What happens if credit blocks exceed your credit limit?

When you check into a hotel, they ask to see a credit card and put blocks on it to cover incidentals. This many might not ever even be charged, but it is unusable during your stay to insure the hotel is paid. What happens if the amount of money being blocked exceeds your credit limit.





For example,


You have a $500 credit limit, and the hotel issues $600 dollars to be blocked in your credit line.


(numbers are entirely made up, but you get the idea)





Thanks!|||You point out an area many people have no idea is happening. If they approach your credit card limit with the hold, you may find subsequent transactions denied.





Unless you have arrangements for going over your limit, they won't be able to put a hold greater then your limit.





Consumers need to understand that a hold on a credit or debit card when you arrive "is for much more than you think your bill will be when you check out," says Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. "Most people aren't totally maxed out on their credit cards, so they don't notice a hold. But people are closer to zero in their banking account" and don't realize they can lose access to money they haven't actually spent.





[NOTE: this may be critical with a debit card.]





Releasing holds can take some time, Brown says. First, a hotel accounting department must release a hold; then a bank in the card-processing chain must remove it. "Hotels are unable to release (funds) themselves" and can't control the timing, he says.|||Since it's just a "hold", you didn't actually go over the limit. I am surprised that the cc company allowed the hold to go over. No worries, you shouldn't be charged the dreaded over the limit fee. Just have a different way to pay for stuff.