Security deposits by card hold: requesting, releasing and withholding them

The deposit cheque left on the hall table has all but disappeared with self check-in. The card hold has replaced it: the guest registers their card, an amount is reserved against their limit, and nothing is taken until you decide. You still need to place it at the right time, release it on time, and know what each platform allows.

A card hold is not a payment

Technically, it’s a payment authorisation: the guest’s bank guarantees the amount and blocks it on their card, without transferring it. Then there are three possible outcomes. You release it, and the amount becomes available again. You charge part of it, and the rest is released. Or you charge it in full.

On some bank statements, the hold appears as a pending transaction, indistinguishable from a real payment. Tell the guest in the message that comes with the link: you’ll avoid a worried call on the evening of arrival.

Seven days, usually: plan ahead for long stays

A card hold doesn’t last forever. With Stripe, the authorisation of an online card payment generally holds for seven days; after that, the amount is released automatically, whether you wanted it or not. For a ten-night stay, a hold placed the day before arrival has therefore expired before checkout.

There are two solutions: place the hold again before it expires, or request an extended authorisation, available for some cards. Either way, place it as close to arrival as possible, never on the day of booking: a hold placed three weeks before the stay no longer protects anything on the day the guest puts down their bags.

What the platforms allow

On Airbnb. The platform doesn’t accept just any deposit requested outside of it. Its payment rules provide that certain hosts, notably hosts connected through software, may collect a deposit outside the platform, under three conditions:

• its amount appears in the fee field provided for this purpose, so the guest sees it before booking;
• it is refunded, or the hold fully released, within 7 days after checkout, if there is no damage and no fees;
• if you keep part of it, you must be able to give the guest a written explanation and evidence.

A deposit demanded from a guest who didn’t see it in the listing falls outside this framework. For damage on an Airbnb booking, the refund request is made in the Resolution Centre, within 14 days after the guest’s checkout; they then have 24 hours to respond, after which you can involve Airbnb support if they refuse or only pay part.

On Booking.com. The platform has its own procedure: the property can request compensation for breakage or loss up to 14 days after the end of the stay. Booking.com informs the guest, who can respond, accept or dispute it, and it’s the platform that charges the guest; it presents itself as a simple intermediary. Normal wear and tear and cleaning are not covered by this procedure.

Direct bookings. For a direct booking, your rental agreement sets everything. The French government’s service-public.fr page on holiday lettings points this out: the host may ask for a security deposit, returns it under the terms of the agreement, and may only reduce it for consumption or damage caused by the guest, who can demand the supporting documents.

The amount and the timeline

The service-public.fr page doesn’t set an amount: the deposit is the one in your agreement. Choose it based on what really costs money to replace in the property, a light-coloured sofa, a parquet floor, a coffee machine, rather than on the nightly rate. Then write down three dates, and stick to them:

• when the hold is placed, the day before arrival for example;
• when it is released, three days after checkout for example, which stays within the 7 days required by Airbnb;
• the deadline for reporting damage, before the release.

A guest should never discover a deposit on arrival. Announce it before the booking, with its amount, and repeat it in the welcome message.

Withholding an amount without a dispute

The day the cleaner finds a stain on the sofa or the coffee table’s glass top cracked, the method matters more than the amount:

1. Record it the same day: dated photos of the detail and of the whole room. The end-of-cleaning photos from the previous stay show the condition before.
2. Put a figure on it: a quote, an invoice, the price of the replacement item. A flat fee with no supporting document is easy to dispute.
3. Write to the guest before charging: what’s damaged, how much, why. Give them time to respond.
4. Charge only the justified amount, with a clear reason, and release the rest straight away.
5. Keep the file: photos, messages, supporting documents. If they dispute it with their bank, that file is what will count.

Normal wear and tear is not damage. Nor, as a rule, is cleaning; Airbnb may, however, reimburse exceptional cleaning, such as a stain or a smoke smell to remove, under its host damage protection.

Frequently asked questions

Does a card hold cost the guest anything?

No, as long as it isn’t charged: the amount is only reserved on their card, then released. In the meantime, it reduces what they can spend with that card; tell them beforehand.

Can the hold be placed as soon as the booking is made?

You can, but it will have expired before the stay: the authorisation of an online card payment generally holds for seven days. Place it the day before arrival, and again during a long stay.

What if the guest’s card is declined?

Ask for another card before arrival, and state in your terms what happens without a deposit: for example, the access code only sent once the deposit is in place.

Sources

1. Pricing and payment transparency, Airbnb help centre.
2. Host damage protection, Airbnb help centre.
3. Damage deposit policy, Booking.com.
4. Place a hold on a payment method, Stripe documentation.
5. Rules for a holiday rental between private individuals (furnished tourist accommodation), service-public.fr (in French).

Platform and Stripe rules reviewed on 23 October 2026. They change without notice: reread their page before changing your terms.

The OmniStay team