Key takeaways:
- A credit card hold is a temporary restriction on accessing part of your card’s credit limit.
- Businesses such as hotels, gas stations and car rental companies often use authorization holds.
- Administrative holds may occur if you exceed your credit limit.
If you’ve ever used your credit card to fill your car up with gas and looked at your account soon after, you’ve likely noticed what may look like a charge of a large amount, possibly $100 or more. This may come as a shock, especially if you only filled a relatively small amount of gas. Don’t worry, it’s just a hold the gas station places on your card to ensure there are sufficient funds available on your account. Within a few days, that number will be replaced with the actual amount you spent.
We’ll examine the two types of credit card holds, how they work, how long they last and how you can avoid them.
What is a credit card hold?
A credit card hold is a temporary hold on part of your credit line that you cannot use until funds are released. There are two types of credit card holds: credit card authorization holds and credit card administrative holds.
Credit card authorization holds
A credit card authorization is a pending charge initiated by a company or service provider to ensure the card works and that there are enough funds available to pay your final bill. This is often seen at gas stations, hotels and rental car companies. Hotels may authorize a certain amount per night as a backup to cover the room rental and incidentals, such as food or drinks charged to the room.
For short hotel stays, the final bill may be charged to your card at the end of your stay, and the card company will release the hold at that time. But if you stay for an extended period, the hotel may charge your card for balances due periodically. And if you prepaid for the stay through a service such as Booking.com or Hotels.com, you may incur an additional hold when you check in. Although you’ve paid for your room, the hotel needs to have a method of payment on hand in case you use the minibar or charge something to the room.
Credit card administrative holds
A credit card issuer may place an administrative hold on your account if you exceed your credit limit. This helps ensure you don’t use your card until you pay down your balance below your limit. You can also receive an administrative hold if you regularly make late payments — which could lead to your card being canceled altogether.
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How long do credit card holds last?
Authorization holds release after you settle a final bill and the transaction posts to your credit card, which could take several days or more. Authorizations for a hotel room or rental car could stick around until you check out or return the car, days or weeks later, so it’s essential to plan for them. Otherwise, you could be left with less room on your card to charge expenses on vacation — and that’s not a good problem to have while miles away from home or abroad.
Administrative holds and credit card account suspensions initiated by the card company as an adverse action could last until you pay down the balance. You can avoid these holds entirely by keeping up with on-time payments and maintaining a balance under the credit limit.
Tip: If you ever need a credit limit increase to make a purchase, it’s better to contact the card issuer and request it prior to using your card.
How do I remove a credit card hold?
You generally don’t have to do anything to remove merchant credit card authorizations. The merchant will tally up your bill and process the final payment, and your credit card issuer will release the authorized funds. It’s important to note that the merchant itself may not have the power to remove authorizations — it’s generally up to the credit card issuer to lift the hold.
One exception is if there are erroneous duplicate transactions and holds. For example, if you are charged twice for a hotel stay. When the hotel refunds the additional transaction to your credit card, the associated hold will be removed as well.
If you have an administrative hold, you’ll need to pay down your debt first. You can call your credit company to find out how much you must pay to release the hold and resume regular card use. Note that it could take several days for your payment to post and for the hold to be removed.
How to avoid and deal with credit card holds
Merchants process credit card holds for assurance that you can pay them for services rendered, so it’s unlikely they’ll grant a request to not preauthorize your card. However, here are ways you may be able to avoid a credit card hold:
Pay in cash. When possible, use paper bills, not a debit card. Banks and credit unions place holds on debit cards just as they do with credit cards, which means you won’t be able to access your own money when a hold is placed on your debit card. Paying with cash may not be an option with some hotels and car rentals, as you generally need to use a credit card to make the reservation. However, it’s worth looking into whether a hold will put you too close to your credit limit.
Learn more about the differences between debit and credit cards.
Ask about holds on a credit card in advance. If you know how hotels and rental car companies handle holds on credit cards, you are able to better plan and budget for your trip.
Know your balance and credit limit. Always keep tabs on your credit card balance so you know if you’re close to the limit. Consider asking for a credit line increase so there’s more room for the other expenses you’ll have. You could also split expenses between two cards. For example, reserve your hotel and rental car with your travel credit card and put the rest of your expenses on a cash back credit card.
Ask for the hold to be removed immediately after paying your bill. Contact your credit card issuer to ask that the hold be removed once you’ve paid your final bill from the merchant.
Review your credit card transactions regularly. This ensures you know when the hold on your card is released. It also helps you to find any unauthorized holds or fraud that should be disputed.
Each car rental company has its own policy, but expect that the hold will be for around $200 to $500 in excess of the actual rental cost. To avoid surprises, check the company’s policy before you make a reservation.
Credit card holds can last up to 10 days. Though rare, it’s possible that holds could last longer. Contact your bank if it takes much longer than that.
A credit card hold isn’t a charge — it’s often a temporary merchant authorization that’s released after you pay your final bill. However, in some cases, credit card companies may place an administrative hold on your account if you routinely pay late or go over the limit.
If there’s a hold on your card account, you’re unable to use the funds being held. This is true if a merchant preauthorizes an amount before a purchase or the credit card company itself initiates an administrative hold due to nonpayment. After your final bill is settled with a merchant or you pay off the balance on the card, the hold may be removed, and you can regain access to funds.
A debit card hold works like a credit card hold but can put you in an even bigger financial bind.
A debit card hold puts a hold on your cash, which can be a problem if you need that cash to pay a bill or cover day-to-day expenses. For this reason, it’s usually better to put a credit card down for transactions that require preauthorization if you have available credit. Like holds on credit cards, debit card holds drop off your account after the merchant settles the bill and the bank releases the cash.
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