Is It Possible To Reserve a Room and Pay without a Credit Card?

Is it possible to make a room reservation and then check in without a credit card?

We surveyed more than 25 hotels, mainly on the Strip and downtown, and the standard response is that you have to secure your room with the equivalent of your first night’s stay, plus hotel tax (some of which will go toward the fancy new stadium being built for the Oakland Raiders).

Ellis Island charges a flat $100 security deposit.

Station Casinos properties will let you pay with cash, but on a walk-up basis (as is the case at the Tropicana, Excalibur, and South Point), which leaves you at the mercy of market forces in the form of price fluctuations — not to mention making it harder to budget for your trip. Aria will hold your desired room for 24 hours as a courtesy, but then you have to pay up.

Wynn Las Vegas and Encore will also put a 24-hour hold on a room for you, but only if you book two weeks in advance. And again, you have to appear at the front desk to do so.

The wild card, as is so often the case in Las Vegas, is Sheldon Adelson, His Venetian and Palazzo hotels will accept payment in the form of personal checks, cashier’s checks, and money orders, contingent on their being received 21 days ahead of your visit. You also get a 72-hour grace period between the booking and the receipt of payment.

We couldn’t get a clear answer from SLS Las Vegas, which appears to have outsourced room bookings to some boiler room from hell located in the Far East.

The jewel in the Station Casinos crown, Days Inn at Wild Wild West, disconnected us and Circus Circus couldn’t be bothered to answer the phone. But there is one other ray of sunshine.

Boyd Gaming’s David Strow says, “The answer is (at least from our perspective) yes, you can book without a credit card, but only at a few properties, and then with some significant restrictions.

“Currently, only two Boyd properties (Orleans and Sam’s Town) will accept cash payments instead of credit cards. Upon check-in, the customer is required to make payment in full for their stay, plus a security deposit of up to $100, refundable on check-out. Additionally, the customer will be unable to make any charges to the room if it's paid for with cash. So yes, it is possible to check in to a few properties without a credit card, but a credit card payment is far more convenient for the customer.”

Why is credit-card usage so ubiquitous? MGM Resorts' Callie Driehorst explains: “While some properties accept cash payment on a case-by-case basis, guests are generally required to reserve a room with a credit card at check-in for two reasons: It allows them the convenience of charges to be billed to their rooms (i.e. incidentals) and it provides an efficient way of collecting payment upon checkout.”

So, if you come to Las Vegas, come preparing to brandish large wads of … plastic.

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[email protected] Jun-17-2018

It's an easy credit check

Several years ago, the people in front of us were "jumpin' up n' down" when they tried to check in at Mandalay Bay without one. They though they were being "stereotyped" or some such nonsense. The clerk "gently explained" that they could post (I believe) $400 cash instead which would be returned upon check out. They were still outraged. I don't know if they "walked" on not. The check-in person explained that it was a simple form of "credit check" and SAP for room damage, and charges to the account. Sort of like a credit card is required for a car rental. Don't go to Vegas without one.

Jun-17-2018

Use a Debit Card

You folks didn't discuss debit cards, and you didn't contact the El Cortez. At the El Cortez, you can use a debit card just as well as a credit card, but of course a "run" on a debit card will be an actual cash-taking transaction, whereas a "reserve" on a credit card doesn't immediately put a charge on your card balance. What I found out the hard way at the El Cortez is that you don't have the debit-card run amount etched in stone; it depends on who says what. When I made my reservation with the host, I was told that they only had to draw $120 off my debit card, but when I arrived to check in, I was told that I had to have almost $250 drawn ($120 + 3 nights charge). When I called the host to have him fix things, he denied what he said before, and acted like he didn't know me. But I believe that since then they actually did set the amount at only $120, but you should verify this. As for cash, I don't know whether the EC will accept greenbacks instead of a debit card. I've never asked.

O2bnVegas Jun-17-2018

take two cards

A word to the wise, travel with two different credit cards.  We were staying at Caesars and planning to move over to Bellagio that afternoon.  I got a call from my CC company, a charge was made to my account number at a Radio Shack in Fargo ND (I hadn't lost the card, so how??). They cancelled that account no. and re-issued me another one.  Problem was that I didn't have another card with which to check into Bellagio that afternoon. Luckily husband had another one. Was glad we had a back-up card.

Lots of folks don't understand that the security deposit is posted to your cc account temporarily but removed soon after check-out if you haven't trashed the place an/or made charges to the room you didn't pay for.  Usually you never see it unless you log into your account before you check out, and then it is only temporary.  No reason to worry.

Dave in Seattle. Jun-18-2018

Credit card dangers

In 2016,during March Madness,I was meandering around the crowds at the FSE a lot.Good times.
 When I got back home,I had a few unrecognizable charges to my Discover card and my bank card.Some from California and later,from Luxembourg.What?

   I went through the process to clear those charges that I did not make. It took weeks.
   Discover card was easy,my bank card was not.
As I recall,I used my bank(debit) card at the MSS for my room deposit. I didn't use my Discover card at all.

  I figure that I was hit with an RFID reader when I was in the crowds.An electronic pickpocket!

  Thankfully,not enough information was stolen to worry about identity theft.

   Bottom line for me was to buy an RFID blocking credit card holder. E bay from 4 to ten bucks.

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