When you place a card hold as a deposit, for a rental, incidentals, or a damage buffer, the money is reserved on the guest's card but not collected. To collect some or all of it, you charge (capture) the hold. This article shows how to capture the right amount, including the common case where the trip is already paid in full and the capture screen starts at $0.

Before you begin

• The trip has an open, unexpired hold. On the trip's Payments tab, an open hold is labeled Card Hold with an Auth Hold badge and shows when it expires. Holds last about 7 days and can't be extended. If this one has lapsed, place a new one. See Can I extend a credit card hold?
• You know the amount you're collecting: the full held amount, or part of it.
• Card holds are placed from Save Card / Hold on the trip's Payments tab. If that button reads Save Card & Charge Later instead, card holds aren't turned on for your account yet, so contact TripWorks support to turn them on.

How capturing a hold works

The key thing to understand is that you capture a hold against a balance on the trip. The capture screen lets you collect up to the smaller of two amounts: what's held on the card, and the trip's outstanding balance. So the flow is to first add a charge for what you're collecting, then capture the hold against it. Tying the capture to a real charge keeps the trip's records accurate: the collected money is recorded against a line item rather than left as an unexplained overpayment.

This is why a paid-in-full trip starts at $0. With nothing owed, there's no balance to charge the hold against yet, so the capture screen offers $0 until you add the charge. That is expected. Add the charge first and the amount becomes available to capture.

Capture a hold

1. Add a charge for what you're collecting. On the trip, add a product for the amount you're taking from the deposit, such as a Damage fee of $75. This creates the balance the capture applies to and records what the money is for. See Add products and charge a card on file.
2. Open the hold. On the trip's Payments tab, find the open hold and select Charge... to open Charge Hold.
3. Enter the amount. Charge Amount starts at the most you can collect. Lower it to capture only part of the hold.
4. Add a note. Comment/Notes is required. Explain why the charge is being collected, such as "Damaged paddle."
5. Select Charge to confirm.

The captured amount is recorded as a card payment on the trip, and the hold now shows a Captured badge with its Hold Charged Amount.

If you don't need to collect anything, release the hold instead: select the hold row to expand it, select Release Hold, and confirm with Release. The reserved funds return to the guest's card and nothing is charged. Released and expired holds move to the Released & Expired Holds list on the Payments tab.

Examples

• Collect a damage fee on a paid-in-full rental. A guest paid in full for a kayak rental and left a $500 hold. A paddle comes back damaged. Add a $75 Damage fee to the trip, then capture $75 from the hold. You collect exactly $75, and the rest of the authorization is released back to the guest's card.
• Settle incidentals at the end of a multi-day rental. You held $1,000 for incidentals. At the end, the guest owes $120 in extras. Add a $120 charge, capture $120, and the remaining $880 is released. The guest is only charged what they actually owed.

Verify the result

• The Payments tab shows a new card payment for the amount you captured.
• The hold shows a Captured badge. Expand it to see the original Hold Amount and the Hold Charged Amount.
• The trip balance drops by the amount you captured.

Troubleshooting

Problem: The capture screen shows $0 and won't let you charge anything. Why it happens: The trip is already paid in full, so there's no outstanding balance to charge the hold against yet. How to fix it: Add a product for the amount you're collecting from the deposit, such as a damage fee, then capture.

Problem: You need to collect more than the amount the screen offers. Why it happens: You can capture only up to the trip's outstanding balance, and never more than the amount held on the card. The Charge Hold screen says so when the hold is larger than the balance. How to fix it: Add a product for the full amount you're charging, then capture against it. If you need more than the hold itself, take a separate payment for the difference.

Problem: The capture is refused with a message that the timeslot is full. Why it happens: The timeslot is full, and capturing the hold would overbook it. TripWorks doesn't capture the hold until the overbook is reviewed. How to fix it: Reserve the trip first so you can review the overbook, then capture the hold.

Problem: The hold isn't there, or there's no Charge... button. Why it happens: Only open holds can be charged. A hold that was released, expired, or already captured can't be charged again. Card holds expire after about 7 days and can't be extended. How to fix it: Check the Released & Expired Holds list. If the hold has lapsed, place a new hold on the card. See Can I extend a credit card hold?

Frequently asked questions

Related

• Credit card pre-authorizations
• Can I extend a credit card hold?
• Recording payments on a trip
• Add products and charge a card on file