Why do gas stations put huge temporary holds on my card?
Gas stations place authorization holds ranging from $90 to over $200 before the final purchase amount clears. These pending charges tie up available funds for hours or days, which can unexpectedly wipe out a card balance and cause a sinking feeling for anyone trying to buy fuel.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Using credit cards instead of debit cards to avoid balance wipeoutsDid this help you?
- 2Pre-paying inside the store for a specific dollar amountDid this help you?
- 3Avoiding gas stations that place large holdsDid this help you?
- 4Keeping backup credit cards or lines of credit with another bankDid this help you?
- 5Moving business spending away from the card issuer after experiencing account freezesDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Your heart sinks… and you see a “pending charge” for $90-150 from the gas station.”source ↗
“Sometimes it reverts in moments, sometimes hours, sometimes DAYS.”source ↗
“I use credit and one of the regional gas stations puts a $110 hold on my Amex.”source ↗
“I use credit and I think one gas station near me the hold is over $200.”source ↗
“Amex suspended our business card mid-review and cut our credit before their own deadline.”source ↗
“Losing access to the card we use for business expenses with almost no warning has been very disruptive.”source ↗
“Don’t have much to add except they’ve done this to us three times. $200k down to $50k now.”source ↗
“It is so disruptive, especially in this environment. I understand the need for reviews, but they could do it in a collaborative, customer-friendly way, right?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 5How to pay for POD orders when Etsy holds your earnings
- 2Why did my credit card limit suddenly decrease?
- 2How did my credit card get hacked while traveling?
- 3Why is there no spending limit or fraud detection for sudden credit spikes?
- 6Why are Shopify payouts held and put on a rolling reserve?
- 2Why does the bank hold checks for so long?