What happens if you rent a hotel room with an invalid credit card?

unknown62008: What happens if you rent a hotel room with an invalid credit card?
Let’s say you check into a hotel and present a valid credit card with Id and stay for one night.

The next morning you leave the hotel at 5am and don’t pay or check out and take a cab to the airport.

When you get to the airport at 5:30am you call your credit card company and tell them you lost your credit card.

What would hotel staff do once you are already gone and they find out that they can’t bill your credit card? Would hotel management try to reach you by mail and by phone?

This is in the united states.

Answers and Views:

Answer by silver
The hotel will bill your card and you will be liable for the amount regardless. Because you checked in with a valid credit card you gave the hotel authority to charge that card, even though you reported it stolen. The hotel will contact the credit card company and let them know what you did and the credit card company will hold you responsible.

Answer by MHB
Hotels take pre authorization on your card for the amount of your room charge and often even more to cover room service etc. What this means is that they “book” this amount of credit on your account and are therefore covered even if you cancel the card later.

Answer by conley39
Sounds like an excellent way to get another “free” stay at taxpayer expense after you get charged with credit card fraud too. As the others have told you, this won’t work and could put you in a whole lot more difficulty than having to find the money for a hotel bill. The world needs more ethics, not less.

Answer by Derek J
I work at a hotel… someone has tried that on me… in short i got a phone call and im pretty sure there in jail… its fraud

Answer by WTF Man
That’s fraud, buddy. You presented your id, you think they can’t find you? Very intelligent.

Everyone is looking for something for nothing nowadays…

Answer by Adam A
As a hotel manager I give to you Straight. Basically we all ready got approval to your charge your card by the time you left the desk at check in. If you call after that time, we will get what is call a charge back that’s when things start going down hill for you. We send the credit card company the proof of the transaction ie(copy of imprint, swipe info collected, footage of the transaction on camera etc). They then give us the money, from there it goes to their fraud and risk department. They may raise the rate on your card as you now show a higher risk or if they are understandably upset they may transfer your problem to the feds for follow up, depending on size of bill. The feds are in on it because transaction mostly likely crossed at least one state line.

Enjoy your trip its most likely the one you be having for some time.

Do this too many times with one hotel chain will get you on the black list where you never be able to book a room with that chain.

Answer by Brain
Check here