Payment card under-authorizations

When a guest checks into a property with the credit card as the settlement type, the property must ensure that the guest account has enough authorization to allow the guest to be checked-in. The following are the two scenarios:

  • The amount authorized for the guest account is equal to or greater than the system calculated authorization amount.
  • The amount authorized for the guest account is greater than zero but less than the system calculated authorization amount.

The following values of the UNDERPREAUTH property parameter determine if the guest is successfully checked-in or not:

  • If the parameter check box is selected and the settlement type for check-in is a credit card, the guest account or folio must have an authorization that is greater than zero but can be less than the system calculated authorization amount. The authorized amount is not validated against the system calculated amount. Any additional authorization amounts are not required by the system to check-in the guest account.
  • If the parameter check box is clear and the settlement type for check-in is a credit card, you can modify the authorization amount to an amount that is less than the system calculated authorization amount. However, additional authorizations are required by the system until the total amount authorized for the guest account or folio is equal to or greater than the system calculated amount.