Using an authorization hold allows you to freeze funds on a guest's credit card for a limited time.
This is typically used in the hospitality industry to guarantee payment for the reservation, though a hold can also be used to secure funds for potential damages or for any other purpose.
The hold expires automatically after seven days (five days on Visa credit cards) but you can release the funds manually at any point during that time. Stripe fees are only applied when the funds held in the authorization hold are charged.
You are able to authorize a hold for an amount as big as the payout itself. If you want like to collect a security deposit, add it as a new invoice item. The total payout will update accordingly.
Adding an authorization hold can be done either manually or automatically in Guesty. Follow the instructions below.
Add an authorization hold manually
If a reservation's remaining balance is already fully accounted for, you will not see the option to add an authorization hold manually. Additionally, the hold amount cannot exceed the outstanding balance. To add an authorization hold with a larger amount than the outstanding balance, increase the outstanding balance by adding an extra invoice item to the reservation, or by adjusting the guest folio (Accounting users / Non-accounting users).
Note:
You cannot add an authorization hold with a Virtual Credit Cards (VCC).
Vrbo has specific limitations for their own payments and don't support authorization holds, Therefore they'll ignore any authorization hold rules set on your listings. These rules will still work for bookings from other channels.
Step by step:
- Sign in to your Guesty account.
- In the top navigation bar, click the mode selector and select Financials mode.
- Click Reservations.
- Click the relevant reservation.
- At the top right, click Balance Due / Payout.
- In the "Payments" section, click Payment actions and select Add authorization hold.
- In the pop-up, enter the necessary details.
- Click Hold now or Save, depending on whether you are setting the hold for the current or future date.
Add an automatic authorization hold
Important:
Even when auto payments cover 100% of the reservation (excluding the authorization hold), the hold will still be created, and funds will be reserved at the set time. However, these reserved funds cannot be charged since the reservation's full amount is accounted for, preventing overcharges.
In this scenario to charge held funds, update the Guest Folio Breakdown to increase the total reservation amount, creating enough "unaccounted for" funds for the charge.
For a $1,000 reservation with:
$500 charged at confirmation, $500 charged at check-in, $300 authorization hold one day before checkout. The $300 hold will reserve funds, but charging $200 of it requires adding $200 to the reservation's Guest Folio.
Add an authorization hold as part of your auto payments / payment automations setup.
Step by step:
- Sign in to your Guesty account.
- In the top navigation bar, click the mode selector and select Operations mode.
- Click Properties.
- Select the relevant listing. For a multi-unit, access the listing's main settings. The change will be applied to all sub-units.
- In the left-side menu, click Pricing & policies, then select Auto payments.
- Click Add rule and select Authorization hold.
- Fill in the relevant fields.
Important:
For Vrbo request to book reservations, the authorization hold must be collected at confirmation.
- Click Save.