You can book a hotel room for someone else using your credit card, as long as you list that person as the guest when booking. The person whose hotel room you book with your credit card will need to provide photo ID when checking in, along with a credit card that has their name on it for incidentals. The credit card used to book the room does not have to be the same credit card put on hold for incidentals. But the name of the person checking in needs to match the guest’s name on the reservation, or else the hotel may suspect fraud and refuse to honor the reservation.… read full answer
Most hotel chains and hotel websites will allow you to input separate billing and guest information when booking a room. But most will also require you to either prepay the reservation or fill out a credit card authorization form for the guest to bring. If you prepay, you won’t be able to cancel the reservation. And your guest will need his or her own card for incidentals either way. You can find specific procedures listed for each major hotel chain in the table at the bottom.
A credit card authorization form is a letter stating that you authorize a particular guest to stay in the room you reserved with your credit card. It typically includes applicable dates, billing information, and contact information. Each major hotel chain has its own, some of which are online, while others are available by request. In some cases, you will need to call the front desk of your chosen hotel after booking to ask them to email you the proper credit card authorization form.
If you encounter a situation where you can’t easily input guest information or locate the right authorization form, the best approach is to call the hotel in question. Customer service will be able to tell you how to proceed.
For your convenience, we’ll summarize the process below.
Here’s how to book a hotel room for someone else using a credit card:
- Select your room and the number of nights as you normally would.
- Enter your name and card info for the booking information, but the name and information of the person who will be staying under the guest section.
- Pay the full cost of the reservation up front or fill out a credit card authorization form.
- Sign the authorization form (it won’t have any legal weight otherwise).
- Give the authorization form to the person whose room you’re paying for, to present at the front desk when they check in. Make sure they bring their own card for incidentals.
As long your guest can prove the booking is legitimate, they should have no problems staying at the hotel. But make sure the hotel can get in touch with you, anyway, in case there’s a misunderstanding and you need to confirm the charge.
Below, we’ll lay out how to go about booking a hotel room for someone else using your credit card with each of the largest hotel chains. The basics are pretty much the same, but some policies and procedures do differ from chain to chain.
Policies & Procedures by Major Hotel Chain
Hotel Chain | Can You Book for Someone Else Online? | Extra Steps | Authorization Form |
Marriott International | Yes | Fill out a credit card authorization form OR Prepay for the reservation, and tell the guest to bring a card for incidentals | Marriott credit card authorization form |
Hilton Worldwide | Yes | Fill out a credit card authorization form (required) | Example of a Hilton credit card authorization form (Contact the hotel’s front desk after booking) |
Best Western | Yes | Fill out a credit card authorization form (required) | Contact the hotel’s front desk after booking to get the form |
Hyatt Hotels | Yes | Fill out a credit card authorization form OR Prepay for the reservation, and tell the guest to bring a card for incidentals | Hyatt credit card authorization form |
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) | Yes | Fill out a credit card authorization form (required) | Example of an IHG credit card authorization form (Contact the hotel’s front desk after booking) |
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts | Yes | Fill out a credit card authorization form OR Prepay for the reservation, and tell the guest to bring a card for incidentals | Authorization form emailed after booking |
Choice Hotels | Yes | Fill out a credit card authorization form (required) | Contact the hotel’s front desk after booking to get the form |
Radisson Hotels | Yes | Fill out a credit card authorization form (required) | Contact the hotel’s front desk after booking to get the form |
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