Planning to pay for the team's hotel stay with a team debit card? Don't count on it. It doesn't really matter how much money your team has in the bank. Many banks only allow you to withdraw a limited amount per day with debit cards, and that amount won't cover a team's stay for a week out of state. Further, it is a standard hotel policy to put a type of "hold" on up to three times the amount of the actual charge. In other words, if you were paying a $1000 charge, the hotel would put a hold on $3000, making those funds unavailable for several days until the actual $1000 charge cleared and the hold was released. There is nothing you or the hotel staff can do about this policy. It is something that the credit card companies (mainly Visa) and hotel companies have agreed upon together. If you have a team debit card, be sure to check with your hotel and ask about their policies.
Ways around the debit card delimma are
- get a team credit card (best method)
- obtain a cashier's check before you leave
- get set up for a wire transfer with the hotel (expensive and not always available)
- see if you can pay the hotel with a check before you arrive (not likely)
