I recently make a hotel reservation for my wife to stay in New York City. Although I checked many places on the web, I decide to make the reservation through www.expedia.com.The main reason was the combination of price and location. Many places were too difficult to deal with (the prices on the web were differnt than when you called, an answering machine to leave a message about availability, etc).
My preference is not to call anyone, but to do it all online.
When I made the reservation, Expedia was abundantly clear that my credit card would be charged the full amount of the hotel reservation the moment I made the reservation. Thank god!
Not only was the charge made immediately to my card, when my wife checked into the hotel there were no hassles. No request for a credit card, no request for a deposit. When she checked out it was just as easy as saying, good bye. No disclosed card numbers, no double charges, just the simple transaction that it is.
One reason I like the instant charging of my card for the full amount is that it avoid problems with credit limits in the future. On a recent trip to Brazil, the travel agency waited weeks and weeks to actually charge my card. Since the total cost of the trip was near my total credit limit, I was unable to use that card for anything until the travel agency charge posted.
I was also worried that if that charge posted too close to the trip date, I wouldn't be able to pay it off before the trip and wouldn't have the use of that card at all on the trip!
Expedia needs a thumbs up for first of all clearly informing their customers how the transaction will be handled and second for actually handling the transaction like they said it would be.
