Granted, I'm staying more and more with friends and family during my visits to SA (including CPT, STB and Franschhoek) but, as recently as just a couple of months ago I have on occasion found a place or two in all these areas (and out in Hermanus) have at least some sort of either (a) pay in advance via EFT, (b) give passport details (either online or a scan of same) or (c) a scan of front and back of credit card.
(a) seems to always be an option. In SA, at least in my experience, a lot of people pay via online transfers or direct deposits (e.g. cash deposit at a bank into a person's/merchant's account) for all sorts of things that others in other places in the world might write a check for.
(b) fairly common - admittedly I've never seen such detail (or looked for it) in T&Cs - I've provided it either in the online form or via scan of passport.
(c) not so common recently. But, 8-12 years ago, when I was traveling extensively in SA for business and personal reasons, a near common occurrence at nearly every hotel and lodge I stayed at. The big chains (Intercontinental, etc.) didn't ask but middle to smaller places (such as game lodge companies, guest house, B&Bs, medium-local hotels). Often, you had to fax it in advance.
Can't say I know WHY this is so common in SA. But, touch wood, I've done some or all of it in SA and it hasn't been a problem - either fraud-wise, or otherwise.
Not that you have any true recourse here - other than the satisfaction of it - but have you tried AMEX on the issue? [The title of your thread is "Hotel payment with Amex"]. If one of AMEX's authorized merchants/hotels who accepts AMEX is adding all these additional layers onto the process, AMEX might (a) want to know about that and (b) might be willing to work on your behalf to guarantee your reservation on the basis of providing card info only. If you're really interested in staying at the hotel that you backed out of, (b) might be worthwhile (if AMEX can/will do it).
And, finally,
Originally Posted by
T8191
After a quick exchange of emails, it seems I have to do this because I booked a Wine Tasting in addition to the accommodation?
Frankly, this sounds like a made up reason for why they needed the info. I suspect that they would have requested it even for just the hotel booking. I know some restaurants (in SA and elsewhere) ask for credit card info to guarantee the reservation. But, I think this is just a semi-canned response of a clerk/agent replying to your email. Indeed, a wine tasting is certainly less expensive than a ZAR20,000 hotel stay. Why would they ONLY need it for the wine tasting and not the hotel stay?