraudulent. I was hopeful that if I spent less than $500 a day and swiped my GC every night I could avoid some issues. Looks like I will just use the band for quick snacks and all meals and merchandise will be direct gift card swipes. I don't want to deal with billing or CC issues on vacation.

I have triggered these fraud alert/card blocks several times with Chase and Cap1, and even my bank. Usually three same amounts or back to back charges do it. The last time was up in Canada when we found a bakery we liked, and kept going back up to order more. After the third consecutive transaction, they blocked it thinking it was a phishing attempt. Found out when I couldn't buy aquarium tickets a short time later.

 

[tex1989]

I am sure it has been asked and probably there is no answer but I have to imagine that for Disney to enact this sort of policy they must have been having to deal with a lot of unpaid/ uncollectable charges. I would really like to get the theroy behind the changes from their perspective. I know CC fraud is probably more previlant today than it once was but in the end how much was this actually costing Disney?

 

[angelmav]

I am sure it has been asked and probably there is no answer but I have to imagine that for Disney to enact this sort of policy they must have been having to deal with a lot of unpaid/ uncollectable charges. I would really like to get the theroy behind the changes from their perspective. I know CC fraud is probably more previlant today than it once was but in the end how much was this actually costing Disney?

Honestly, it might not have even had to have been a 'major issue' but some aspiring middle manager deciding to stake their claim to the bottom line pushing for this idea. I certainly have not heard of numerous tales of people slinking out of town skipping out on their Disney bill. But this does have a rather large possibility of reducing the guest spending the MB's were supposed to trigger.

 

[PJofNB]

Were the multiple pending charges that totaled almost $700 including the charge that actually went through?

Or was it $700 plus the final charge for $380 (approximately)?

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).

But, if the $700 did not include the actual charge to your card, that would be unusual, and could easily be problematic (even more so than the more usual practice described above).

In our case (checked out 2 March), the sum of the holds reached $100+peak charges to the room. The day before checkout (I suspect sometime in the evening but am not certain), Disney generated a negative "hold" (showed as a pending credit by my credit card company), which offset the accumulated holds. Therefore, at this point my total credit available was the same as if there were no holds on my card. During the night prior to checkout, Disney charged our card for the total charges owing against the room, as has been the practice prior to this new hold policy. A second charge to the card was made after checkout for the additional room charges that were made the morning of checkout (breakfast in the resort food court). The two charges on checkout day (2 March) switched from pending to posted transactions this morning (5 March). Later today, the various holds (dated 27, 28 February and 1 March) disappeared.

In summary, the holds and charges were processed as I had hoped would be the case.

 

[PJofNB]

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).

As promised, an update on our experience now that all my credit card transactions have been processed. The four holds we accumulated 27 and 28 February, plus the offsetting negative hold or pending credit that was dated 1 March all disappeared from my credit card activity today. The two credit card charges on checkout day (2 March), the first in the overnight to clear the accumulated room charges and the second following checkout to cover the additional charges checkout morning, shifted from "pending" to "posted" this morning (5 March). The charges by Disney to my credit card now match my resort folio received at checkout, with no remaining pending transactions or holds. I have no complaints with how this was processed.

One thing I did notice this morning was an additional hold that was placed on my card the morning of checkout. This was after the offsetting negative hold was applied the day before that effectively zeroed out the previous holds. The amount of the hold was $100+the first charge we made checkout morning for breakfast (~$20, so $120 total). Later on checkout day, an offsetting negative hold for the same amount was applied and the card was charged for the total amount owing from checkout morning (~$35, the initial $20 charge and a subsequent $15 charge). This is entirely consistent with the policy and was done in a way that had no adverse effect on my available credit.

 

[alyssa18o6]

Unfortunately none of the charges ended up going through so I can’t answer that. When Chase started texting around $500ish in charges about fraud my husband immediately went down and paid our balance with GCs. He was paranoid after our last trip where Chase froze our account. So I don’t know what the end result would of been. We haven’t charged anything else to the bands since.

Were the multiple pending charges that totaled almost $700 including the charge that actually went through?

Or was it $700 plus the final charge for $380 (approximately)?

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).

But, if the $700 did not include the actual charge to your card, that would be unusual, and could easily be problematic (even more so than the more usual practice described above).

 

[Nancyg56]

Honestly, it might not have even had to have been a 'major issue' but some aspiring middle manager deciding to stake their claim to the bottom line pushing for this idea. I certainly have not heard of numerous tales of people slinking out of town skipping out on their Disney bill. But this does have a rather large possibility of reducing the guest spending the MB's were supposed to trigger.

I bet it did trigger guest spending, and then found that a segment of those people di dnto have the funds to pay the bill. I bet swiping that band made spending seem less like money and more liek fun for some.

 

[alyssa18o6]

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.

 

[bluezy]

Unfortunately none of the charges ended up going through so I can’t answer that. When Chase started texting around $500ish in charges about fraud my husband immediately went down and paid our balance with GCs. He was paranoid after our last trip where Chase froze our account. So I don’t know what the end result would of been. We haven’t charged anything else to the bands since.

Had you notified Chase that you would be traveling? And did you call Chase when they texted you about the suspected fraud? Just curious what their response was. About 8 years ago we had our account frozen by Chase for suspected fraud while we were traveling to Disney because I had forgotten to notify them that we would be traveling. One quick phone call in response to their notification and they reopened the account and noted that we were traveling and where we were traveling to. No problems after that. Now I'm much better at notifying them when we travel and haven't had a problem since then. Granted, we haven't been to Disney since this new policy went into effect so I don't know if the new holds by Disney would still trigger a freeze by Chase for us even if they knew we were traveling.

 

[Dug720]

Had you notified Chase that you would be traveling? And did you call Chase when they texted you about the suspected fraud? Just curious what their response was. About 8 years ago we had our account frozen by Chase for suspected fraud while we were traveling to Disney because I had forgotten to notify them that we would be traveling. One quick phone call in response to their notification and they reopened the account and noted that we were traveling and where we were traveling to. No problems after that. Now I'm much better at notifying them when we travel and haven't had a problem since then. Granted, we haven't been to Disney since this new policy went into effect so I don't know if the new holds by Disney would still trigger a freeze by Chase for us even if they knew we were traveling.

Every time I try to notify them about a domestic trip, they say that you only need to do it for international trips and to just make a purchase or use an ATM with your PIN to “prove” it is you there. Granted this is with a debit card, but I will usually just go to the ATM in the resort lobby and do a fast cash withdrawal.

I usually use gift cards or cash when I’m making any Disney purchases though. Or use the debit card itself.

 

[alyssa18o6]

Yes they told us only international needs notification. They text us every time a transaction goes through for approval that it’s “us”. I think it’s probably the large frequent amounts that are causing suspicion even if it is us. I’m guessing the fraud monitors have never been to Disney lol

Had you notified Chase that you would be traveling? And did you call Chase when they texted you about the suspected fraud? Just curious what their response was. About 8 years ago we had our account frozen by Chase for suspected fraud while we were traveling to Disney because I had forgotten to notify them that we would be traveling. One quick phone call in response to their notification and they reopened the account and noted that we were traveling and where we were traveling to. No problems after that. Now I'm much better at notifying them when we travel and haven't had a problem since then. Granted, we haven't been to Disney since this new policy went into effect so I don't know if the new holds by Disney would still trigger a freeze by Chase for us even if they knew we were traveling.

 

[Searc]

Had you notified Chase that you would be traveling? And did you call Chase when they texted you about the suspected fraud? Just curious what their response was. About 8 years ago we had our account frozen by Chase for suspected fraud while we were traveling to Disney because I had forgotten to notify them that we would be traveling. One quick phone call in response to their notification and they reopened the account and noted that we were traveling and where we were traveling to. No problems after that. Now I'm much better at notifying them when we travel and haven't had a problem since then. Granted, we haven't been to Disney since this new policy went into effect so I don't know if the new holds by Disney would still trigger a freeze by Chase for us even if they knew we were traveling.

You only need to contact Chase about international travel, not domestic.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

You only need to contact Chase about international travel, not domestic.

Technically Chase has to do it with both domestic and international



In practice I think sometimes it's really what the card actually is, what the person's charges are and their normal charges as well that can cause triggers and/or really necessitate a travel notification.

In-law's bank used to immediately freeze their account if they stepped foot out of our metro. Hardly suspect charges mind you. They had a long-standing battle with them to ease up on it because otherwise they'd have to notify them each and everytime they went outside of our metro area. On the other hand we took our backed by Chase SWA CC to Jamaica had no issues whatsoever. Husband's company CC (and I forget who backs it) expects travel (that's pretty much when he uses it) though they are very prompt when the charges appear suspicious.

 

[Searc]

Technically Chase has to do it with both domestic and international

View attachment 386781

In practice I think sometimes it's really what the card actually is, what the person's charges are and their normal charges as well that can cause triggers and/or really necessitate a travel notification.

In-law's bank used to immediately freeze their account if they stepped foot out of our metro. Hardly suspect charges mind you. They had a long-standing battle with them to ease up on it because otherwise they'd have to notify them each and everytime they went outside of our metro area. On the other hand we took our backed by Chase SWA CC to Jamaica had no issues whatsoever. Husband's company CC (and I forget who backs it) expects travel (that's pretty much when he uses it) though they are very prompt when the charges appear suspicious.

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