First of all, I'm in complete agreement as to a consistent SOP (perhaps the room charge with a multiplier (% of rate?) X the number of days in the reservation.)

But in addition, any SOP should also contain a caveat as to the property's responsibility to have all unexpended/held funds released within a specified time following checkout.

Of course, all of the above should be revealed in the Rate Rules governing reservations made online as well as email confirmations..

Question (as this issue is not going to be addressed overnight and this just occured to me):

For obvious reasons my black MR Visa card is now my cc of choice noted in my profile.

I'm wondering -- if, when I check in and the FD requestsz a CC to swipe, if I handthem my AMEX would that cover the "hold" but still leave the Visa as the card charged on my folio?

Up until recently I've been using AMEX so this never was an issue.