Can you pay off pending transactions before they're done processing?

Spanky_Deluxe

I'm booking a holiday at the moment and I've always been told that paying for big purchases with credit cards gives more protection by default so I'm using my credit card to make all the payments.

I bought my flights this morning and paid for them via my Barclaycard. I'd like to now book my hotels but my total credit limit doesn't cover both the flight+hotels amount. I keep checking my Barclaycard section on my mobile banking and the amount for the flight is still showing as a "Pending transaction" and it says I cannot make a payment to a zero balance account.

Should I just wait it out until that transaction appears properly or should I manually make a payment with a bank transfer and hope it updates my balance quickly?

Dobbibill

You can make a manual transfer.

You need to look at the available credit when you've made the payment, that's the bit that will update the quickest when your manual payment is received. Statements and transactions can take a few days to adjust.

Mr.Generous

Yes you can overpay and be in credit if you want to.

King_Of_Fools

Mr.Generous wrote: »

Yes you can overpay and be in credit if you want to.

But if you pay before the transaction hits the account you may find that you are no longer covered by Section 75, thus removing the extra protection you sought from using the credit card in the first place.

eskbanker

Mr.Generous wrote: »

Yes you can overpay and be in credit if you want to.

....except that this contravenes the Ts & Cs of most cards.

OP - you don't have to pay the whole thing by credit card, theoretically you can just pay a penny towards the bill by CC and that gives you just the same level of section 75 protection (assuming the transaction qualifies for s75 protection in the first place, e.g. item value between £100 and £30K, etc).

Voyager2002

I suggest you telephone them (or use internet chat) and ask... the simplest solution would be for them to increase your credit limit.

And I hope that you have signed up to site like Quidco or TopCashBack since these sites generally offer almost ten per cent back on hotel bookings. (PM me if you would like me to refer you to TopCashBack for a little extra bonus.)

chuckley

even if you made a payment, it would still be 'pending' until tuesday anyway.

Barclays are dreadful with payments after 9am friday to Monday. they never clear until Tuesday.

Voyager2002

"Done processing"? I think you mean "before they have been processed".

System

Provided the transaction has been made then when it actually posts is irrelevant (for S75) - assuming it would even be checked in the 1st place.

Think of it this way, would it stop the OP making a claim..?

King_Of_Fools wrote: »

But if you pay before the transaction hits the account you may find that you are no longer covered by Section 75, thus removing the extra protection you sought from using the credit card in the first place.

Spanky_Deluxe

Thanks all! I saw no replies by Friday evening so assumed the thread had been lost in the ether and didn't check back until now. I gave them a call on Friday afternoon and they said that I had to wait until the transaction cleared before I could make any payments towards my account. I ended up just making a manual payment for the amount pending and it updated within half an hour, allowing me to place the order for the rest of my holiday. I paid the amount pending amount again the next day and it again zeroed my account within about half an hour.

Holiday all paid for and credit card cleared too (likely to be putting a mortgage application through soon so wanted it to be clear for that for affordability and credit checks).

BTW @chuckley, you were right, the payments on Friday didn't actually clear until today (Tuesday), just as you predicted. XD

Also @Voyager2002 'done' has been usable instead of 'finished' in English since about the 13th century. Saying something has 'done something' as a way of saying that something has been done is perfectly fine grammar wise although it may not be considered as "proper" as your 'correction'.

I booked the holiday through Experian and used Quidco for the cash back (12%). Why say no to free money?! :P