Booking Hotel Rooms for Someone Else

[tarheelmjfan]

My DSis & her SIL are going to Orlando for a couple nights. For some reason, they would prefer I book the rooms & they pay me back. I'll be out of town, when they're here & won't be going to Orlando with them. Will I be able to book using my CC#, if I'm not there at check-in? If so, can I do it online & how do I do it? TIA

 

[swillis]

You could reserve the hotel with your credit card, but they will need to provide a credit card in their own name at check in.

I manage a veterinary clinic, and we send our employees to continuing education seminars all the time. We used to be able to send the employee down with a copy of the comapny credit card, and an authorization letter to use it. This has recently become impossible for us to do. Despite the owner of the practice getting on the phone and talking to the hotel manager they would not allow this on the past few trips. One was to Orlando in fact. Keep in mind that these are BIG hotels that BIG conferences were being held in.

I would make sure you have a signed authorization letter. A photocopy of the front and back of the card, and a number for you to be reached at. And your family should be prepared to pay for the reservation themselves when they get there. I'm worried this will be a problem.

Good Luck!

 

[CPM]

I think it depends on which hotel. I just did this for my parents at Disney, no problem.
But, Holiday Inn's won't let you do it.
I have done it at Hampton Inns and some others.
They have to be able to accept full payment at the time of booking, which some hotels won't do.

 

[mbb]

My DSis & her SIL are going to Orlando for a couple nights. For some reason, they would prefer I book the rooms & they pay me back. I'll be out of town, when they're here & won't be going to Orlando with them. Will I be able to book using my CC#, if I'm not there at check-in? If so, can I do it online & how do I do it? TIA

You could use a travel agent, I think..to book and pay for the reservation.

But swillis is right, at check-in, doesn't everyone now have to provide a cc to cover room incidentals/damamge?

Good question.

 

[monapoe]

I would call the hotel directly and inquire with them first. I have done it, states away, for my family because they were on the road in Nevada, and I was home near a computer in Virginia. I called the hotel directly and asked if it would be a problem if they used their own "forms of payment" when they checked-in and it was no problem at all (I then went online and made the reservation). As for myself, whenever I make a reservation online, using my own credit card, 99% of the time, when I arrive, I tell them I would like to pay for my bill in cash and have NEVER had a problem with that or was asked for my credit card to be shown. Hope this helps!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Thanks for the info. I'm going to attempt to get them to book it themselves. My Dsis doesn't have a CC, but maybe her SIL does. If not, I'll try calling the hotel.

 

[swilshire]

I have booked for others many times, but they always have to provide their own credit card at check-in. If they don't have a credit card, they may be able to provide a cash deposit.

I can't imagine not having a credit card for this reason alone, even if I never used it. They can always pay cash when they checkout if they prefer.

If you really trust them, you could probably just give them your card to use for this purpose. I've never been ask for any kind of id other than the card.

Sheila