New Credit Card Authorization Holds

[pooh'smate]

Anytime we have run into a problem with the registers not being able to take a CC, GC or even using your MB we have ALWAYS been able to use cash.

 

[wn01aa]

Just trying to figure this out before we head down in a couple weeks. If you accumulate $800 in holds on your card in 5 days and then the actual $800 is charged to your credit card, does that mean you now basically have $1600 credit limit reduced until the holds come off in a few days or does Disney do something to cancel out those holds when they do the actual charge. I wonder this because what if you use a card that has a $2000 limit and you charge $1200 worth of holds. Does that mean it will decline when they try to do the real charge of $1200 since there is only $800 available credit left or do they instantly wipe those holds so they can make the charge?

 

[PJofNB]

Just trying to figure this out before we head down in a couple weeks. If you accumulate $800 in holds on your card in 5 days and then the actual $800 is charged to your credit card, does that mean you now basically have $1600 credit limit reduced until the holds come off in a few days or does Disney do something to cancel out those holds when they do the actual charge. I wonder this because what if you use a card that has a $2000 limit and you charge $1200 worth of holds. Does that mean it will decline when they try to do the real charge of $1200 since there is only $800 available credit left or do they instantly wipe those holds so they can make the charge?

In our case, when we checked out on 2 March, Disney applied a "pending credit" (in the term used by my CC company) that equalled the pending charges (AKA holds) they had applied in the previous days of our stay, so there was no extra impact on my available credit while waiting for the holds to fall off (which happened 3 days after checkout). The pending charges and credits disappeared on the same day.

Reports from some others have not mentioned a pending credit on checkout day. I have no idea if this is because Disney changed their practice (our experience was only a few days after they introduced their new policy), if implementation is inconsistent, or if it is due to differences in how banks handle these transactions. My CC is a Canadian card with Toronto-Dominion (TD).

Does anyone know if these transactions are processed by each resort or centrally?

 

[AngiTN]

Disney **is** doing multiple holds. Pretty much every time you spend $100 you get another $100 hold. People are leaving with several hundred dollars in holds. It’s essentially holding just about as much as you are spending.

SOME are leaving with several hundred dollars in holds. Some are not. Much of it depends on who the credit card processor is, how fast they drop holds and of course, how many holds someone gets. But some are finding their holds drop in 24 hours. Some aren't. THAT is on the credit card company, not Disney.

 

[AngiTN]

Somewhat related to this thread - Many people are looking to use gift cards instead of charging to the room. We were at the parks last week. Twice we pulled out our gift card to make ice cream purchases to be old that the "wifi" was down, and all that they could take was a credit card or charge to the room.. The restaurants likely have better connectivity and won't have this issue as frequently. I just wanted to share our experience from last week where we were unable to use the gift card and had to pay by credit card or do a room charge.

The CM are giving out some fishy stuff there. Just doesn't make sense
The system that reads Magic Bands or credit cards is the same one that reads gift cards. And they all work on wifi. You know that little device that you put the band to and then put your PIN in? That is running on wifi. So how could they take those?

 

[tramps’lady]

Just trying to figure this out before we head down in a couple weeks. If you accumulate $800 in holds on your card in 5 days and then the actual $800 is charged to your credit card, does that mean you now basically have $1600 credit limit reduced until the holds come off in a few days or does Disney do something to cancel out those holds when they do the actual charge. I wonder this because what if you use a card that has a $2000 limit and you charge $1200 worth of holds. Does that mean it will decline when they try to do the real charge of $1200 since there is only $800 available credit left or do they instantly wipe those holds so they can make the charge?

we had a hold and basically the real charge on our card so our credit limit was reduced double what we owed for about 5 days. this was bank of america. it worked this way for both stays of 2 and 3 days we had.

 

[AngiTN]

Just trying to figure this out before we head down in a couple weeks. If you accumulate $800 in holds on your card in 5 days and then the actual $800 is charged to your credit card, does that mean you now basically have $1600 credit limit reduced until the holds come off in a few days or does Disney do something to cancel out those holds when they do the actual charge. I wonder this because what if you use a card that has a $2000 limit and you charge $1200 worth of holds. Does that mean it will decline when they try to do the real charge of $1200 since there is only $800 available credit left or do they instantly wipe those holds so they can make the charge?

Holds are not charges. Holds are basically preauthorizations or temporary placeholders. They can still come off the credit limit though. I find this varies by the type of credit card I have. Some of mine deduct preauthorizations, some don't.
They sit there waiting on the final purchase authorization to be sent, with the final amount. They disappear after a set time. Each credit card company has a different time they allow to temporary placeholders before they fall off.
A common place this happens is at a restaurant.
When you give your card to the restaurant they'll run it for the amount of the bill, without a tip. That's the amount the credit card company gets a preauthorization for. So that is the amount that is put in a hold. It sits there waiting for the business to close their transactions for the night. When they do, they receive the final amount, which includes your tip. So that is the amount that gets charged to your card. The preauthorization place holder amount never does. It should just fall off when it's replaced by the final amount.
Oh, another place they do this is some gas stations, especially those that cater to truckers where a fill up can run upwards of $300. Sometimes just activating the pump can put a preauthorization on your card of $50

 

[AngiTN]

Does anyone know if these transactions are processed by each resort or centrally?

I know each resort CAN process charges. I mean, I've gone down to the desk, paid my bill AT the desk and it's paid. They didn't have to have it done elsewhere. And when I did it, my card was charged that very second. AMEX sends me a notice as soon as a charge goes through and I get a ding while standing at the front desk

That doesn't mean they don't also have a central billing too. I have had a bill come in the mail for some stuff that I bought after check out and didn't apply to the room correctly. That was not paid by calling the resort, it was paid by calling somewhere else.

 

[mamapenguin]

I know each resort CAN process charges. I mean, I've gone down to the desk, paid my bill AT the desk and it's paid. They didn't have to have it done elsewhere. And when I did it, my card was charged that very second. AMEX sends me a notice as soon as a charge goes through and I get a ding while standing at the front desk

That doesn't mean they don't also have a central billing too. I have had a bill come in the mail for some stuff that I bought after check out and didn't apply to the room correctly. That was not paid by calling the resort, it was paid by calling somewhere else.

Does your watch tap you? I love that.

 

[AngiTN]

Does your watch tap you? I love that.

Yeah, Watch, phone, all of it sends me an alert.

 

[Alicenwonderment]

Wading back in... The day before I checked out in Feb there was a message on the phone about the changes the following day. I was glad I'd just missed it.



So now the people of modest amounts of credit have to have the CASH available to pay, and not have a week or so of float like others before they pay their CC bill (I've been on youneedabudget, so I don't use credit like credit and I pay the CC every week or two). Doesn't seem right, does it?



Disney has a credit union? Cool.



It is called Partners Credit Union. When I did my first college program in 97 I didn't really have a bank account yet so I joined the FL Branch which was called Vista Credit Union. I kept the bank account when I left my first program because I was planning on applying for advanced internship which I did in 2000. I decided just to keep my account with Disney when I left since it was a credit union. They don't charge if you use other credit unions to get your money out but there are only certain banks that you can deposit in. (I usually use direct deposit.) I've had some pretty cool checks over the years. I had the 25th Anniversary checks, 2000 mickey ears checks, 4 different location checks. Right now mine are plain. At some point Vista merged with Partners which was the CA division. Not sure why they were separate in the beginning. I do think they should give some Disney perks but the only think I got was an invite to the annual meeting this year at the Floridian. Hmmm. If only I was going to be in the area I'd check that out.

 

[Madame]

We also don’t plan to change our spending, Going to buy a gift card & pay as we go at the parks instead of charging with our MB’s.
I understand your point, eventually they will have to make a change if it’s affecting them in a negative way. Time will tell..
I can’t help but be curious how this is affecting everyone else (who isn’t on Disboards)? You know the resorts are prob all close to capacity during spring break, so I’m wondering if the resort cast members are dealing with a lot of complaints?
Maybe not... maybe there’s only a select few this causes issues for.
I plan to send a complaint... if anything to try to get more clarification.

I was just on a DVC page on FB. Several people reporting getting denied at point of purchase (mainly as they were trying to charge at a restaurant). The holds plus the amount billed are exceeding their credit limit.

I know some might want to attach a low limit card in case of CC theft. You might want to reconsider that strategy. Ugh. How embarrassing to have your CC declined. Had it happen more than once in Europe this summer because our CC company won’t make travel notes

One poster asked at a restaurant what would have happened if she hadn’t had an alternative method of payment on her at the time and no one had an answer. So make sure you’re carrying one. Kinda defeats the purpose of the band though...

 

[Searc]

Just trying to figure this out before we head down in a couple weeks. If you accumulate $800 in holds on your card in 5 days and then the actual $800 is charged to your credit card, does that mean you now basically have $1600 credit limit reduced until the holds come off in a few days or does Disney do something to cancel out those holds when they do the actual charge?

On my Chase cards, holds count against your credit.

 

[Scar1199]

Just trying to figure this out before we head down in a couple weeks. If you accumulate $800 in holds on your card in 5 days and then the actual $800 is charged to your credit card, does that mean you now basically have $1600 credit limit reduced until the holds come off in a few days or does Disney do something to cancel out those holds when they do the actual charge. I wonder this because what if you use a card that has a $2000 limit and you charge $1200 worth of holds. Does that mean it will decline when they try to do the real charge of $1200 since there is only $800 available credit left or do they instantly wipe those holds so they can make the charge?

This was our experience a couple weeks ago, but it seems to differ depending on your credit card. Mine was an RBC Mastercard. We accumulated about $800 the first 5 days, so we had an actual charge of $800 put through and still had 4 days of holds showing, so around $1300 tied up in both holds and actual charges.

 

[Spridell]

Yes some on Facebook are reporting that cards are coming back declined.

I think Disney will have to reevaluate this procedure in the near future. I understand why they are doing this but in the long run it might of been a bad idea to implement it the way they did.

 

[wn01aa]

It is so varied it is hard to figure out what they are doing (maybe they are changing things on the fly). Some report that only charges over $100 each day are added as holds where some other people on FB are reporting that they had an additional hold of $100 on their credit card added each day even if they never used their card. (example, 10 night stay receiving a $1000 hold even if you never charged). Some report that Disney puts on a credit memo once the real charge is done to stop the "double authorization hold" while others say they just do the charge and then tell the company to drop the holds but the bank might take days or week to remove it. A very weird thing. Maybe they should just do real charges instead of holds so that the only hold on the card is the original $100.

 

[bookbabe626]

This was our experience a couple weeks ago, but it seems to differ depending on your credit card. Mine was an RBC Mastercard. We accumulated about $800 the first 5 days, so we had an actual charge of $800 put through and still had 4 days of holds showing, so around $1300 tied up in both holds and actual charges.

Which RBC Mastercard? And how long did it take for the holds to drop off?

 

[wn01aa]

Does anyone know if you can call to remove the credit card on file and remove charging privileges or is it only possible at the front desk, which means it would be too late for the first $100 hold.

 

[Scar1199]

Which RBC Mastercard? And how long did it take for the holds to drop off?

We have the RBC Westjet Mastercard. It took 4-5 days for the holds to disappear.

 

[Spridell]

The only guests that this new policy are going to affect are people who don't have enough a big enough credit limit on their credit cards to handle these costs. Those people are going to have to change the way they pay for vacations. They should plan on incurring the initial $100 hold and then if they need to, pay their charges off daily. Then they won't have anything to worry about.

Well this right here is the big problem I see that Disney has.

There must be tons and tons of families that go to Disney with a set spending limit in mind. Let's say $2,000 for their entire trip. They know they have that to spend on their credit cards, they know that is their max, they know when they get their monthly paycheck (or whatever method) they will pay that off. With the way Disney is implementing the "incremental" charges this is not possible for that family. And if someone has JUST a debit card to use, well that is a whole different story.

I do believe Disney will revisit this policy and make changes to it in the near future.

And for those that think complaining will do NO GOOD, that is not true. If enough complain Disney WILL change this policy. They recently just changed the DVC 2020 Points because so many people complained.