Debit Card Pre-Authorisations

[cbjroms]

Just got off Azura after an enjoyable cruise around the Greek Islands. Usually lodge a credit card at embarkation but chose to use a debit card this time.

 

Noticed that P&O created daily preauthorisations to cover our spend. Completely understand this and have no issue.

 

Once we disembraked I noticed that P&O took, as a lump sum, the total on our onboard account. Again, this was expected.

 

What I didnt expect was some weeks later the preauthorisations are still in place and so I have a few hundred pounds in my bak account that I cant use. My bank tells me that these preauthorisations may not expire until 30 days has elapsed since they were first created.The bank cannot cancel; only P&O can.

 

Just seems wrong that a merchant (ie P&O in this case) is allowed to leave funds ring-fenced in my account well after it has received payment in full.

 

Completely understand that P&O has ONLY got from me the money that I owed it. Guess I am just thinking that this unexpected (by me) might also catch other cruisers out.

[9265359]

20 minutes ago, cbjroms said:

What I didnt expect was some weeks later the preauthorisations are still in place and so I have a few hundred pounds in my bak account that I cant use.

 

The credit card pre-authorisations are only £1 per day, so presumably if you have a few hundred pounds of pre-authorisations then the debit card amounts are significantly higher.

[david63]

5 minutes ago, 9265359 said:

The credit card pre-authorisations are only £1 per day,

No they are not, the pre-authorisation is for the onboard spend that day - the £1 is the pre-authorisation when you register your card.

[majortom10]

For that reason is why I would never use a debit card on a cruise and always use a credit card.

[molecrochip]

P&O should charge the end bill against the pre-authorisations, but don’t. Instead they put the entire bill through as a fresh charge.

 

The bank is correct, the authorisations time out at 30 days unless the merchant (P&O) cancels them.

 

P&O don’t have a process to cancel the pre-authorisations. There is literally nothing you can do but wait.

 

Pre-authorisations work differently on a credit card so would always recommend using one.

[swanseaboy]

I'm another advocate for using a credit card onboard 🙂

[Dermotsgirl]

It depends on your bank when the preauthorisations ‘drop off’. It can take up to a month.

 

P&O do preauthorisations on both credit and debit cards - but people don’t notice on their credit cards, unless they are very near their credit limit. It’s much more noticeable on a debit card 

[Pippa04]

Depends who you bank with.  I had the same problem with hotels abroad but I bank with Monzo.  I uploaded photos of receipts to prove I'd paid, raised a complaint and they re-credited my money within an hour.  In theory I may have to repay it in 4 months but as it will have dropped off by then it should be fine.

[AndyLovesCruises]

I would suggest a revolut or Monzo Card, these wont charge you and you can switch rates per country.    They also offer great rates at ATM's (the ones that don't charge) 

 

Mine is with Revolute so I cannot speak for Monzo but they all do the same thing. 

 

The issue with credit cards though if there was a an issue there is a way to claim, most charge 1-3% per transaction.  

Edited August 15, 2023 by AndyLovesCruises
spelling mistake

[kalos]

2 hours ago, AndyLovesCruises said:

I would suggest a revolut or Monzo Card, these wont charge you and you can switch rates per country.    They also offer great rates at ATM's (the ones that don't charge) 

 

Mine is with Revolute so I cannot speak for Monzo but they all do the same thing. 

 

The issue with credit cards though if there was a an issue there is a way to claim, most charge 1-3% per transaction.  

 Funny you should mention those two cards Andy , those were the two cards featured 

on last nights BBC1 Rip off Britain .

 

[AndyLovesCruises]

3 hours ago, kalos said:

 Funny you should mention those two cards Andy , those were the two cards featured 

on last nights BBC1 Rip off Britain .

 

Tell me a bank with millions of customer's that has not been under the microscope at some point in the past 10 years  

[kalos]

48 minutes ago, AndyLovesCruises said:

Tell me a bank with millions of customer's that has not been under the microscope at some point in the past 10 years  

Anyone can watch and make their own judgements .

 

I was just pointing out that the very two you named were on TV the night before .

[CarlaMarie]

On 8/14/2023 at 3:43 PM, majortom10 said:

For that reason is why I would never use a debit card on a cruise and always use a credit 

 

We also use a credit card for the onboard account, and have done ever since we got that advice from these boards. 

[Cruisemeister2002]

On 8/14/2023 at 12:51 PM, cbjroms said:

Just got off Azura after an enjoyable cruise around the Greek Islands. Usually lodge a credit card at embarkation but chose to use a debit card this time.

 

Noticed that P&O created daily preauthorisations to cover our spend. Completely understand this and have no issue.

 

Once we disembraked I noticed that P&O took, as a lump sum, the total on our onboard account. Again, this was expected.

 

What I didnt expect was some weeks later the preauthorisations are still in place and so I have a few hundred pounds in my bak account that I cant use. My bank tells me that these preauthorisations may not expire until 30 days has elapsed since they were first created.The bank cannot cancel; only P&O can.

 

Just seems wrong that a merchant (ie P&O in this case) is allowed to leave funds ring-fenced in my account well after it has received payment in full.

 

Completely understand that P&O has ONLY got from me the money that I owed it. Guess I am just thinking that this unexpected (by me) might also catch other cruisers out.

This doesn't just happen unfortunately with Debit Cards. My Daughter-in-Law bought my Son-in-Law a bicycle a few months ago on one of these schemes where you pay so much per month. What she didn't realise that unlike Companies like Clearpay and Klarna who take the initial payment and then others at a set time they did what you have encountered with pre-authorisations so a lot of her money was frozen. This caused her some financial problems and she ended up paying it all off in one go which wasn't what she intended to have happened.