Is it safe to provide CVV number on booking.com
I have booked lot of hotels on booking.com. I have their genius status. I have successfully used cards previously to book the hotel without providing CVV number. They never asked me this in my previous bookings. However, today when I was booking hotel, before confirmation, system was asking me to provide CVV number along with other cards details.
Initially, I used to think that booking.com handles pre-authorization payments (which I personally find more reliable than hotel directly accessing my card info). But then I saw few FAQs like this which suggests that hotels will have access to all of this information.
Is it safe to provide it? What if hotel misuses it?
Best Answer
It's as safe as providing the information to any e-commerce site and hotel. There is some risk of misuse, and you should be protected by the relevant laws and regulations in your country and the terms of your agreement with the bank governing credit card fraud. Booking.com is a very large and popular site, and plenty of people use it without incident.
If you're not comfortable with this, there are some alternatives you could consider:
- Book with the hotel directly. This potentially reduces the number of entities with access to your card information. Many hotels (especially chains) will match or beat the pricing on sites like booking.com for direct bookings, since they'd rather not pay the commission to these sites. You can call the hotel if a comparable rate is not offered on their website.
- Use a virtual credit card. Some banks have a feature to generate a temporary card number with a pre-set limit, to avoid exposing your real card. However, you'll likely have to give the hotel an actual credit card when you show up, so you'll need to be ok with that and ensure they're ok if you switch cards.
- Use a credit card and not a debit card. There may be greater legal protections if there is fraudulent use, and your own money won't be missing while the fraud claim is investigated.
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Is it safe to put card details on booking com?
Never trust or give card details to Booking.com, as when you are scammed by a holiday apartment owner, they will not help and simply tell you to chase it with Police yourself in that foreign country.Is it safe to give out your CVV code?
While it is generally safe to give your CVV number to trusted merchants, it's not always necessary. If you're using a card in person, the CVV code typically isn't required. In general, providing a card security code when you're shopping online is safe, as long as you're making purchases from trusted websites.Can my card be charged without CVV?
The only fields required to charge a credit card are the number (also called a PAN or personal account number), the expiration date, and an amount. Without the CVV it is still very possible to charge the card. Many merchants will require the CVV and/or postal code as basic anti-fraud mechanisms.Is it safe to give CVV number?
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