Credit card pre auth

[AlixN]

Hey guys, going on our first cruise in October. 

I'm just a bit confused about the on-board account. I know that my credit card will get daily charges/pre auth, can anyone confirm that I will only get charged for the amount of that day?

Some how I've got it in my head that I will get charged the total bill every day so the pre auths would be way higher than the final bill. E.g if I spent £100 each day, I would be pre authed £100 on day 1, £200 on day 2, £300 on day 3 etc and surely that can't be right? 

I will be cruising on P&O UK this time but would love to know if there are any lines that do it differently so posted here for an overall view

 

Thanks

 

[John Bull]

Your card will actually be billed just the once, at the end of the cruise & for the total spent.

I think but can't be sure that the set daily sum (I don't know the figure) which is held against your card can be adjusted  according to spend.

 

Pre-authorisation is only a problem if you are close to maxing-out your card. The money is only "held", it's not taken & returned, it doesn't appear on your card statement, and there's no interest chargeable -  but it is deducted from your available credit.

 

Twice as important, and it's a problem with pre-authorisations generally, including hotel extras, car rental "deposits" etc,  is that the hold isn't automatically released when the card is charged with your actual spend, it takes several days - and I've even heard of several weeks - after payment before the "hold" is released. So for a while your available credit is reduced by both the hold and what you actually spent. Not a problem for those who have a good credit limit & settle the bill monthly in full - most folk won't even be aware that there's been that delay, but can be a big problem for those who are close to maxing the credit on their card.

In these days of instant transactions there's no logical technical reason why the hold isn't released when the bill is paid - the banks blame the merchants for the delay & the merchants blame the banks.

This has been the situation for years, it might have been resolved in the past few years - ask your bank.

 

JB 🙂 

Edited March 3, 2023 by John Bull

[2BACRUISER]

As JB says at the start of the cruise you give them your credit card details then at the end of the cruise any bills you have run up eg drinks, excursions get charged once to your card. 

A credit card is the best option as it offers you the best protection. 

So long as you're not up to the limit on your cc you're good to go. Hth 👍 

Edited March 3, 2023 by 2BACRUISER
Typo

[Biglove1954]

You can ask for printouts of totals every few days