Credit Card Confirmations

Do you think the charges might be related to any of the hotels or is just a coincidence? In my experience, when I've given a card number to make a deposit, I've never been asked for the same exact card when it came time to check out and actually pay. BUT, if any of the hotels were planning to charge now (which some do in order to lock in a certain rate), they might need your new info in order to keep your reservation.

I had the same situation last year. I had made and guaranteed all my reservations during the summer, then my wallet was stolen in September. I did not contact any of the hotels with the new credit card number, and just used the new card at checkin/out. Your situation sounds a tad suspicious, so I would not be in a hurry to give them the new cc number. They will contact you if they need updated info, but I bet they won't need it.

I would not worry about it until you are contacted by the hotel. But I would send emails a couple weeks before just to confirm the reservations. For our confirmations I always use a credit card that is rarely used in the US -- about the fourth back up card. That way, if that card is compromised, I can cancel it without affecting anything else. In our many years of travel we have never had a card number taken. Your could just as easily been taken in the US as by one of the hotels.

All of my hotels specifically state that they want a card to hold the reservation, but that I'll actually pay at check-out. In this case, I wouldn't give them another card - they'd never know I cancelled the 'hold' card.

I feel the same way. I planned on paying with cash at all of my hotels. If they find a problem with the card I'm sure they'd contact me.

Carson Interesting topic! Were the fraudulent charges made in/from the US or Europe or elsewhere? I'm about to make online reservations at more than a half-dozen hotels in 5 different countries; every hotel wants a credit card number to accept/confirm the reservation. Your experience makes me a bit jittery. Would it be any "safer" to do all hotel research on line, but place a phone call to transmit the credit card number? Intuitively, one seems about as safe or unsafe as the other; I'd be interested in any comments that follow.

Funny, I've been making reservations online for ten years (108 nights in I-don't-know-how-many places and I've never been asked for a credit card number (In fact I don't think most of the places even take credit cards - I always pay in cash).

Many of the credit cards now offer "virtual" credit card numbers that you generate online. You have to have set up online access to your account which I recommend anyway because it is easier to pay the bill online than writing and mailing a check, and very helpful when trying to be sure your bills are paid before a trip. With Bank of America's service, you can set how long the number will be good for and the dollar limit on the charges. If that number gets compromised then it is pretty clear where the fraud originated. The only downside is the number doesn't match your card, but that shouldn't be a problem unless you are trying to pick up a ticket and the seller wants to identify you by your card number. (No Fandango movie tickets this way, for example.)