Originally Posted by
rahmanbar
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.
SOPs work for me. Maybe
MarriottConcierge can pass along the feedback to the powers that be at HQ.
Also, the room+multiplier+nights or whatever formula they come up w/ is fine, as long as we know what it is & can plan accordingly. And it should be reasonable expectations of expenditures, not significantly higher. On properties that there are no additional incidentals such as FI, SHS, etc, the hold should simply be just room+tax for whatever the # of nights is. At those properties there is no reason to do an 'additional' hold.
Re: your question. I 'think' that it leaves the Visa as the card charged, but that's a guess. I don't normally change cards.
The reason I 'think' it is a couple of years ago is that at the AMS Marriott I had made the reservation w/ the card that was in my profile. The reservation had been made months in advance, but in the interim I cancelled that account & got a new one. When I checked in I gave them the new card to swipe/authorize the hold (which went through). When I went to check out, it kept saying denied which was driving me crazy at 5:00am. I had checked the balance the night before on the card. There was plenty of credit. The front desk kept trying/kept getting declined. I called back to the US to the cc company & got them on the line. They confirmed I had the available credit & even talked to the front desk staff confirming. Front desk kept saying it's declined. CC co is confused, as am I (and me getting nervous about making my flight). Finally I heard the front desk mention the account # & when I heard the last 4-digits I realized they were going off the card that was associated w/ the reservation when it was made, even though I gave them a dif card at check-in. Once we realized that they swiped the new card in & I was able to check out. I don't know if that's a 1-off particular to that property or that's the way the system works.
BTW - I always wondered what would have happened if we hadn't figured it out. Would the bellman tackle me & take me to the kitchen to wash dishes?
Thank goodness we did & I was able to make my flight (although the cab driver stuck me w/ a 'waiting fee' cuz it took so long to sort out).
Cheers.