Originally Posted by
nalismom
At end stage of direct booking for 2015......sent CC Auth which also requires photos of front and back, CVC, MOTHERS MAIDEN and photos of detail page of PP.
Is this usual and customary?
How do others handle this?
Customary? Depends. Any lodge worth its salt will offer a secure online payment options. It is not exactly rocket science, I know mom & pop lodges that can do it. On the other hand, some very large operators seem incapable of embracing modernity, and stick to the archaic procedures you describe.
How to handle it? I adamantly refuse to send scans of the front and back. Sending such scans to the reservations department of a large and reputable SA hotel chain once resulted in several fraud attempts, which the CC issuer fortunately nipped in the bud. I now have it in writing from said issuer that I should never send scans to anybody, ever. They take a very dim view of that, and may pass on the bill if fraud results.
In the case of one particularly intransigent operator, I've cut a deal where I've provided the necessary scans to an employee who happens to be a personal friend of mine, so that they are in safe hands.
Johan