For my last 3 bookings a hold has been placed on my card for the total amount of the res. However, the total cost has then been processed and charged, but the hold remains for 8-10 days until it drops off. Not the biggest problem in the world but still means a lack of access to funds from $1500-$2000 for over a week. UA says speak to bank; bank says speak to UA. Is this just the way it is or have UA a payments problem. Don't have the same problem with BA or VS.

You need more headroom on your credit card.

Technically it's United's problem, but a generous credit line can make this a non-issue.

What bank issued the cc? My citi AA exec card takes a month to drop holds, CS verified this is SOP. Chase never takes more than a few days.

True, but shouldn't have to up my limit to compensate for what is United's problem. Card is Visa issued by an Irish bank.

Try using another card. Chase has never held for long time.

It is the CC issuer (bank for this purpose) problem. There is no reason why a bank cannot release a hold within one business day of the merchant vendor's action. Amex and Chase, as others note, typically do not take more than that one day.

OP's problem may be related to where the charge is authorized (USA ?) and the hold placed (Ireland ?).

Starting point is the CC issuer / bank. Barring that, it is having CL to handle transactions.

True, but not everyone has or can get a generous credit line so when holds take so long to drop off after a payment has processed it can indeed cause difficulties.

Cheers.

This may well be the reason. Annoying and inconvenient none the less!

Ha ha, I just checked my Citi AA transactions and what do you know

08-20-2014 *Pending UNITED 800-932-2732 TX UNITED AIRLINES $ 200.00
08-20-2014 UNITED ************** 800-932-2732 TX UNITED AIRLINES $ 100.00
08-20-2014 UNITED ************** 800-932-2732 TX UNITED AIRLINES $ 100.00

It's a CITI problem. They put holds on hotel bookings that take months to clear. I have just got them to double my credit limit, which is still less than half the limit on my Chase card, where I have never ever seen a hold in 23 years.

I also find this a bit irritating. It's bad enough hotels putting a hold on your card then charging your card proper when you check out, then leaving the hold in place for a week. However I feel United (or any airline) don't need to do this (Granted United claims that it's the CC's fault). What if this happened whenever you used your CC with every retailer?

The first time this happened to me (UK credit card), I was concerned that some place or someone might have overcharged me or worse might be using my card fraudulently. This concern was heightened by the fact that I booked (and quite often do) my ticket just before travel and went on to use the card abroad at many different /unfamiliar places. I rang up my card just and was reassured when I found out that is was UA still had a hold on my card. Now I'm more aware of the situation.

I'm glad this topic has been brought up. I've noticed holds staying on my AA Executive Card (Citibank) for long periods of time. Usually it's just a few dollars from purchasing gas, etc, but the "pending" charge will stay upwards of weeks. It doesn't hurt me since it has a $37,500 credit limit, but my United Club Card (Chase) allows holds like this to drop off within 2-3 days typically.

Glad I'm not the only one who found this practice by Citibank to be strange and stupid.