Can't use my credit card

Mariel was on Birthday Leave yesterday so I only had the chance to give my gifts to her and her kids today. Gave her stuff I bought in Hong Kong and I guess they're birthday gifts since Mariel's birthday was last month, Lauren's was 2 months ago, and Kyla's at the end of this month.

Had a Kris Kringle session this afternoon ... and there will still be another Kris Kringle session on Thursday. They (as in the office's Christmas events committee) moved last week's Kris Kringle to today since a lot of people were out of the office (that includes Milette, Boss Mon and I). The theme was "cute and funny" ... and it's no surprise most people got stuffed toys today.

Called the credit card company to ask how much I have charged to my account, and how much I need to pay. A lot of my recent purchases were on 0% installment basis ... and although the maximum amount payable per month is small, the TOTAL purchase price is already charged to my credit. I expected to hear that I have at least PHP10,000 credits left since I paid more than the whole plane ticket fare before I left for Hong Kong - a week before my November bill arrived. Was surprised that I couldn't use my card because all my credits have been used up.

Upon query, I learned that there's US$398.33 or PHP 17,203.88 posted on 2:30PM of Nov. 25 that has been charged to my credit but not really billed yet or "floating". The credit card company couldn't determine what merchant posted the amount until the float has been settled.

The only thing I could think of is the Marriott Hotel, but I remember being told that there were no additional charges when I checked out. The help desk told me the amount could have just been earmarked when I checked in but the earmark has not been lifted yet. I was advised to contact the hotel to remind them to cancel the earmark. After I put the phone down, I immediately went to the Marriott website's "contact us" page to request them to check their records and make sure I do not get charged extra for my stay. Texted Milette to tell her what happened. She said she'll check with BNP Paribas tomorrow.

-----edit Dec. 5-----

Boyet of BNP Paribas HK talked to me on the phone to assure me that no additional charges were incurred by me at the Marriott because they already got the statement from the hotel. He told me that lifting of earmarking from credit cards could really take days sometimes. When I told him it's been a week, he said that Reena had the same experience from a hotel in the Philippines ... in her case the earmark was lifted after almost one month.

Fine, I could live paying for my purchases with cash. I would just miss collecting those reward points. What I'm relieved to confirm ofcourse is that the amount is just an earmark ... and not something I would actually end up paying for.

It's crazy how fast and easy it is for hotels to earmark an amount on a client's credit card, but the lifting of the same earmarked amount isn't as efficient. Are they just plain lazy or do they get something out of it?