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Debit Card to Book Hotel Room?.... going on sudden road trip

B

bubbadu

Diamond Member
Hey guys, My friends and I are doing a sudden road trip TONIGHT to New Hampshire, and I was just wondering about booking a hotel room. None of us have credit cards, but all have debit cards. If we were to just get a regular hotel room, would they have any major problems with the card issue? Thanks

-Bubbadu
 
Is it a check card or just a regular debit card? You shouldn't have any problems if it's a check card, since you can use it as if it were a credit card.
 
I would highly recommend using a credit card or a debit card with a credit card logo. I've been screwed by hotel reservations where I had been charged but upon arriving I find out my reservations never went through. At least if you're using a credit card you can dispute the charge but it may be a bit more difficult if it's a debit card as you're giving them money and not credit.
 
I'm going to quote something I posted a few weeks ago. The same thing applies to the Hotel room as it does for the bar. They're probably going to reserve a considerable amount of money and lock you out of a few hundred bucks from your checking account, since they'll probably authorize a lot more than your nightly fee is in case you destroy the room.

Using a Check Card is fundamentally risky. A debit card secured with a Pin # is still secure; however, besides gas stations and supermarkets, very rarely are debit cards accepted. That is why the check card was invented - the problem is that it provides free access to your account.

If I go to a bar, for example, and hand the bartender my check card, because it is a Visa logo, it will be treated as a credit card. As with any bar, he'll authorize between $50 and $100 to be put "on hold" in my checking account. At the end of hte night, he'll only charge what I paid for and the release the other funds.

Let's say that my rent check attemps to clear the bank while they freeze in funds is on hold. If I only had $450 on my checking account, I could safely write a $400 check, which I did. But if hte bartender authorizes $75, my rent check will bounce because of NSF - even though I had that money in there!

This also holds true for things like RMAs when the funds are frozen for several weeks.

Bottom line is that check cards = bad. Don't even get me started on when your number gets stolen...
Click to expand...
 
I've used a debit card with either a Visa or MC logo for the last 5 yrs and have only had a problem one time. Picking up a rental car here in town at Thrifty. They wouldn't do it as it was a debit card. Had to get my father-in-law (at the time) to come down and use his.

Budget takes debit cards (as long as it has the Visa/MC logo). I've booked hotels in NYC, Chicago, San Jose, San Fran, L.A., Ft. Myers, Cincinnati, etc. and never had a problem.
 
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