InvestorTiger

Can anyone advise me?? If you use a Debit card to pay the deposit, they will deduct the amount straightaway... After settling the bill on checkout, will there be problems with releasing the amount held on the debit card? Will the refund be easy??

SouthSwedish

I did that this summer in 6 different Hilton-hotels in the USA. They always withdraw an amount of 100-200 dollars at once, that took about 7-14 days to get back into my Swedish account. I then payed the normal roomrate at the checkout. You can pay with a debit card without any problems.

arollins

The key part here is to make sure that you have enough money on the account to cover the initial withdrawal, and also understand that it might take time, as previously mentioned, for the money to return into the account. This might affect you if you plan on using that money for something else.

InvestorTiger

Thanks for the replies... May I know if I can use a debit card(mastercard) for the booking through the HH website like a normal credit card?

missamo80

If it has the mastercard logo on it then it should work on the HH website.

Neil

Jwebber57

Also something to note, they may take a little more for incidentals, so make sure you have a little extra in case.

slidergirl

As one who used to work the Front Desk at a Hilton family property:

The debit card will be "charged" immediately when you check in, for the amount of the stay AND up to $100/day of your stay. That amount of money will be totally unavailable to you during your stay and some time after. When you check out, it can take up 14 days to get the money back to your account (it depends on the financial institution, not the hotel).

I had a honeymoon couple check in on a Saturday - gave me their debit card for their 5 night stay. When they went out to dinner that night, they discovered their card was refused at the restaurant. Poor kids had NO money left on the account!!! The only place they could eat was at the hotel, where they put the bills on their folio. They couldn't go shopping or do anything that cost. They had to get one of their parents to deposit more money in their account after the weekend...

What I always recommend after that: If you have a credit card, use it for the reservation (unless a pre-pay) guarantee and when you check in. It only does an authorization, not an actual charge at that time. When you want to pay, feel free to change over to the debit card for the actual payment. The authorizations will fall off your CC and no charges occurred.

julleflyer

At check in you can request that they only charge room and taxes to your card and block other charges to your room. This way you know exactly how much is reserved on your account and you will not have to wait to get the excess funds refunded.

Working at the Hilton on Front Desk I often recommend this to my guests.

IsleOfMan

I did this with a debit card on the second leg of my first married vacation after the credit holds during the first leg (rental car and hotel) tapped my available credit. Neither hold was released for nearly 2 weeks and the hotel (Hilton LAX) ended up charging the room bill OUTSIDE the hold they had placed, making things even worse.

Happy

Can the OP simply put down Cash Deposit at check in and when check out, get back the balance of Cash after the settling the bill?

skywalkerLAX

Does this depend on the bank or on the hotel?

I routinely use the PayPal Debit Card from my business PP account to pay for business related stays. Not once has the card been charged the whole amount upfront. All authorizations are automatically dropped after 7 days.

Back in the day (2008) I used my BoA Debit Card frequently to check into the Hilton LAX and the authorization was dropped after midnight. Seemed to be an BoA thing at the time, not sure how it is now as I'm not a customer anymore.

Also the Hilton LAX still accepts cash deposits of the full room charges, no card required. But this is an exception.

jabbered

Any authorization on a debit by a hotel SHOULD drop upon checkout/day of departure (at least ones I have worked in do).

When you get the authorization released by your bank is up to the bank. Normally it's within 10 days - although it can be more. There isn't much hotels can do for you to get it released sooner (nor should they), unless they have made a mistake.

kilo

For those using foreign debit cards there is a possibility of losing out. If the deposit is taken out of your account (rather than a typical credit card hold), then the money might be refunded at the other end of the exchange rate spectrum meaning you will lose money.

skywalkerLAX

True but some cards (like the ones I mentioned here) drop the authorization by default after x days even if I'm still staying, renting or not.

gooselee

Also note that if the hotel somehow messes up the final charge, you have somewhat less consumer protection with a debit card than with a credit card, and will not get your money back until its fully resolved.

I understand that some folks do not like using credit, but this is one of many reasons why it's good to keep at least one credit card for reservations and holds. You can always switch the final payment at checkout.

Same principles apply for things like car rentals, too.