Q:
I'm curious about using a prepaid Visa or MasterCard at Las Vegas hotels. I know that prepaid cards purchased at retail outlets don't show names on them, but both my cards have the name imprinted, so they look just like regular credit cards. I recently prepaid for the MGM Grand through an online travel agency using my prepaid Visa; when I arrive, I know that the hotel will want a card to cover the resort fee, incidentals, and also a deposit. I'll have plenty of funds available on the card to cover whatever they need, but am concerned, as I've heard from different sources that some hotels won't accept prepaid cards. Since my card is non-anonymous (i.e., is printed with my name), I don't know how they could even tell it's prepaid. I'd appreciate your comments/insights, and I'm sure there are other people wondering about the rules regarding use of prepaid cards.
A:
Most Las Vegas hotels we surveyed (and we surveyed almost every single one) do not accept prepaid credit cards, whether it be a grind joint like the Longhorn, or a chi-chi outfit of the Mandarin Oriental ilk. Your chances are slightly better if the card has your name printed on it, and much better if it is a Visa or MasterCard as well.
Some properties have a slightly schizoid policy, whereby you can't book a room with a prepaid card but you can pay for it with one at checkout or, in other instances, where you can't pre-book with it but you can charge resort fees to it. (We note that there are only a few hotels where the policy is that baroque.)
One of the problems is the prepaid nature of the card itself. As an Aria customer-service representative explained to us, "We have no way of refunding the credit, so if you were to cancel [you] would forfeit the deposit." (Functioning somewhat like a debit card, a prepaid card has a finite amount of funds loaded upon it, funds which have to be reloaded when the balance dips too low. The Wal-Mart MoneyCard is the most popular of the pre-paid genre.) In other words, many cards aren't reloadable, leaving your deposit in limbo. Monte Carlo was even blunter in its attitude toward the payment instruments: "It's not a real credit card."
In working our way through the convoluted path of prepaid credit card acceptance in Las Vegas, we feel obliged to break it down into four areas, so convoluted are the variables, comprising: "Yes," they are accepted with (almost) no questions asked; "Yes, but …" [it comes with comes with conditions]; "No, but …" [the practice is discouraged but they’ll reluctantly accept them at a pinch]; and "Maybe, sorta," which is self-explanatory. We'll start with the conditional ones and move on to the Promised Lands -- the "Yes" hotels --tomorrow.
YES, BUT …
- Boulder Station: Doesn't recommend it because deposit refunds take a month to process
- Hard Rock: Official credit card also required as a guaranteed back-up at check-in
- Las Vegas Marriott Suites: "Most likely you could because they don't put an authorization on it until you check in."
- M Resort: You can make a reservation but not obtain a refund on any security deposit charged against it.
- Palace Station: "We can give it a try," but if you cancel, "you are going to have one heckuva hard time getting [deposit] back."
- Plaza: Must present a regular credit card at check-in.
- Red Rock: "Any refund takes upward of 45 days."
- Royal Resort: Can use it to secure room but not to check in
- Siegel Slots & Suites: Only in person
- Texas Station: "It's very difficult to get your refund" if you subsequently cancel
- Trump International: "As long as [the card] has enough on it to hold the room with."
NO, BUT …
- Aliante: "We really have the hardest time with those because the money doesn't get refunded onto the card."
- Bellagio: Deposit would have to be paid with a major credit card, but prepaid card could be used at checkout.
- California Hotel: Not at check-in.
- Downtown Grand: Only accepted at checkout.
- Golden Nugget: Only if you use a major credit card as a backup.
- Hyatt Place: Can book the room with a prepaid card but would need a major credit card to check in.
- The D: "I doubt. You could possibly use a prepaid card to check in."
MAYBE, SORTA
- Best Western Plus, Henderson: "I believe so."
- Rumor: Can't accept it for security deposit
- Springhill Suites: "I guess so, yeah, as long as it works [yawn]."
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