joshua362

Some of us are just stating the obvious, hotels aren't banks or layaway services.

I'm struggling with your example though, even stolen credit / without credit at all (which is going to pose yet another problem at check-in when the hotel wants to put a hold on some x times the room rate for incidentals), apparently there is access to cash, identity theft or not. Put it in a bank or mattress, convert to prepaid cards and travelers checks then travel.

Reminds me of my wife where I can only buy the Halloween candy that morning then leftovers have to be brought to work the next morning (after taking a few pieces of course)...

joshua362

OP asked for pros & cons, I offered both.

Can't see any pros other than paying in FULL upfront per post #12 , I gave some cons (getting a refund if the resort gets wiped out, the incidental spend credit problem).

Often1

It doesn't matter whether the OP has access to credit. He is proposing to pay on what amounts to layaway. There are no pros to that, only cons. He is better off putting that monthly amount into a shoebox and then paying for the room later than he is letting the property hold his money. As others note, if something goes wrong, he will fight to the end of time to get a refund. .

bennos

Because not everyone is as good at money management as you seem to be, and different techniques work better for some people than for others.

I do like the gift card idea as a "hybrid" solution, where the money is allocated to its purpose, but without involving the hotel and without committing to that specific expense if plans change.

MSPeconomist

If something international is involved, check processing costs can be enormous. Even for domestic,it's expensive for businesses to process checks. If the property accepts credit cards and doesn't normally allow guests to pay by check, I would expect them to resist taking check(s) in advance of the stay too.

joshua362

Another con for sure. Easily can be $25 per check IME.

Buying & bringing Marriott gift cards seems to be the safest & most sensible "solution" to the (non-existent) problem offered thus far. See, its great when minds collaborate.

Often1

We still have no idea what OP is trying to accomplish so we have no idea whether the gift card approach is easy or whether he might save up and then charge his hotel room to a CC and pay off the balance with his savings.

No way to know until and unless OP comes back with some of the "why".

Cledaybuck

The gift card idea is not bad, but if plans did change he would be stuck with $100's or $1000's in gift cards instead of cash.

writerguyfl

I guess you missed my first post. I used to work in hotels and we did accept pre-payments, if asked. None of the General Managers took issue with the practice. The hotel gets money early and it costs almost nothing to provide the service. It's a few minutes of labor to run the transaction and the miniscule fee for running the transaction (if necessary).

That's nonsense. As I noted earlier, pre-paying does not change the terms of the reservation. While it may not be instantaneous, no one is going to have to "fight" to get a refund. That will only happen at a hotel run by unethical people.

I think some of you are letting your imaginations get the best of you. This isn't some wild request.

joshua362

I did miss it but recall you did work in the industry and have provided great insights in the past. Apologies. Certainly taking deposits for large wedding and corporate events is the norm. But this just seems odd unless there is some sort of financial incentive to prepay.

Please come back OP and fill in the details, a bunch of people are trying to help. And maybe learn something new.

CJKatl

Joshua, while it might not be what you or I would ordinarily do, I've known people who have done this for vacations. A family friend wanted to surprise her husband with an anniversary trip (not my sister doing this as was mentioned on another thread; trips used to be popular with my friends, but less so now that most are paying multiple college tuitions) and she was worried about her husband finding out. She also thought he wouldn't say no if everything was already paid. Prepaying a little each month allowed her to easily hide what she was doing and for it to be prepaid once he was given the gift. The couple had sold a business for millions shortly before she did this, they owned a 38 ft boat and a vacation home, plus the wife had income from being a teacher, so I don't think there was a financial issue. Another time I helped my friend's dad prepay a room when his son and DIL were going on their honeymoon. The couple would have declined had he offered, but when they checked in the room was already paid so there was little they could do but say thank-you. Surely there are other reasons prepayment might be a good idea that we just don't see.

dayone

This is an issue between the OP and the hotel's accounting department. All the extra "judgement" is just noise.

Call the hotel and see if you can work out a mutually acceptable solution.

clarkef

International check processing can be a PITA and likely not accepted. Otherwise, properties routinely accept checks for prepayments. I worked with several churches and schools. Checks were the standard method of prepaying a reservation. Why? Groups and third-party payors presented special problems. Small groups, school groups, church groups, etc often do not have a credit card in the group's name. Person A paying for Person B presents a problem as Person B needs to present Person A's credit card at check-in. Sending a check ahead of time solves that problem as Person B merely needs to present a credit card for incidentals.

One poster mentioned that check processing charges were $25 per check. If that refers to the bank charge, that's simply untrue.

clarkef

I don't see how a discussion of the OPs money management skills advances this discussion in the slightest. OP may have a good reason, or a bad one, for wanted to prepay the hotel.

writerguyfl

Thank you. I'll be the first to state that this sort of thing is not routine. But, it's not crazy, either. I do think some folks here are massively over-thinking this one.

There might not be a financial incentive; it might just be convenience. Having a hotel stay pre-paid can make traveling a little easier. Pre-paying means you'd miss out on earning interest on that money. But, it's not like that's a massive amount when you look at the typical interest rates on savings accounts. The amount of "lost" money here is tiny. At an interest rate of 1.25%, the $1,400 pre-payment amount would earn about $8 over six months.