Originally Posted by
mitchmu
It actually makes no sense for UA to do this in the context of processing a ticket purchase.
Apparently UA didn't do this before CO took them over according to OP's observations.
$1 auth only makes sense when necessary to validate a card that won't be charged right away. If PAX is purchasing a ticket, charge amount is known, so it should just be charged.
The real stupidity of this apparent new strategy is that COdabUA is now paying c/c processing and authorization fees twice: once for the $1 auth, then again for the separate charge transaction. This doubles their card authorization expense in terms of per-item fees.
They are doing two separate transactions? I always thought restaurants and the like simply pre-authorized and then modified the amount so as to fit the tip. One fee, one transaction.
Either way, it makes no sense to pre-authorize something that is being purchased and can either not be given or taken back. If they cant charge, they just dont give you the merchandise (in this case a ticket). It would be like a cashier checking to make sure your card works before you pay for the groceries...