First, at the time of reservation, I think hotel & car rental agencies should be required to disclose how much of a "hold" they are going to request. I was in Europe at a National/Inter-rent counter and the agent told me that unless I had room for a 4000 Guilder (about $2700 at the time) hold, I would be required to purchase the full insurance - this is illegal in the U.S. !!!

CC card companies should come up with an alternative to the blank slip, and I don't think they should allow merchants to entice the customer into signing a blank slip. Perhaps a "hold" charge that would be filled in with a specific amount to hold and then be released after the corresponding charge was made.

Another problem is when a hotel or car rental agency wishes to make a charge on a blank slip even though the customer does not agree with the charge. I guess they can...because a merchant has a right to make to recover damages by withholding a deposit; however, I believe that some merchants illegally withhold deposits. I am not sure what consumer law says about improper withholding of deposits for a hotel or car rental, but, for instance, in the State of Georgia, when a landlord improperly withholds a deposit, they must reimburse the leasee at 3 times the amount that was improperly withheld. I would think that similar damages could be recovered from a hotel or car rental agency.