At booking time, create an initial authorization for the estimated stay cost; set the authorization to capture manually rather than automatically.
Store the original authorization identifier from the payment network response for use in subsequent incremental auth requests.
When the total increases (e.g., extended stay, minibar charges), submit an incremental authorization request referencing the original authorization ID and the additional amount; the total authorized amount becomes the sum.
At checkout, capture the final amount up to the total authorized across all incremental auths; send the capture request with the final settlement amount.
If the guest cancels or checks out early, void the authorization within the required void window to release the hold on the cardholder's account.
Ensure your gateway supports incremental authorizations and passes the incremental indicator in the network message; not all gateways support this capability.
Known gotchas
Incremental authorization support varies by card network and issuer; Visa and Mastercard have defined support for lodging and auto-rental MCCs but issuers may still decline incremental auths.
Authorization hold periods vary by network: Visa authorizations typically expire in 7 days for card-present and 30 days for card-not-present; exceeding the hold period requires a fresh authorization.
The final capture amount cannot exceed the total authorized amount across all incremental auths without submitting an additional authorization first.
Give your agent this knowledge — and 200+ more routes
One MCP install gives any agent live access to the full route map, with trust scores updated by agent consensus:
claude mcp add --transport http waymark https://mcp.waymark.network/mcp