New Credit Card Authorization Holds

[ninafeliz]

When I am paying off my balance with a credit card I don't pay it until check in. If I am paying it off with a gift card then I will pay it off a day or so ahead of time.

Is there any reason for this? I have always just paid the balance on a cc or gc at check in.

I guess if I do online check In now (I’ve never done it before, creature of habit) the charge will go through the morning of check in from what I’ve read.

 

[Searc]

Is there any reason for this? I have always just paid the balance on a cc or gc at check in.

I guess if I do online check In now (I’ve never done it before, creature of habit) the charge will go through the morning of check in from what I’ve read.

I paid it off this time because I didn't want the balance due to be in addition to the $100 hold. I've got tons of credit on my card, but I still don't want any extra funds being held when they don't have to be. So my balance checking in will be $0 + $100.

 

[PolyRob]

That’s exactly what we do, so I’ll be curious to see how it goes for you. the only thing is I don’t want to use 2 credit cards, I want to use the Disney one and get 2% since the charges are at Disney.

Do you just call ahead and pay your room before you go? We always pay our RO on check In since you don’t have to pay ahead, is there a reason to pay it off earlier?

I will definitely look at my bank apps and keep notes of what happens/when the pending authorizations drop off! Similar to what @Wood Nymph mentioned, I pay off my rooms with gift cards prior to arrival. Usually only my deposit is paid via credit card. I am always paranoid that my CC will be charged for the remaining balance before I can apply my GC. Its pretty simple to pay over the phone with the automated system and it shows all the different payments in MDE once you've done online check-in.

You can only have one credit card saved to your MDE profile. So if you changed your payment method, the last card you entered is the only one that will be used.

When I updated my online check-in I told it not to update my profile with the card. It looks like the new card is still on the reservation. I will confirm when I check-in at the resort.

 

[AngiTN]

You can only have one credit card saved to your MDE profile. So if you changed your payment method, the last card you entered is the only one that will be used.

True but nothing stops you from giving them a different card at check-in. I do all the time, depending on what points I want to use at that moment.

 

[AngiTN]

After reading through this thread I think this will have a big effect on the debit cards. If I'm understanding things correctly I would have to have twice as much money in my bank account than my purchase costs. I almost didn't have a credit card because my credit union (Disney) threatened to take it away if I didn't start using it. (Never fear I had to have dental work done. ) Thing is there could be other people that only use a debit card and do not have credit cards. I like to pay everything off right away. I most likely wouldn't put my card down and charge back to the room knowing this policy but not all people will pay attention to this change.

I also wonder how the parking is charged. Is it charged nightly or all nights at the end of the stay? I know somewhere in this thread it was mentioned there was a hold placed for parking.

I would not use a debit card with this unless you are prepared with an adequate cash reserve to handle the holds. I think they stand to be the most screwy since even a hold (depending on the banking institution and the way they process) can result in an overdraft.

 

[siren0119]

I would not use a debit card with this unless you are prepared with an adequate cash reserve to handle the holds. I think they stand to be the most screwy since even a hold (depending on the banking institution and the way they process) can result in an overdraft.

That's my thought too - plus my bank is already known to be slow clearing holds (usually just restaurant tabs and gas station purchases so it's not a big deal if they take a few days to fall off). Safer to just disassociate the debit card and use gift cards in the park.

 

[AngiTN]

That's my thought too - plus my bank is already known to be slow clearing holds (usually just restaurant tabs and gas station purchases so it's not a big deal if they take a few days to fall off). Safer to just disassociate the debit card and use gift cards in the park.

Funny how they do this when it seems to work to their advantage if it results in customers getting hit with a fee along the way....

 

[Wood Nymph]

Is there any reason for this? I have always just paid the balance on a cc or gc at check in.

I guess if I do online check In now (I’ve never done it before, creature of habit) the charge will go through the morning of check in from what I’ve read.

We have always had our credit card charged for the balance before we get to the resort. I always get a notification when my credit card is charged and that is how I know that it is charged before we arrive, usually when we are riding the Magical Express. If I plan to pay the balance with a gift card then I don't want to go through the trouble of having them reverse the credit card charge that would have posted before I even arrive at the resort. So I pay with gift cards ahead of time so that there isn't a balance that will be charged to my credit card.

We always use online check in.

 

[PolyRob]

I just checked and my online check-in still has the different cards.

BC:


GF:


I will double check when I arrive in addition to asking about leaving GCs on file just to see what the CM says.

 

[toocherie]

Without reading through 30 pages--can we just opt NOT to be able to charge to the Magicband/room? I had an issue 10 years ago where I lost my room key (at that time no MBs) and even though I reported it immediately someone found it and charged a $1000 or so to my room. Disney waived it (because I remembered who I had spoken to when I called from the parks) but it was a pain and since then I have elected not to allow chargebacks--I'll just use cash or my credit card/gift cards.

 

[dansdad]

Without reading through 30 pages--can we just opt NOT to be able to charge to the Magicband/room?

Definitely . You can choose to not link a Credit Card to your MDE account. Or if that's already been done, stop by the Front Desk when you arrive and remove charging privileges from your account.

 

[AngiTN]

Without reading through 30 pages--can we just opt NOT to be able to charge to the Magicband/room? I had an issue 10 years ago where I lost my room key (at that time no MBs) and even though I reported it immediately someone found it and charged a $1000 or so to my room. Disney waived it (because I remembered who I had spoken to when I called from the parks) but it was a pain and since then I have elected not to allow chargebacks--I'll just use cash or my credit card/gift cards.

Sure. Room charging is not required. Don't put a credit card on the room and you can't charge using your MB, even if you did want to.
Though that's the beauty of the change they have implemented in the past 10 years, they added PIN codes so no one could charge to your room if you lost a band and someone found it without your PIN. Unless they got lucky and guessed your PIN.
Anyway, no charging if you don't want it. It's all optional.

 

[PolyRob]

Without reading through 30 pages--can we just opt NOT to be able to charge to the Magicband/room? I had an issue 10 years ago where I lost my room key (at that time no MBs) and even though I reported it immediately someone found it and charged a $1000 or so to my room. Disney waived it (because I remembered who I had spoken to when I called from the parks) but it was a pain and since then I have elected not to allow chargebacks--I'll just use cash or my credit card/gift cards.

I absolutely love your signature

 

[MarkinNM]

Seems like pretty standard hotel "holds", Las Vegas hotels, some anyway tend to do about the same thing.......

 

[Samantha Morgan]

Seems like pretty standard hotel "holds", Las Vegas hotels, some anyway tend to do about the same thing.......

I agree that room holds are standard, but the way that Disney has rolled them out is abnormal. The weird, inconsistent extra $100 for every $100-ish you spend that amounts to essentially doubling your pending charges.

 

[tarak]

I agree that room holds are standard, but the way that Disney has rolled them out is abnormal. The weird, inconsistent extra $100 for every $100-ish you spend that amounts to essentially doubling your pending charges.

This does seem weird to me. Our BJ’s sells the $500 Disney cards for $485, so I planned to grab enough to pay off the room before we get there (we have a room only reservation), so at least that part of the bill is taken care of before we get there.

 

[sponica]

I agree that room holds are standard, but the way that Disney has rolled them out is abnormal. The weird, inconsistent extra $100 for every $100-ish you spend that amounts to essentially doubling your pending charges.

Even a 75 dollar per night hold would be more in line with industry standards. And as long as it's clearly explained in your booking documents, I don't think it would be a huge deal. If your card CANNOT carry the per night charge, then you would not be able to charge to the room.

 

[AngiTN]

I agree that room holds are standard, but the way that Disney has rolled them out is abnormal. The weird, inconsistent extra $100 for every $100-ish you spend that amounts to essentially doubling your pending charges.

Not to mention, $100 is too low simply because practically every purchase exceeds that. So it means each day is a new hold. Hardly anyone will go a day without a new hold.
I get they were running into a whole lot of chargebacks. Truly I do. Letting people run up a $2000 charge first was probably really biting them in the butt quite often.
But to go from $2000 to $100 is a bit of an extreme. Surely there was something in between that would work better.
Leave it to Disney to come up with a solution that "throws the baby out with the bathwater"

 

[Nancyg56]

Not to mention, $100 is too low simply because practically every purchase exceeds that. So it means each day is a new hold. Hardly anyone will go a day without a new hold.
I get they were running into a whole lot of chargebacks. Truly I do. Letting people run up a $2000 charge first was probably really biting them in the butt quite often.
But to go from $2000 to $100 is a bit of an extreme. Surely there was something in between that would work better.
Leave it to Disney to come up with a solution that "throws the baby out with the bathwater"

I know! Add that to the easy peasy MB swiping that Disney implemented in part I believe, to make spending easier, and you have a problem.

But this hold business is not the best answer, IMO.

 

[AngiTN]

Thinking a bit on where this $100 figure came from. How did they come up with that?
I wonder if this figure is indicative of just how many who are charging to the room are on the dining plan? If you are only charging a tip for 1 meal a day, then yeah, I guess you are probably not going over that much a day. Only those paying for meals will exceed that regularly. I've never given much thought to how many, in a percentage, at a given time are on the dining plan. If it's really high then that could be where they settled on $100 being "enough".