Buyer Beware: Credit Blocking

Travelers accustomed to using a credit card to hold a hotel room or a rental car could find themselves in for a rude awakening the next time they try to use the same card: out of credit and out of luck.

When you use a credit card to check into a hotel, say, the hotel may immediately put a hold--or a “block” as the Federal Trade Commission calls it--on your credit line, if the amount is authorized by the card issuer when the clerk contacts the company electronically. So, if you check into a $100-a-night hotel for five nights, at least $500 could be blocked upfront.

When the hotel bill is paid on that card, the computer should wipe out the block in a day or two. But if you pay your hotel with cash, or use another card, the block may remain in place for 10 or 15 days.

Acquire enough blocks and you could find yourself over your credit limit and unable to use the card. Some solutions: You can pay your expenses with the same card you started out with and ask to have blocks removed as soon as possible. Additional pointers are in a free brochure, “Credit Card Blocking,” which is available from the Federal Trade Commission, Public Reference Branch, Room 130, 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20580; tel. (202) 326-2222.