littlemiss63 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 20, 2019 9:06 pm
I think it's a good idea to have a couple of cards, even tho you might not use them on a regular basis. It is very difficult to buy an airline ticket if you don't have one and to reserve a hotel room. Of course, you could use a debit card I suppose, but I do like the fact that your credit card will take care of any unauthorized charges on the card. Debit cards have no protection at all.
Florida, that is interesting about the car insurance on rental cars, I've never knew that, but my insurance covers rental cars so I haven't had a need to use it.
Hotels are terrible about debit cards. Let's say you reserve a hotel room for a night or two......the hotel will put a hold on your debit card for not only the amount of the room, but for an ADDITIONAL amount to cover any other charges you MIGHT have, like for room service, damages, etc.
So they "hold" that amount, let's say $250, from your checking balance....so you need to have that money in your account when you make the reservation. Then, after you stay, and check out of the hotel, they complete the transaction for that $200 (room only, no damages) and finally take it from your checking account.
But what OFTEN, OFTEN happens, is not only do they take that $200......but they don't immediately also release the original $250 hold on your account. It can take a couple of days, and phone calls to your bank to get it taken care of.
So, let's say yuo have $300 in your checking, you make the reservation, and the hotel puts a hold on the $250. Your available balance in your checking is now only $50, even though you''re not going to the hotel for days or weeks from now.
You then check out of your hotel, the hotel takes $200, but does not release the first hold. They took $200 from your $50 available balance. Your new available balance is -$150. Your bank will have to help straighten out any overdrafts that might have happened because of this. While they may waive overdraft charges...........the real problem is when you're driving home from your hotel stay and can't buy gas or dinner because your account appears to be -$150, instead of the +$100 you really have.
While debit cards have an opt-in/opt-out choice on whether you allow your debit card to keep working even if your balance is negative, this is an extraordinary headache tho have to try and straighten this out.
On a credit card, it doesn't really matter. It will straighten out in a few days, and the final charge is the $200. Your money isn't trapped by a hold.