I gave up Amex when I had so many problems w/ them. The last straw being when a card was stolen I had them replace it. Bill came due - I paid it. No worries, right? Well they couldn't figure out the transfer of the old to new, so it kept showing me not paying even though I had a cancelled check. They admitted it was their problem & said they 'couldn't figure out how to get the system to credit it appropriately w/ old & new', so they closed the new account & then sent me not only my (now 2nd new card), but 5 cards of other people via fedex I called them to let them know that they may want to let the people who were expecting cards via Amex that they weren't going to get them. They told me to cut up the cards Then, when the 2nd new card arrived, I got challenged every time I wanted to use it - denied even on $50 charges & they'd do a manual authorization over the phone - each & every single time. After 10x of that I said cancel the account entirely. I had had lots of problems w/ Amex before - that was just the final straw.

But - back on topic - MarriotConcierge/GM4Marriott/Socrates - any input on consistency of holds across the chain or brands or domestic vs int'l? Speaking as a customer, consistency is good. Depending on the whims of a front desk clerk is not.

Again, FWIW I find int'l holds (even before the exchange rate) to be a lot higher than US holds. And cyberdad, I too would expect lesser brand holds to have less of a hold than FS - I get that. But I also expect holds to be within reasonable expectations & I find some of the int'l properties to be larger than that. And heck even lesser brands will do it. I attended the Freddies this year - stayed at Springhill Suites - there ARE no extra charges since bkfst & i-net is free, right? One night stay. So imagine my surprise when I checked my cc account after checking in, to find a hold $100 more than the actual room+tax rate, even though I actually asked at check-in if they were just doing the room+tax hold on my account. Again, $100 isn't going to break my bank, but still - I had only asked 15 minutes earlier & was told the hold was the amount of room+tax; nothing more. So in that case obviously a lie.

And hence my belief that in some cases there might be a hotel policy (ala Ams Marriott & some of the upper crust London hotels) & other cases it's dependent upon the whim of the clerk (aka, Springhill Suites & the Ren LHR), but also my request that there be a consistent policy. I can't - nor should I - carry extra cards 'just in case' the front desk clerk, either at discretion of local hotel management or their own who cares/let's punch in a # philosophy, punches in an extra amount that will vary.

Cheers.