Credit card required for hotel in USA?

[james&olya 1,121]

I had a surprising and unsettling experience here last week. My wifes Russian brother and his wife got visas to come and visit for the holidays. They stayed with us as planned till a few days before their flight back to Moscow when we all went to Chicago together to see the sights. There was a problem with their reservations and they had to be re-booked for the following day. We found a Holiday Inn near the airport that had a shuttle service and left to make the long drive home when the shuttle arrived to take them to the hotel. We got called a half hour later from my BIL. They would not rent him a room since he had no credit card! He had plenty of cash but they would not budge. I offered to give them my card # but they demanded I fax them the card #s! Really! From the car speeding down the tollway! We had to turn around and go back. We found a different hotel but they also required the card. I gave them mine and everything was OK after that.

Has anyone heard of this and dealt with it before? The hotel manager insisted that everyone, even from foreign countries, always has a credit card and there are no exceptions made! This seems preposterous to me but I would be glad to hear if anyone else has had experience with this. Should all of our foreign relatives be advised that a credit card is almost mandatory for a trip here, regardless of how much cash they bring?

[N M 96]

Yep, that's pretty much my experience over the last few years - and very common in Europe too - not just the U.S.

You can understand it from the hotel's point of view - they can charge damages to the card if necessary. Also in the era of fast-track check outs (demanded by customers), they can provide this service safe in the knowledge that they won't get ripped off by a customer clearing out the mini-bar just before checking out.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Because some travelers don't know how to behave credit cards are used as security against theft/damage. So go ahead and take off with the towels, they will be the fist $50 dollar ones you will own. Want to toss the FV in the pool, be prepared to pay for the TV, the install and the pool cleaning.

[james&olya 1,121]

Yep, that's pretty much my experience over the last few years - and very common in Europe too - not just the U.S.

You can understand it from the hotel's point of view - they can charge damages to the card if necessary. Also in the era of fast-track check outs (demanded by customers), they can provide this service safe in the knowledge that they won't get ripped off by a customer clearing out the mini-bar just before checking out.

I understand their preferring to have the card but making no possible exceptions for people caught in extenuating circumstances? Or was this manager just being a jerk?

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I understand their preferring to have the card but making no possible exceptions for people caught in extenuating circumstances? Or was this manager just being a jerk?

You say there's extenuating circumstances but they don't have any proof of that. If there were exceptions they'd get people claiming they needed the exception.

I stayed at a hotel in Chicago in late 2009 and at the time I don't recall them needing a credit card specifically, but I think they took our debit card info as well as drivers licence.

[jkelly07 120]

car rentals do the same thing, you need a credit card to rent a car,

[aaron2020 11,651]

Every hotel I've stayed at require a credit card on file. This is to protect themselves against theft, damage, and trips to the mini-bar in the room.

If your mother and brother were to damage the room, there is very little that the hotel can do to be compensated after they leave for Russia.

[david'sgirl 134]

I had a surprising and unsettling experience here last week. My wifes Russian brother and his wife got visas to come and visit for the holidays. They stayed with us as planned till a few days before their flight back to Moscow when we all went to Chicago together to see the sights. There was a problem with their reservations and they had to be re-booked for the following day. We found a Holiday Inn near the airport that had a shuttle service and left to make the long drive home when the shuttle arrived to take them to the hotel. We got called a half hour later from my BIL. They would not rent him a room since he had no credit card! He had plenty of cash but they would not budge. I offered to give them my card # but they demanded I fax them the card #s! Really! From the car speeding down the tollway! We had to turn around and go back. We found a different hotel but they also required the card. I gave them mine and everything was OK after that.

Has anyone heard of this and dealt with it before? The hotel manager insisted that everyone, even from foreign countries, always has a credit card and there are no exceptions made! This seems preposterous to me but I would be glad to hear if anyone else has had experience with this. Should all of our foreign relatives be advised that a credit card is almost mandatory for a trip here, regardless of how much cash they bring?

Yes. You could have your BIL pick up a visa gift card at a drug store or AAA office. It looks and works like a Debit card and has a Visa logo. I've used one to secure the room. I paid for entire stay online but they wanted to hold $50 for "incidentals". My sister worked for over 20 yrs in hotel mgt. It is so that people don;t raid the mini bar, lose the safe key, steal the linens and robes and ghey have no recourse. If they have your card they can charge you later. It is common in most hotels.

[Neonred 3,693]

We have friends from Russia visiting us right now. They came over with two credit cards, a Mastercard drawn on Siberbank which has not worked in all places, and a Visa card which is working fine, including all the ####### they are buying online from Amazon.com.

I wish they had brought cash instead of the credit cards. Seems they expect me to pay for everything because "they only have credit cards". Went to Orlando this past weekend and I even got stuck for the two hotel rooms and all the Disney and Sea World tickets, so they could spend all their money on new unlocked cell phones and I-pads and ####### to take back to their friends back home.

NO MORE FRIENDS AND FAMILY VISITORS FROM RUSSIA FOR US!

[Kajikit 65]

It's nothing uncommon, especially in the accommodations near the airports. When I was coming over I spent the night at the airport hotel in LA, and my husband (then fiance) had to pay the bill in advance and fax them his credit card, and even then it took some fast talking to get them to let me stay there! Then they double-billed him, and it took way more fast-talking to get it back or I would have had the world's most expensive 12-hour stay.

[Kazulie 132]

This has always been the case since I've been old enough to rent rooms. Or cars for that matter. They need it as insurance I case you mess up the room or steal something. It wasn't because the manager was being an #### or because the inlaws were foreigners. It's just the normal procedure.

In some cas they will take debit cards, but they always charge you extra in the beginning. Let's say you are renting a room for 3 days, they might put a hold on 5 days worth and then if you end up only staying the 3 days they only charge you the 3 days. This could be a major issue if you don't have that much in your debit account. Let's say it costs $100 per night. If you only had $500 and you thought you would pay $300 for 3 nights at the hotel and then you would have $200 left over for spending money, think again. They are most likely going to put a hold on all of that money until you check out of the hotel.