Qantas blocking [pre-auth] AND [separately] charging credit card for fare

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esseeeayeenn

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Recently I have noticed when I book with Qantas it raises two charges on my credit card.
A pending charge for the whole fare which never actually turns into a charge and disappears after 7-10 days.
And a subsequent charge for the same amount which does convert from a pending to an actual charge within a couple of days.
At first the amounts were small and it didn't cause me concern.
However I just took advantage of the sale to book an international trip in business and realised the available funds in my credit card are thousands of dollars lower than they should be because of this temporary double dipping.
I contacted Qantas on twitter and they told me this was because a hold is placed on the card at the time of booking.
But the actual charge is processed later by "Qantas Finance"- whoever they might be.
This could be a potential problem.
FIrst because you are deprived of access to your credit for a period of 7-10 days.
Second, this procedure may actually stop you fianlising the booking.
Imagine if you book business class flights to Europe costing around $8,000.
Even if your credit card has no outstanding balance to start with, if Qantas puts an $8,000 block on the card and then tries to charge $8,000 to it as well, you would need a credit limit of $16,000 for the charge to succeed.
What happens if it fails due to the block?
Do you lose your booking for non-payment? Do they give you time to pay?
The block won't be released for up to 10 days, will they give you that long to pay?
I know how blocks work and I know it is a real ordeal to try to have them released early, although the merchant can do it.
Has anyone run into this problem?
 
Are you using a anz card? I noticed this when I log in to internet banking. Even with other merchants. But only on my anz account
 
No I am using a CBA credit card and it is not happening with any other merchants.
Qantas have admitted to me they are responsible for it, it is their new procedure.
 
I do not see it with AMEX - and the AMEX app clearly shows pre-authorisations as they happen.
 
David Jones's old website used to do something similar. In the second last screen before the final confirmation button, it would do a pre-auth on the shopping cart amount. If you decide to go back and add more items, it would do another pre-auth. When at the final confirmation screen, it would then do another charge on the credit card...
 
I’ve not seen this on either my Amex or Qantas Premier MasterCard (both of which send either push or email notifications for big amounts).

Is your credit card saved in your profile? I always use 1Password to fill in my details rather than having Qantas store them.
 
I think that is outrageous. Off to the authorities you go.

Recently I have noticed when I book with Qantas it raises two charges on my credit card.
A pending charge for the whole fare which never actually turns into a charge and disappears after 7-10 days.
And a subsequent charge for the same amount which does convert from a pending to an actual charge within a couple of days.
At first the amounts were small and it didn't cause me concern.
However I just took advantage of the sale to book an international trip in business and realised the available funds in my credit card are thousands of dollars lower than they should be because of this temporary double dipping.
I contacted Qantas on twitter and they told me this was because a hold is placed on the card at the time of booking.
But the actual charge is processed later by "Qantas Finance"- whoever they might be.
This could be a potential problem.
FIrst because you are deprived of access to your credit for a period of 7-10 days.
Second, this procedure may actually stop you fianlising the booking.
Imagine if you book business class flights to Europe costing around $8,000.
Even if your credit card has no outstanding balance to start with, if Qantas puts an $8,000 block on the card and then tries to charge $8,000 to it as well, you would need a credit limit of $16,000 for the charge to succeed.
What happens if it fails due to the block?
Do you lose your booking for non-payment? Do they give you time to pay?
The block won't be released for up to 10 days, will they give you that long to pay?
I know how blocks work and I know it is a real ordeal to try to have them released early, although the merchant can do it.
Has anyone run into this problem?
 
I think I might have the answer... was the flight booked to the US?
Reason being, as of last year or whenever it was, they cannot issue the ticket until you have provided APIS...

Many people don't fill that cough in at the time of booking.

I know this happened last week to my mother... she booked 2 J fares to the US totaling $16k, but the e-ticket never arrived - although the card was authorised. When she called they said they can't issue the tickets until she completed the APIS.

Then they charged the card.....
 
The flight was not booked to the US it was to New Caledonia which has no immigration prerequisites or visa requirements for Australians, you just show your passport on arrival.
Qantas have subsequently told me they should use the initial pre-auth or block to do the payment and not seek a second charge. They referred to my situation as an "admin error" and said they could reverse it if it ever happened again.
I've done six bookings in the last 2 months and the same "admin error" has happened each time.
I ignored the other five because they were through a different booking system and the amounts were lower.
I hope it doesn't happen again because I know the reversal process is arduous and involves a fax (yes a fax in 2019) from Qantas to the bank.
 
Currently experiencing this issue with taxes on a QFF classic award, two pre-authorisations for the same amount on a Bankwest Mastercard. Expecting one to clear and one to drop off soon, only a couple of hundred dollars so not too concerned but can imagine a problem this will be if transaction in the thousands.
 
I have a Bankwest Mastercard too, and a few days ago booked a paid international sale fale - but it was to NZ, so it doesn't have that APIS ticketing block. I just have a one authorisation at the moment (not yet posted) and the flight is ticketed.

Maybe the trigger for the separate pre-auth is whether or not ticketing can be processed immediately? As there could be quite a few reasons that may delay ticketing besides just that the APIS issue for US flights.
 
I have a Bankwest Mastercard too, and a few days ago booked a paid international sale fale - but it was to NZ, so it doesn't have that APIS ticketing block. I just have a one authorisation at the moment (not yet posted) and the flight is ticketed.

Maybe the trigger for the separate pre-auth is whether or not ticketing can be processed immediately? As there could be quite a few reasons that may delay ticketing besides just that the APIS issue for US flights.

I had booked the classic award online ex Singapore on Wednesday but when I entered the payment details and confirmed I got an error. There was no deduction of points or an authorisation on the credit card that I could see, but there was a booking reference created in MMB. I called Qantas and they took the card details over the phone to complete the booking and I received an e-ticket, points deducted once but two authorisation items on the credit card within minutes.
 
I have a Bankwest Mastercard too, and a few days ago booked a paid international sale fale - but it was to NZ, so it doesn't have that APIS ticketing block. I just have a one authorisation at the moment (not yet posted) and the flight is ticketed.

Maybe the trigger for the separate pre-auth is whether or not ticketing can be processed immediately? As there could be quite a few reasons that may delay ticketing besides just that the APIS issue for US flights.

That's possible, my recent booking was the redemption of a gift voucher bought at an opportune time (wink wink, nudge nudge) so that could be a reason in this case,
The previous 5 or 6 bookings weren't voucher redemptions though, but they were through a completely different QF reservations system (see the first rule of fight club) so all bets are off for those.
 
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I had this happen to me last year, but turned out good in the end.

What they did was a pre-auth for around $4500 for flights for 2 adults and 2 kids that I had their assitance in booking. When they went to ticket it a day later which is where they atually charge the card they found that one of the service charges for the kids had been charged at adult rates so they changed it to a kids rate. Whilst the fare was cheaper by $100 it now didn't match the authorised amount so when they hit the card to put the transaction through it bounced as I now didn't have enough credit.

To their credit they called me straight away as they knew what had happened. Their solution was to gaurantee to hold the flights for me, wait a week for the authorisation to clear and then hit my card. And oddly enough when they ticketed a week later the price had dropped by about $50 per person and that is the rate they charged me. So eneded up being $200 better off.
 
This has just happened again with another $1100 domestic booking.
Just after the last $2000 phantom pre-auth disappeared!
And already I have had two different explanations again.
First that it was routine.
Second that "this happens sometimes".
It's not "sometimes" for me!
 
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