Any problem changing payment card once on board?

[MisterBill99]

Is changing the card used for payment relatively easy to do when you're on board? I expect to have some refundable OBC remaining and would want to have it go on a debit card, since I'd lose points/cash if it were applied to my credit card. But I don't really want to use the debit card from the start to avoid the hold being put on funds. I haven't had problems changing the payment card while on Celebrity and Royal, but haven't been on HAL in a while and never tried it there.

[catl331]

We've done it a couple of times with no problem.

[alwaysfrantic]

Clever idea. I like it!

[mame42]

We've done it a couple of times with no problem.

 

 

Same here.

[richwmn]

You can also receive the refund in cash, starting around 10pm the night before the cruise ends.

[MisterBill99]

Clever idea. I like it!

Glad to help! If you get a credit applied on a rewards credit card, you're not getting 100% of the money back!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Just remember Holland America does a pre orth when you board.

[MisterBill99]

Just remember Holland America does a pre orth when you board.

The only thing that means is that I'll have a hold on that credit for a week or so until it ages off, which I don't really care about. Will they do the same when I change it to a debit card, especially if I have a reasonable OBC credit on my account when I do it?

[MisterBill99]

So in the end I've decided to just use the debit card from the start. They say they'll only do a hold for $420 for a 7 day cruise, which won't affect me.

[MisterBill99]

If a pre-authorization, or hold on a CC is a problem for you, you probably shouldn't be taking a cruise. You should be taking a 2nd job.

Please note this sentence from my post: "But I don't really want to use the debit card from the start to avoid the hold being put on funds."

 

I don't care about the hold on my credit card. I care about a significant hold on my debit card, but $420 isn't that big of a deal. I thought it would be closer to $1k.

[MisterBill99]

So, this ended up in the worst possible way for me, with HAL screwing up big time.

 

To recap, I had originally done online check-in with my Chase Sapphire Reserve (3% back on travel) credit card but went back several days before my cruise and changed it to my debit card to avoid having to change it while on the ship. When I checked in at the pier, they did not ask for my card, which seemed odd based on previous cruise experiences. I never saw the $420 hold on my debit card, but I figured that was because I had a credit on my onboard account due to OBC I had purchased. When my $1400 credit posted after the cruise, it ended up on my Sapphire Reserve card instead of my debit card, costing me 3% of the total (4.5% if you want to consider the value if I were to use it towards airfare). Needless to say, I am very unhappy about this.

 

The irony is that I had gone to guest services at one point because my last OBC purchase hadn't shown up, and could have had them check the card on my account and switched it, but had no reason to believe that they didn't use the last card I gave them at online check-in (I had deleted the credit card, so it should not have been on file anymore).

 

Does anyone think I could call and get someone at HAL to reverse the credit and put it on the debit card they were supposed to? Who would I call?