New Credit Card Authorization Holds

[MinnieMSue]

Got a strange email from capital one - it says they "found your personal information somewhere on the dark web". I called and it was actually from capital one, had to change our password because apparently they monitor the "dark web" and my email address was found there. Been changing all my passwords just in case, they said to change any "associated" with my email. Any one heard of this?

I had a service that monitored my personal information and they said my email address was found on the dark web too. I was surprised but also changed my passwords. This was well over a year ago. As far as I know nothing has been used fraudulently on my name or info (yet anyway).

 

[AngiTN]

Got a strange email from capital one - it says they "found your personal information somewhere on the dark web". I called and it was actually from capital one, had to change our password because apparently they monitor the "dark web" and my email address was found there. Been changing all my passwords just in case, they said to change any "associated" with my email. Any one heard of this?

No but I have a password organizer and it searches the Darkweb for instances of any uses of my account and passwords there and alerts me if there are times where it's been stored there. It happens. I assume that's where compromised sites data ends up.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

No kidding. My kids were totally looking forward to buying stuff with their magic bands. (And trust me Disney, *that* was where all of our family's impulse buying would have come from. ) Yeah, we can get them the gift card bracelets, but they aren't nearly as fun since the kids will need to keep track of their spending. So yeah, math again.

But there's no way I'm messing around with all of this nonsense when I'm on vacation. I'm not checking for emails from my credit card company or worrying about MB charges being denied when I have more than enough available credit. Those things take away from the magic, and I'm not purposely choosing to do something that does that. We've always charged to our rooms and it was fun and easy, but if they've made it annoying, aggravating, time-consuming, and/or embarrassing, then we'll pass. And yeah, I do think our spending will be at least a little less because of it. Which seems to be exactly opposite what Disney would want, but that's the situation they seem to have currently created.

This! I have a debit card and I can't have $100 holds on my card. So if I'm understanding correctly, one day my son and I spend $50 in the park, my bank is actually going to deduct that $50 and the $100 hold? Or is it $50 and then they take $150 now because that charge is tacked on to the hold? I get confused which is another reason why I refuse to do it.

I decided to get a Visa Gift Card and use that for purchases of snacks and things like that in the parks. And I will carry cash for our dining offsite. My bank is right there in Orlando, so driving there before returning to the parks and grabbing some cash isn't a problem. We'll be offsite for dining, so it's not an inconvenience. I'm told where gift cards get tricky in Disney is when you are trying to to make resort payments for your room. They take more than what you owe to make sure the money is there. Yes you get it back, but no thanks. I'll use my debit card to pay for that and not have that worry.

Like you I'm on vacation and I don't need the worry of not having enough money because of these $100 holds. I only have so much budgeted and I need just that to make it through our 5 days at Disney.

 

[AngiTN]

This! I have a debit card and I can't have $100 holds on my card. So if I'm understanding correctly, one day my son and I spend $50 in the park, my bank is actually going to deduct that $50 and the $100 hold? Or is it $50 and then they take $150 now because that charge is tacked on to the hold? I get confused which is another reason why I refuse to do it.

I decided to get a Visa Gift Card and use that for purchases of snacks and things like that in the parks. And I will carry cash for our dining offsite. My bank is right there in Orlando, so driving there before returning to the parks and grabbing some cash isn't a problem. We'll be offsite for dining, so it's not an inconvenience. I'm told where gift cards get tricky in Disney is when you are trying to to make resort payments for your room. They take more than what you owe to make sure the money is there. Yes you get it back, but no thanks. I'll use my debit card to pay for that and not have that worry.

Like you I'm on vacation and I don't need the worry of not having enough money because of these $100 holds. I only have so much budgeted and I need just that to make it through our 5 days at Disney.

You won't want to do that.
They are a problem to use at Disney. Just like any restaurant or other location where tips are customary.
Due to the coding of the way they are processed at Disney, 20% is added to all purchases at the time they are authorized, just in case you want to add a tip. This will screw with the available funds on the gift card.
You will want to convert the Visa Gift Card to a Disney Gift Card to avoid this 20% being held in limbo between authorization and final charge approval.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

You won't want to do that.
They are a problem to use at Disney. Just like any restaurant or other location where tips are customary.
Due to the coding of the way they are processed at Disney, 20% is added to all purchases at the time they are authorized, just in case you want to add a tip. This will screw with the available funds on the gift card.
You will want to convert the Visa Gift Card to a Disney Gift Card to avoid this 20% being held in limbo between authorization and final charge approval.

I'm not doing table service. And I don't really want a Disney Gift Card. Yes I know my son and I are going to spend money, but I don't want that money on a Disney Gift Card and then be forced to use it there. Another poster on the Tips Board where I posted my thread said, she used her Visa gift card in the parks last week with no issues and was only charged for the amount she spent.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

@AngiTN

Here's my post with a couple of posts from some DISers. One actually said she DID use it in a restaurant. Must have been QS

https://www.disboards.com/threads/visa-gift-cards-in-the-parks.3749679/

 

[AngiTN]

I'm not doing table service. And I don't really want a Disney Gift Card. Yes I know my son and I are going to spend money, but I don't want that money on a Disney Gift Card and then be forced to use it there. Another poster on the Tips Board where I posted my thread said, she used her Visa gift card in the parks last week with no issues and was only charged for the amount she spent.

Oh, as long as it's for merchandise and such
And remember too, you do pay a fee to buy that Visa gift card and you don't pay a fee for a Disney gift card. Something else to think of. I get what you mean but I don't like paying even a little old $6 (or more) just to buy the Visa card

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Oh, as long as it's for merchandise and such
And remember too, you do pay a fee to buy that Visa gift card and you don't pay a fee for a Disney gift card. Something else to think of. I get what you mean but I don't like paying even a little old $6 (or more) just to buy the Visa card

Yes ma'am! I know about the fee and I'm okay with that. I'll give cash for the amount I want on the card and swipe my debit card for the fee. In the end....I'm fairly sure my son and I will spend about $200 on food and souvenirs in Disney. I can't see how we wouldn't. More on the souvenirs as I plan to only do snacks and drinks at Disney. Have our kosher meals offsite. Yes there are 4 restaurants, one in each park that has kosher food and All Star Sports food court has kosher meals too. I just don't want microwaved food on our whole vacation, nor do I want to go to the grocery store for stuff I can "make" myself....I'm on vacation.

I appreciate your information!

 

[AngiTN]

@AngiTN

Here's my post with a couple of posts from some DISers. One actually said she DID use it in a restaurant. Must have been QS

https://www.disboards.com/threads/visa-gift-cards-in-the-parks.3749679/

May have been. Only way you will know is to go do it and see what happens.
It's all by the computer system used by the merchant and how it's coded by Visa (or Mastercard)
If it's coded as an industry that tips, then 20% is automatically added to the bill. It's a Visa thing not a Disney thing.
I actually have a Visa gift card that I get as a reward from a shopping vendor here at work. Just got one in the mail this week and one of the warnings they include is exactly this, about making sure you have an extra 20% available on the card anytime you use it at a restaurant, even if you plan to tip in cash, or the charge will be declined.
Resorts and any TS restaurant will be coded as tip added for sure.
Just as an aside, Gas Stations are the other warning, the pumps will do wonky authorizations on them too. It warns to always go pay inside, never use them at the pump if you don't want to tie up the funds for several days till the final approvals are sorted out.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

May have been. Only way you will know is to go do it and see what happens.
It's all by the computer system used by the merchant and how it's coded by Visa (or Mastercard)
If it's coded as an industry that tips, then 20% is automatically added to the bill. It's a Visa thing not a Disney thing.
I actually have a Visa gift card that I get as a reward from a shopping vendor here at work. Just got one in the mail this week and one of the warnings they include is exactly this, about making sure you have an extra 20% available on the card anytime you use it at a restaurant, even if you plan to tip in cash, or the charge will be declined.
Resorts and any TS restaurant will be coded as tip added for sure.
Just as an aside, Gas Stations are the other warning, the pumps will do wonky authorizations on them too. It warns to always go pay inside, never use them at the pump if you don't want to tie up the funds for several days till the final approvals are sorted out.

I believe the person on my thread on the TIPS board also said it's a Visa thing not a Disney thing. Things like gas and tolls are coming from my regular bank card. I have a sunpass monitor in my car set up to deduct from my bank so I'm good there. If it's a Visa thing, I suppose I should use cash when we dine offsite. Or....I could use it once at one of the restaurants and see how the charge is ran. Can check the balance as we leave or get back to the resort before heading into the parks.

The more I think about it, the more I think I'll just go to the ATM and take out the money we need. I've got it budgeted to what we can spend daily....I think that's what I'll do. Shouldn't have to take money out every day either, because I just don't see us spending $140 a day. I did a "menu" of what our first day of meals would look like (we'll be arriving on a Sunday around 11am) and I came up to like $55 I'll round up to $60 for tax I guess. That was our offsite meal and two snacks and soda at Disney. Because I know how my son's appetite works, I'm throwing another $20 on that total just to be safe. So right there, we've only spent $80 of the $140. I just don't need the headache with the Visa card and I don't want husband worrying seeing the swipe of the debit card so much or me worrying that he's going to pay a bill with our Disney vacation money.

 

[tinkerbellybutton]

This bums me out. We always charge back to our room, putting everything on our Disney Visa to earn a few points for the next trip. Has anyone that charges back to the room onto their disney visa had these same issues I am reading about?

I do not want to spend vacation time having to visit the front desk several times about reinstating my card, or spend time on the phone with my bank, or having to dispute charges daily. What a mess disney has made!

 

[_19disnA]

Got a strange email from capital one - it says they "found your personal information somewhere on the dark web". I called and it was actually from capital one, had to change our password because apparently they monitor the "dark web" and my email address was found there. Been changing all my passwords just in case, they said to change any "associated" with my email. Any one heard of this?

Sometimes those can be phising scams where they are trying to get personal info from you to perpetrate a fraud. If you want to contact you credit card company about such emails, ALWAYS use the phone # on the back of your credit card and NOT any of the contact info that might be in the email. This way you know you are talking with the REAL credit card company. That is the best way to proceed if you ever get any type of suspicious email/phone calls about your credit cards.

 

[bluezy]

I'm just curious...has anyone had no problems with charging to their room since the whole "hold" thing started? Specifically, someone who is charging over $100/day to their room? We have a sufficiently high credit limit that even if we end up with double the amount of charges to our card (meaning that we have the same amount in holds as we do in actual charges), we'll be fine. The thing that concerns me is the multiple holds and having our Disney Visa flagged for fraud. Of course, I don't even have a trip planned at this point and probably won't be there for at least another year, so I don't really need to worry about this because I know the situation could change 10 times between now and our next visit. But I'm not happy unless I'm worrying about something that doesn't even affect me at this time.

Just wanted to throw some random comparison info out there. None of this is "news" to me, I'm just sharing the info for comparison's sake. We just returned from a 3500 mile road trip (that did not include a Disney visit. ). We stayed at 6 different hotels during that drive -- mostly Choice Hotel properties. We did not charge anything to our room during these stays (we literally just slept and showered in these hotels...usually only being on property 12-13 hours). We stayed at 3 different Comfort Suites properties. All 3 of them said they would be putting a $50 hold on our card for incidentals but nothing ever showed up on our account (I checked through the app several times a day). The Sleep Inn & Suites *did* put a $50 hold on our card that immediately showed as a pending charge. It disappeared within 24 hours after checkout. At La Quinta Inn & Suites they said they would put a $50 hold on the card but what showed up was a $92.50 pending charge (in addition to the $120 for the room). I have no idea where that amount came from. It stayed a pending charge for 4 full days after check out before finally disappearing. At Tru by Hilton, they said they would do a $25 hold. What they actually did was add $25 to the cost of the room -- so the amount that immediately showed as a pending charge on our card was $126 ($101 for the room + $25 for incidentals). Within 24 hours of check out, that pending charge was gone and a new charge for $101 was put through (I'm guessing the original amount was just modified).

Four different "brands", four different ways of handling the holds. We did use the same credit card at each hotel. I expected the Comfort Suites and Sleep Inn & Suites to handle things the same way since they're part of the Choice hotels, but they didn't. The common thing about each of the hotels (including Tru) was that they had a sign at the front desk indicating that upon check-in, they would be putting a charge through to your credit or debit card for the total cost of your stay plus a $50 (or $25) hold for incidentals. They explained that if nothing was charged to the room, the $50 hold would be cancelled/credited at checkout. However, even though *they* would releasing the hold at checkout, it could take up to 7 days for your credit card company or bank to credit that money to your account and that there was nothing the hotel could do to speed that up -- it was all at the discretion of the credit card company/bank. The last sentence (that was in all caps at some of the properties) said that they strongly suggest that guests DO NOT use debit cards the pay for their room or incidentals and that they wouldn't be responsible for any overdraft fees due to money not being available in these accounts because of the holds.

So this is obviously an industry-wide issue, not just at Disney. Just throwing that out there for people (like me) who don't do a lot of traveling or don't have a lot of hotel stays outside of Disney. The issue of holds not falling off immediately and debit accounts having issues of insufficient funds due to holds not falling off is not a Disney issue in general...which I already knew, but now I have recent personal experience. That $100 limit that is causing the multiple holds/hits to a credit card is a Disney issue but that's a whole other conversation.

 

[AngiTN]

Yes, there have been a few to post here that the method of these holds did not cause any disruptions to their stays and that the holds were never a problem and dropped off quickly. Sorry I can't point back to any specific poster or dates.

 

[bluezy]

Yes, there have been a few to post here that the method of these holds did not cause any disruptions to their stays and that the holds were never a problem and dropped off quickly. Sorry I can't point back to any specific poster or dates.

Thanks. I probably should have specifically asked for any "recent" positive experiences. I've been following this thread from day 1 and I remember a few people saying they didn't have problems but it seems like it's been awhile since we've seen a positive experience. I'm hoping that maybe if I ask the question, more people will respond with their good outcomes. I'd love to find out that the fraud issues some people have run in to are the minority but I suppose that's wishful thinking.

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

Thanks. I probably should have specifically asked for any "recent" positive experiences. I've been following this thread from day 1 and I remember a few people saying they didn't have problems but it seems like it's been awhile since we've seen a positive experience. I'm hoping that maybe if I ask the question, more people will respond with their good outcomes. I'd love to find out that the fraud issues some people have run in to are the minority but I suppose that's wishful thinking.

That is my biggest fear also is the fraud alerts and such kicking in and causing problems.

 

[AngiTN]

Thanks. I probably should have specifically asked for any "recent" positive experiences. I've been following this thread from day 1 and I remember a few people saying they didn't have problems but it seems like it's been awhile since we've seen a positive experience. I'm hoping that maybe if I ask the question, more people will respond with their good outcomes. I'd love to find out that the fraud issues some people have run in to are the minority but I suppose that's wishful thinking.

Yeah I think those without issues are on the minority unfortunately

 

[Iowamomof4]

We check out tomorrow and had no problems. We used our Disney Visa and charged everything to the room. I paid it off with gift cards every night or two.

 

[Scoobie]

We check out tomorrow and had no problems. We used our Disney Visa and charged everything to the room. I paid it off with gift cards every night or two.

Glad to know you're trip went so smoothly!! Hope you had a great time, and did not have any worries about all the cc nonsense. Thanks for reporting back!

 

[Samantha Morgan]

It’s true that holds are an industry-wide occurrence, the odd difference is the way Disney is adding the additional hold charges.

I’ve stayed in all kinds of hotels. I’ve had holds from $25 to a few hundred dollars. Most hotels don’t have charge to your room privileges outside of room service and parking (save things like casinos and other large resorts). So basically it’s just the once and done hold. That is completely normal, and something I’ve experienced when traveling all of my adult life.

The way that Disney is compounding $100 hold charges when you go over the $100 threshold on a given day (but not necessarily cumulative) is what is making it difficult to some.

We go in August, we have plenty of available credit so I’m not concerned with the holds personally, but I understand the concern.

I'm just curious...has anyone had no problems with charging to their room since the whole "hold" thing started? Specifically, someone who is charging over $100/day to their room? We have a sufficiently high credit limit that even if we end up with double the amount of charges to our card (meaning that we have the same amount in holds as we do in actual charges), we'll be fine. The thing that concerns me is the multiple holds and having our Disney Visa flagged for fraud. Of course, I don't even have a trip planned at this point and probably won't be there for at least another year, so I don't really need to worry about this because I know the situation could change 10 times between now and our next visit. But I'm not happy unless I'm worrying about something that doesn't even affect me at this time.

Just wanted to throw some random comparison info out there. None of this is "news" to me, I'm just sharing the info for comparison's sake. We just returned from a 3500 mile road trip (that did not include a Disney visit. ). We stayed at 6 different hotels during that drive -- mostly Choice Hotel properties. We did not charge anything to our room during these stays (we literally just slept and showered in these hotels...usually only being on property 12-13 hours). We stayed at 3 different Comfort Suites properties. All 3 of them said they would be putting a $50 hold on our card for incidentals but nothing ever showed up on our account (I checked through the app several times a day). The Sleep Inn & Suites *did* put a $50 hold on our card that immediately showed as a pending charge. It disappeared within 24 hours after checkout. At La Quinta Inn & Suites they said they would put a $50 hold on the card but what showed up was a $92.50 pending charge (in addition to the $120 for the room). I have no idea where that amount came from. It stayed a pending charge for 4 full days after check out before finally disappearing. At Tru by Hilton, they said they would do a $25 hold. What they actually did was add $25 to the cost of the room -- so the amount that immediately showed as a pending charge on our card was $126 ($101 for the room + $25 for incidentals). Within 24 hours of check out, that pending charge was gone and a new charge for $101 was put through (I'm guessing the original amount was just modified).

Four different "brands", four different ways of handling the holds. We did use the same credit card at each hotel. I expected the Comfort Suites and Sleep Inn & Suites to handle things the same way since they're part of the Choice hotels, but they didn't. The common thing about each of the hotels (including Tru) was that they had a sign at the front desk indicating that upon check-in, they would be putting a charge through to your credit or debit card for the total cost of your stay plus a $50 (or $25) hold for incidentals. They explained that if nothing was charged to the room, the $50 hold would be cancelled/credited at checkout. However, even though *they* would releasing the hold at checkout, it could take up to 7 days for your credit card company or bank to credit that money to your account and that there was nothing the hotel could do to speed that up -- it was all at the discretion of the credit card company/bank. The last sentence (that was in all caps at some of the properties) said that they strongly suggest that guests DO NOT use debit cards the pay for their room or incidentals and that they wouldn't be responsible for any overdraft fees due to money not being available in these accounts because of the holds.

So this is obviously an industry-wide issue, not just at Disney. Just throwing that out there for people (like me) who don't do a lot of traveling or don't have a lot of hotel stays outside of Disney. The issue of holds not falling off immediately and debit accounts having issues of insufficient funds due to holds not falling off is not a Disney issue in general...which I already knew, but now I have recent personal experience. That $100 limit that is causing the multiple holds/hits to a credit card is a Disney issue but that's a whole other conversation.