Pre-authorisation hotel booking

bobblebob

Stayed at a hotel last night and when i checked in they took a pre-authorisation for the room (£70). Checked out this morning and i paid for the room on the card.

Just looked at my online banking and £71 is due to leave my account. £70 is for the room, but im not sure where the £1 is from. Nothing else is due out of my account. Could this be due to the pre-authorisation at the hotel?

MoneySaverLog

Yes. £70 will come out and the £1 released after a day or two.

bobblebob

Cheers thanks for that. Was abit worried at first when i saw this £1 due to come out, as i know this can be a sign of something dodgy going on

pinkdalek

The £1 will drop off, it's standard practice.

For example if you had to leave the hotel urgently and could not check out they have your details to pay. Or if you tried to leave without paying etc.

MoneySaverLog

Hotels and Petrol stations seem to do this a lot.

Always worth keeping a eye on these transactions though as you rightly say they can be a sign of a fraudster checking the card before making larger purchases.

bobblebob

pinkdalek wrote: »

The £1 will drop off, it's standard practice.

For example if you had to leave the hotel urgently and could not check out they have your details to pay. Or if you tried to leave without paying etc.

Yea understand why they do pre-authorisation, just didnt get why they do a test with £1 as they know my card is valid. Unless its incase i gave them a card i cancelled or something?

MoneySaverLog

You could have incurred additional expenses during your stay for example drinks to room, movies, room service etc..

So they do an initial pre-authorisation when you check in with your credit card and then charge what you owe on leaving.

bobblebob

Just another quick one. The £1 dropped off my available balance and the £70 did come out of my account and is showing on my online banking statement. However the available balance is still showing £70 is due to come out.

Could this £70 be the pre-authorisation that will eventually drop off?

Plxply

bobblebob wrote: »

Just another quick one. The £1 dropped off my available balance and the £70 did come out of my account and is showing on my online banking statement. However the available balance is still showing £70 is due to come out.

Could this £70 be the pre-authorisation that will eventually drop off?

No, just the £1 authorisation has fallen off. The hotel hasn't charged your card yet but they whenever they process the next batch of transactions. I've noticed banks release £1 authorisations earlier then others.

bobblebob

Think you misunderstood me or i didnt explain it correctly.

I have 2 receipts from the hotel. 1 says "pre-autorisation PIN approved £70", the other i got when i checked out which says "debit card PIN approved £70".

The money has physically left my account and shows on my account balance. This would have been the debit payment i paid on checkout. However there is still a £70 payment pending (difference between available balance and actual balance). Its as if they have taken 2 payments, but im guessing this is the pre-autorisation £70 they took at checkin and will fall off eventually?

Scarpacci

bobblebob wrote: »

Just another quick one. The £1 dropped off my available balance and the £70 did come out of my account and is showing on my online banking statement. However the available balance is still showing £70 is due to come out.

Could this £70 be the pre-authorisation that will eventually drop off?

Yes, the £70 is most probably the original pre-authorisation, which will drop off. I had this recently when I stayed at a hotel. They pre-authorised the amount, then the final charge was done as another transaction.