One other thing to be considered is this: nearly everyone on this board has one thing in common, status.
I help open new hotels for a living. While I dont work for IHG, i work with them. Nearly every FOM I talk to has a common fear, and that is upsetting a PC elite member, god forbid an AMB or RA member. They dont want to get Web Guru'ed. Its for this reason that many of them dont charge you until your there, because if you cancel you might not want to pay the advanced deposit.
We all know that you accept the charges when you book, but many hotels look at it as either a perk for elite guests or a way to avoid upsetting VIP guests.
I'm not saying that all hotels do this, but I know of quite a few for sure.
With all that being said, I have no doubt that a hotel will happily charge your card in advance if you request to do so.