I was checking in one time at BWV and the system was down so they could not enter credit cards or gift cards, or anything. They had a manual list of guests checking in and were telling people who had not put a credit card on file during online check in that they would have to come back and set up a payment method the next day. The situation was compounded by the fact that dining credits weren’t working either, so people were having to pay cash for food. It was a mess.
I am sure there were guests checking out during that period, since it lasted about a day and a half. I would assume that if the guests had a credit card on file, any balance due would be billed to that card. If it were me, I would at least ask if they can make a physical note with the gift card info and apply it when the computers are working properly, but I would expect my cc to be billed if they couldn’t. It may depend on whether their system is completely down, as it was for me, or just unable to accept payments (meaning they should be able to add notes to the folio regarding payment).
If you are using a gift card, don’t you go to the desk every few days to pay off the current balance so they don’t bill your cc? I have read that most people do that. If so, that would reduce the risk of your credit card being billed the full amount at one time. It’s a pain when the payment systems go down, but when traveling it’s always a good idea to have an alternate source of payment available.
For me, the bigger issue would be mobile order. I have a gift card to use just for mobile ordering, and it’s a big pain to do mobile order and pay cash.
