Credit Card Holds on RCCL

[Clarea]

Credit card, :)

They may do some authorizations in the amount of your daily account balance, but they don't authorize hundreds of dollars (unless you spend that).

[Milwaukee Eight]

They may do some authorizations in the amount of your daily account balance, but they don't authorize hundreds of dollars (unless you spend that).

 

 

 

Hello Bob. I thought you were the Host of RCCL CC sites??

 

 

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[Clarea]

Hello Bob. I thought you were the Host of RCCL CC sites??

There are currently 5 hosts of this forum.

[Milwaukee Eight]

There are currently 5 hosts of this forum.

 

 

 

Ok. I will leave it alone....

 

 

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[dolfan1980]

I'm a little confused about the issue here. A credit card is pretty much an absolute requirement to travel these days and anyone that doesn't have sufficient credit to weather a hold for a few days shouldn't be on vacation at all IMO.

 

Generally speaking it is hard to book a cruise or to stay in a hotel or rent a car without one. I do agree that holds should be removed after final payment and no damage or purchases were made (e.g. From mini bar), and this should realistically be cleared by the night after departure or shortly thereafter.

 

 

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[Clarea]

I should have mentioned that if you want to avoid any kinds of holds or authorizations, you can opt for a cash type onboard account. Royal will let you charge up to $500 before they ask you to pay it down. At the end of the cruise, you can still use a credit card to pay off any balance. This way, there will only be one charge to the credit card.

[steveru621]

I'm a little confused about the issue here. A credit card is pretty much an absolute requirement to travel these days and anyone that doesn't have sufficient credit to weather a hold for a few days shouldn't be on vacation at all IMO.

 

Generally speaking it is hard to book a cruise or to stay in a hotel or rent a car without one. I do agree that holds should be removed after final payment and no damage or purchases were made (e.g. From mini bar), and this should realistically be cleared by the night after departure or shortly thereafter

 

 

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Here we go again.

 

RCI will send in a pre-authorization each night for the exact amount you spent on your sea pass for that one day. For a credit card, it will lower your credit line available. A debit card it will lower your available balance. RCI HAS NO CONTROL OVER HOW LONG THE PRE-AUTH IMPACTS YOUR ACCOUNT. That's up to whoever issued the card.

[Milwaukee Eight]

I should have mentioned that if you want to avoid any kinds of holds or authorizations, you can opt for a cash type onboard account. Royal will let you charge up to $500 before they ask you to pay it down. At the end of the cruise, you can still use a credit card to pay off any balance. This way, there will only be one charge to the credit card.

 

 

 

Good plan.

 

 

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[grapau27]

There are currently 5 hosts of this forum.

You are the best Bob,you interact with everyone and empathise with everyone too.

[Ambermark]

I'm a little confused about the issue here. A credit card is pretty much an absolute requirement to travel these days and anyone that doesn't have sufficient credit to weather a hold for a few days shouldn't be on vacation at all IMO.

 

Generally speaking it is hard to book a cruise or to stay in a hotel or rent a car without one. I do agree that holds should be removed after final payment and no damage or purchases were made (e.g. From mini bar), and this should realistically be cleared by the night after departure or shortly thereafter.

 

 

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A few days hold for a few hundred wouldn't be a problem, but some of the posts I was reading were saying Almost £2000 for up to 30 days. I try not to have too much credit for a number of reasons so that would take a huge chunk from my buffer zone.

 

Thanks for all the advice :) I think a cash account is the way to go for me :)

[Clarea]

... Almost £2000 for up to 30 days. ...

This is too long, something odd going on with the financial institution in this case.

[SRF]

Just about every hotel I have stayed at in the US recently has a sign on the front desk informing people that use of a Debit Card can result in a Hold for as much as 30 days. This is a BANK issue.

[PIGSKIN]

I just like setting up a cash account---this works best for me.

 

 

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[RocketMan275]

I should have mentioned that if you want to avoid any kinds of holds or authorizations, you can opt for a cash type onboard account. Royal will let you charge up to $500 before they ask you to pay it down. At the end of the cruise, you can still use a credit card to pay off any balance. This way, there will only be one charge to the credit card.

Or, if one insists on using a debit card, one could establish a second account at the financial institution, say, a savings account. Play the amount of money you intend to spend on the cruise in that account. Get a debit card only on the new account. This would preserve your main account, allow you to use a debit card, and control your spending.

[Clarea]

Or, if one insists on using a debit card, one could establish a second account at the financial institution, say, a savings account. Play the amount of money you intend to spend on the cruise in that account. Get a debit card only on the new account. This would preserve your main account, allow you to use a debit card, and control your spending.

That's the only way we use a debit card, connected to a different account at a different bank than where our main accounts are.

[RocketMan275]

That's the only way we use a debit card, connected to a different account at a different bank than where our main accounts are.

 

That is the key. The debit card should not be linked to your principal account even if that means you have to open a second account for the travel debit card.