what's with credit card preauthorization charge?

It's illegal (at least in the USA) to process a hypothetical charge as a legitimate charge on a credit card. And the cruise line cannot transmit legitimate on board charges to their head offices while at sea.

 

The "hold" procedure is routinely used as well by car rental firms and hotels for the same reason.

I meant the hold such as the do in the hotels and call it in the day before. I know the hotels I go to in Europe and the U.S. do it. I must have missed the boat someplace. thanks

my thought was that the passengers who get the holds "approved" pass through and those that were declined can wait while they are cleared. I know I don't get into a hotel if they haven't got my credit card "cleared" for the cost involved + extras.

I would think that HAL could not put the authorization hold on a guest's card 2 or 3 months out from boarding at the time when they complete their on-line checkin. That would be tying up those funds way in advance of the guest receiving any products or services.

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It's illegal (at least in the USA) to process a hypothetical charge as a legitimate charge on a credit card. And the cruise line cannot transmit legitimate on board charges to their head offices while at sea.

 

The "hold" procedure is routinely used as well by car rental firms and hotels for the same reason.

I don't think anyone is saying process a hypothetical charge. Just that the hold could be put on in advance of actual boarding. At least that is how I read it.

I've booked lots of hotels that put the first night's cost "on hold" well in advance of check-in.

I have no problems whatsoever with HAL's credit card pre-authorization policy.

Seems to me it is a prudent business practice aimed at reducing credit losses....losses that will inevitably be passed on to all cruisers.

Apart from that, business has a right to do whatever is necessary to prevent fraud and losses.

A hold on a credit card does not "tie up" any funds. It is simply a temporary lowering of your credit limit for other purchases.

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I think we are getting into semantics here. If a $1,000 hold is placed on my credit card, that's $1,000 I no longer have access to. So, at least in my mind, that's $1,000 that has been "tied up" for other purposes.

It's illegal (at least in the USA) to process a hypothetical charge as a legitimate charge on a credit card.

I don't think that's quite true. For example, if you sign up for a 30 free trial of something like Amazon Prime, they'll run a $1 verification charge to make sure that you have a valid card. The charge gets reversed, so it doesn't really show up on your statement. However, if you have access to your account online, you'll see the $1.

If you start to type $1 charge in Google, you'll see the predictive search list contains a lot of businesses.

Here is a bit more depth:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/bucks/2013/07/03/why-you-can-ignore-those-odd-1-credit-card-charges/?referrer=

I think we are getting into semantics here. If a $1,000 hold is placed on my credit card, that's $1,000 I no longer have access to. So, at least in my mind, that's $1,000 that has been "tied up" for other purposes.

Your mind is confused. None of your money is tied up.

no it isn't but the ability to spend money may be if their credit limit is too low or their card has a high balance on it.

I'm with you. a hold is standard business and no big deal. But I always have room and my cards aren't maxed.

I don't think that's quite true. For example, if you sign up for a 30 free trial of something like Amazon Prime, they'll run a $1 verification charge to make sure that you have a valid card. The charge gets reversed, so it doesn't really show up on your statement. However, if you have access to your account online, you'll see the $1.

 

If you start to type $1 charge in Google, you'll see the predictive search list contains a lot of businesses.

 

Here is a bit more depth:

 

http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/bucks/2013/07/03/why-you-can-ignore-those-odd-1-credit-card-charges/?referrer=

Thanks for this explanation. I have wondered why there is a $1.00 pending charge on my AX when I book a ticket with American Airlines. Now I know what is going on.

Thanks for this explanation. I have wondered why there is a $1.00 pending charge on my AX when I book a ticket with American Airlines. Now I know what is going on.

You're welcome. I'm here to help. :)

Some merchants disclose the $1 charge and tell you that they'll back it out. Others do not. If you were to look at your account activity between the time you started pumping gas, but before you finished, you'd see $50 or more pending. Because it doesn't make it to your billing statement, most people never see it.

If you were to look at your account activity between the time you started pumping gas, but before you finished, you'd see $50 or more pending.

I have seen posts in this thread and others where a Canadian resident lists a Canadian Dollar credit card in the online checkin, and then presents a USD card at the pier for onboard charges. It has something to do with the CAD/USD exchange rate.

After all, this would not take 3 seconds, let alone 3 minutes.

Several years ago Princess tried to run the authorizations a few days before the voyage started. But there were so many people with credit problems (they barely managed to clear their credit before the cruise began) that far too many cards were declined. The cruise line discovered that if they tried the authorizations after the cruise began, there was a much higher success rate with credit and hold authorizations. It seems that a high percentage of today's cruisers are living from paycheck to paycheck, and just do not have the available credit to get this done in advance.

The current scheme just basically loads the spend of delinquent passengers onto those of us who do pay, which is why I object to it.

For example, if you sign up for a 30 free trial of something like Amazon Prime, they'll run a $1 verification charge to make sure that you have a valid card. The charge gets reversed, so it doesn't really show up on your statement. However, if you have access to your account online, you'll see the $1.

Some merchants disclose the $1 charge and tell you that they'll back it out. Others do not.

The difference is that it doesn't need to be "backed out" because the authorisation will expire in due course, and will never appear as a charge on your statement.

IME, this is not a $1 charge. It's an authorisation for $1.

 

The difference is that it doesn't need to be "backed out" because the authorisation will expire in due course, and will never appear as a charge on your statement.

I originally thought that it was only an Authorize and not a Capture, but certain merchants' policy pages say that they charge you and reverse it. The easiest examples to find are eBay and Amazon Prime. It could be semantics and they really mean Authorize only, but I know of several e-commerce modules that do allow for charge and back out.

Costa, Seabourn, Carnival, NCL, Princess, RCCL, and Celebrity do it the same way HAL does. I guess all their systems are antiquated as well?

Possibly. But they don't claim the "Signature of Excellence" standard. Why not put in a decent accounting system and staff if there is such a problem industry-wide? The retrieval would more than justify the cost, if the issue really exists.

So my experience has only been on carnival (please no flaming)., but we have always used cash to cover our onboard account. At the beginning of our cruise we put about $500 per person on our account and have always had a refund at the end of our cruise.

My understanding from what I am reading here is that they will put a hold on the credit card I booked my cruise with even if I do this if I were to sail Hal. Am I correct.

So my experience has only been on carnival (please no flaming)., but we have always used cash to cover our onboard account. At the beginning of our cruise we put about $500 per person on our account and have always had a refund at the end of our cruise.

 

My understanding from what I am reading here is that they will put a hold on the credit card I booked my cruise with even if I do this if I were to sail Hal. Am I correct.

If you are paying your on board account in cash, they do not put a hold on your credit card. At least, that has been my understanding. If you typically do 7 day cruises and are putting down $500 per person, then that is more than sufficient to cover the amount of the "hold" that would be normally placed against the CC.

If you are paying your on board account in cash, they do not put a hold on your credit card. At least, that has been my understanding.

If you do not want to use a credit or debit card, the ship will collect a cash deposit for all guests 18 years of age and older at time of boarding in the same amount (USD $60/person/day). Note - With the cash option, you MUST bring enough cash to cover the $60/person/day account deposit. Failure to do so may forfeit your right to board. Any excess deposit will be refunded to you at the end of the cruise.

Thank you for the concise reply. I read through several pages, but kind of got bogged down in all of the off topic comments.

<snip>

 

So the cruise line is happy to refuse carriage if you don't provide cash deposit, but its system appears happy to allow people to board if they don't provide access to a working credit card.

LOL, :D:p It sure seems that way, doesn't it? :p

So my experience has only been on carnival (please no flaming)., but we have always used cash to cover our onboard account. At the beginning of our cruise we put about $500 per person on our account and have always had a refund at the end of our cruise.

 

My understanding from what I am reading here is that they will put a hold on the credit card I booked my cruise with even if I do this if I were to sail Hal. Am I correct.

Carnival's policy is a little different, and they have a much higher proportion of cash and debit card customers than Holland America does.

On HAL, your hold doesn't go on when you book, but rather when you board - more or less. Read the posts from BruceMuzz, above for a little more detail.

My understanding from what I am reading here is that they will put a hold on the credit card I booked my cruise with even if I do this if I were to sail Hal. Am I correct.

Not quite correct. HAL will only put the hold on the credit card you choose to provide when doing the online check-in. It isn't automatically the one you used to pay for your cruise. As has been stated here, you also have to option of stating that you'll rather leave a cash deposit at the Front Desk - rather than give a credit card number during the online check-in process.

My understanding from what I am reading here is that they will put a hold on the credit card I booked my cruise with even if I do this if I were to sail Hal. Am I correct.

No.

If a person decides to pay by credit card instead of cash, the information regarding the card is captured when the passenger does the on-line check-in. That may be a different card than the one used to book the cruise. Information from the card used to book the cruise is not carried over to the check-in screens.

Not quite correct. HAL will only put the hold on the credit card you choose to provide when doing the online check-in. It isn't automatically the one you used to pay for your cruise. As has been stated here, you also have to option of stating that you'll rather leave a cash deposit at the Front Desk - rather than give a credit card number during the online check-in process.

As Mary Ellen says, it can be a different card. As HAL's cruise prices are in CAD for its Canadian customers, we always use a CAD credit card. Conversely, onboard costs are in USD so we provide a different card when completing our online check-in.