Originally Posted by
brosnan6
I'm not saying that Amex is not being charged, rather that it happens all at once with all the recorded data and not on the spot at admission to the club. From what I've seen in the CRCs, the attendant looks at the card to verify its Plat/Cent, then they simply swipe and let you go on your way. Never do thy look at the screen for an approval or anything, nor do I believe that their system is set up to do a test charge to verify card validity.
I have several times had them re-swipe the card when it didn't go correctly (my mag strip is wearing out) and they always noticed that it didn't work and swiped until successful. I don't know what the screen shows, but if the card doesn't swipe successfully you won't get in. If all the card swipe shows is a name, number and expiration date then it might work, with the rejection happening in the batch process later on, but it still is pretty sketchy.