5 ms·

Is this a US thing? I stay at hotels from time to time across Europe, and I always pay a fixed price either when booking or at arrival for the whole stay. Never

by torlok 1y ago

Is this a US thing? I stay at hotels from time to time across Europe, and I always pay a fixed price either when booking or at arrival for the whole stay. Never had to enter credit card information anywhere, and I never would precisely for this reason. I put my credit card information once when booking a car at an airport and was scammed with random scratches being found at return. Can't imagine ever going through that again. One of the worst and most infuriating money exchange experiences in my life.

ericmay 1y ago
No, it's a common practice in most western countries and can confirm for you a list of a dozen or more hotels ranging from $100/night to $1000/night that do this in countries ranging from Ireland to France to Japan. It's really no big deal and is extremely common. In fact, France as I discovered does this at the gas stations where they put $200 or so authorizations on your card for absolutely no good reason. There are various scenarios but I think the one you are thinking of is you show up to the hotel, hand them your cash, and pay at the desk. Often times, though I have not been in a hotel that will not ask for a card, they ask you for a credit card and put an authorization on there in case you smoke in the room, or maybe turn it into spaghetti or any other random incidentals. An authorization is basically the hotel telling the credit card that they're "reserving space" so to speak on your credit limit on the card. Regarding your rental car experience, that's a common scam and again moreso seen in Europe, but not really anything to do with the method of payment. They would have just mailed you a bill for the damages instead. I guess you could ignore it.
- seszett 1y ago
  > France as I discovered does this at the gas stations where they put $200 or so authorizations on your card for absolutely no good reason. It's the same here but I'm not sure how it could work another way? They have to make sure you have the money to pay for the fuel you're pumping, it doesn't seem weird to me. I can't imagine a pump that allows you to pump as you wish and then just begs you to pay. That works for the manned stations with low traffic only.
  - maccard 1y ago
    That’s how it works if I choose “pay at cashier” - if I walk up and don’t have the money the fuel is already in my car.
    - ruraljuror 1y ago
      Where? In the U.S.? Whenever I have paid for gas with cash or from the cashier, I pay for it in advance, “Give me $10 of regular unleaded!”
      - frosted-flakes 1y ago
        Many service stations in Canada still operate this way.
      - maccard 1y ago
        I think “everywhere in the world except the US” is probably right. I live in a major city in the UK and did it last week.
      - vharuck 1y ago
        Before the 2008 Great Recession, most gas stations around me allowed people to pump then pay cash. After some stories of people driving off without paying, the stations changed their policies.
    - seszett 1y ago
      It also works like that at manned stations in France, but there are few.
  - ericmay 1y ago
    I think maybe what happens is they tap your cards fully possible authorization limit and if you end up trying to get gas multiple times in a short time period (24/48 hours) you can't use your card because they can't hit it for the full limit.
    - 1y ago
- torlok 1y ago
  The rental experience has everything to do with payment. With a credit card, a person has to prove they shouldn't have been charged by a corporation, and without, the corporation has to prove a person should be charged. That's a massive difference. It blows my mind how people think putting down a credit card is normal. You're basically giving somebody access to your money to be used at their leasure.
  - ericmay 1y ago
    > You're basically giving somebody access to your money to be used at their leasure. Well, it’s the issuing banks money, not mine. At the end of the day the process ends up the same. If I tell the credit card company to pound sand on a charge I disagree with they send me a bill and then send it to collections. If I tell the rental car company to pound sand, they send me a bill and send it to collections. You actually have more power and leeway when using a credit card because if there are enough disputes or issues then the rental agency can be banned from access to the network. If you pay with cash there’s nobody else involved. The credit card is even better because if you dispute a charge and have evidence you have someone on your side against the rental agency. Even with all that being said, it’s worth getting a few thousand or so bucks/year back in cash back on the off chance something like this happens while you continue to pay full price for everything you buy.
pyman 1y ago
I stopped using Airbnb because of the ridiculous "cleaning" fees and happily went back to hotels. But what Hyatt did in the US is shameful. The government should investigate, and the CEO should probably step down.
rconti 1y ago
No, it's not. I just checked into 6 hotels across 5 countries in both Eastern and Western Europe last month, and every single one needed a tapped physical credit card for a deposit on top of my pre-paid booking (sometimes via booking.com, sometimes direct with the hotel). I can't remember ever NOT having to leave a CC for a deposit in any hotel I've ever stayed at in any country in my life. I'm sure it's happened, but it sure isn't remarkable when they DO require a card.
- torlok 1y ago
  It's like we live in a different reality. I check into hotels every year in Europe for business trips and vacations. I book through sites like booking.com, I pay ahead via my bank, I don't give my debit card information, and I don't own a credit card.
  - rconti 1y ago
    Is it possibly a quirk of your country of origin? I'm assuming you're an EU citizen, and I'm not sure how EU rules work, but perhaps your country has overriding rules that prohibit deposits from being required? Or perhaps paying "via bank" has some implicit damage deposit mechanism going on? Can we ask for you to steal a bathrobe next time to see what happens, in the name of science? :D I do most of my bookings from US soil with a credit card for guarantee or pre-pay (I do a mix of both), but never direct bank account. So one could imagine the rules for my bookings are different than yours. However I do sometimes make bookings mid-trip, and have not noticed a different damage policy, and, in Europe, I check in with an EU passport so I'd probably be subjected to the same rules/policies as any other European.
    - rconti 1y ago
      FYI, chatgpt gave me an unsatisfying answer that, basically, "European guests MIGHT not be asked for a deposit, sometimes, because they're local and therefore slightly more trusted", but it certainly doesn't sound like you should be escaping deposits 100% of the time. So perhaps there's another reason out there we've still not discovered. https://chatgpt.com/share/687d38d1-101c-8004-8119-6c433dd32c96 https://chatgpt.com/share/687d38d1-101c-8004-8119-6c433dd32c...

by torlok 1y ago

ericmay 1y ago

No, it's a common practice in most western countries and can confirm for you a list of a dozen or more hotels ranging from $100/night to $1000/night that do this in countries ranging from Ireland to France to Japan. It's really no big deal and is extremely common. In fact, France as I discovered does this at the gas stations where they put $200 or so authorizations on your card for absolutely no good reason. There are various scenarios but I think the one you are thinking of is you show up to the hotel, hand them your cash, and pay at the desk. Often times, though I have not been in a hotel that will not ask for a card, they ask you for a credit card and put an authorization on there in case you smoke in the room, or maybe turn it into spaghetti or any other random incidentals. An authorization is basically the hotel telling the credit card that they're "reserving space" so to speak on your credit limit on the card. Regarding your rental car experience, that's a common scam and again moreso seen in Europe, but not really anything to do with the method of payment. They would have just mailed you a bill for the damages instead. I guess you could ignore it.

seszett 1y ago
> France as I discovered does this at the gas stations where they put $200 or so authorizations on your card for absolutely no good reason. It's the same here but I'm not sure how it could work another way? They have to make sure you have the money to pay for the fuel you're pumping, it doesn't seem weird to me. I can't imagine a pump that allows you to pump as you wish and then just begs you to pay. That works for the manned stations with low traffic only.
- maccard 1y ago
  That’s how it works if I choose “pay at cashier” - if I walk up and don’t have the money the fuel is already in my car.
  - ruraljuror 1y ago
    Where? In the U.S.? Whenever I have paid for gas with cash or from the cashier, I pay for it in advance, “Give me $10 of regular unleaded!”
    - frosted-flakes 1y ago
      Many service stations in Canada still operate this way.
    - maccard 1y ago
      I think “everywhere in the world except the US” is probably right. I live in a major city in the UK and did it last week.
    - vharuck 1y ago
      Before the 2008 Great Recession, most gas stations around me allowed people to pump then pay cash. After some stories of people driving off without paying, the stations changed their policies.
  - seszett 1y ago
    It also works like that at manned stations in France, but there are few.
- ericmay 1y ago
  I think maybe what happens is they tap your cards fully possible authorization limit and if you end up trying to get gas multiple times in a short time period (24/48 hours) you can't use your card because they can't hit it for the full limit.
  - 1y ago
torlok 1y ago
The rental experience has everything to do with payment. With a credit card, a person has to prove they shouldn't have been charged by a corporation, and without, the corporation has to prove a person should be charged. That's a massive difference. It blows my mind how people think putting down a credit card is normal. You're basically giving somebody access to your money to be used at their leasure.
- ericmay 1y ago
  > You're basically giving somebody access to your money to be used at their leasure. Well, it’s the issuing banks money, not mine. At the end of the day the process ends up the same. If I tell the credit card company to pound sand on a charge I disagree with they send me a bill and then send it to collections. If I tell the rental car company to pound sand, they send me a bill and send it to collections. You actually have more power and leeway when using a credit card because if there are enough disputes or issues then the rental agency can be banned from access to the network. If you pay with cash there’s nobody else involved. The credit card is even better because if you dispute a charge and have evidence you have someone on your side against the rental agency. Even with all that being said, it’s worth getting a few thousand or so bucks/year back in cash back on the off chance something like this happens while you continue to pay full price for everything you buy.

pyman 1y ago

I stopped using Airbnb because of the ridiculous "cleaning" fees and happily went back to hotels. But what Hyatt did in the US is shameful. The government should investigate, and the CEO should probably step down.

rconti 1y ago

No, it's not. I just checked into 6 hotels across 5 countries in both Eastern and Western Europe last month, and every single one needed a tapped physical credit card for a deposit on top of my pre-paid booking (sometimes via booking.com, sometimes direct with the hotel). I can't remember ever NOT having to leave a CC for a deposit in any hotel I've ever stayed at in any country in my life. I'm sure it's happened, but it sure isn't remarkable when they DO require a card.

torlok 1y ago
It's like we live in a different reality. I check into hotels every year in Europe for business trips and vacations. I book through sites like booking.com, I pay ahead via my bank, I don't give my debit card information, and I don't own a credit card.
- rconti 1y ago
  Is it possibly a quirk of your country of origin? I'm assuming you're an EU citizen, and I'm not sure how EU rules work, but perhaps your country has overriding rules that prohibit deposits from being required? Or perhaps paying "via bank" has some implicit damage deposit mechanism going on? Can we ask for you to steal a bathrobe next time to see what happens, in the name of science? :D I do most of my bookings from US soil with a credit card for guarantee or pre-pay (I do a mix of both), but never direct bank account. So one could imagine the rules for my bookings are different than yours. However I do sometimes make bookings mid-trip, and have not noticed a different damage policy, and, in Europe, I check in with an EU passport so I'd probably be subjected to the same rules/policies as any other European.
  - rconti 1y ago
    FYI, chatgpt gave me an unsatisfying answer that, basically, "European guests MIGHT not be asked for a deposit, sometimes, because they're local and therefore slightly more trusted", but it certainly doesn't sound like you should be escaping deposits 100% of the time. So perhaps there's another reason out there we've still not discovered. https://chatgpt.com/share/687d38d1-101c-8004-8119-6c433dd32c96 https://chatgpt.com/share/687d38d1-101c-8004-8119-6c433dd32c...