Originally Posted by
Youngmiler
No, a lot of companies do the $1.00 charge to make sure the card is active; restaurants and gas stations do it too.
Restaurants do it since the total charge isn't known when they process your card - the put through something, I've seen a dollar but I've also seen the total of the bill before the tip, you then add a tip and sign, they later go back and process the final amount long after you're gone, so the first transaction largely checks the card is valid.
Gas stations are similar, they check your card before they let you start to pump gas. And these $1 charges look suspicious - Chase has cut me off multiple times due to $1 gas station dings.
With airline tickets, and virtually all online sites, the total is known before you hit Purchase, and there should be no reason the entire charge just can't be sent through in the first place. It the card isn't valid the system returns a rejection message and the transaction isn't completed.