A pre-authorisation places a temporary hold on a guest's card without charging it. When you're ready, you capture the hold onto one or more bills (this is what actually charges the card), or release it if it's no longer needed.
Before you start
AmenitizPay must be activated on your property.
A valid credit card must be saved on the reservation (visible in the Client tab).
To capture an authorisation, the booking must already have a bill with charges (open or closed). Captures are allocated against bills — they no longer create generic payments. If your booking has no charges yet, add them first.
Create a pre-authorisation
Use this to hold an amount on the guest's card — for example, a security deposit for incidentals.
Go to Reservations and click the booking.
Click View booking details.
Open the Payments tab.
In the Authorisations section, click Add authorisation.
Enter the amount to hold, pick the card, and confirm.
💡 Tip: You can see every pre-authorisation and its status from AmenitizPay → Authorisations.
Capture (charge) a pre-authorisation onto a bill
Capturing converts the hold into a real charge. You allocate the captured amount across one or more bills on the booking — the captured total is the sum of those allocations.
Open the reservation and go to the Payments tab.
Find the authorisation in the Authorisations section.
Click the three dots under Options and select Capture authorisation.
In the sidepanel, allocate amounts against the bills on the booking:
An amount against the open bill (the bill still accumulating charges)
An amount against any closed bills (bills that were already closed, e.g. tied to a Pro Forma invoice)
Confirm. The total captured equals the sum of your allocations — it can be the full authorised amount or only part of it.
Release a pre-authorisation
Releasing cancels the hold and frees the funds on the guest's card. Use this if the deposit is no longer needed.
Open the reservation and go to the Payments tab.
Find the authorisation in the Authorisations section.
Click Release authorisation and confirm.
Important rules
Captures need a bill with charges. The captured amount is allocated against bills — you cannot capture without selecting a bill. Add charges to the booking first.
Capture allocations can split across multiple bills — for instance, part on the open bill and part on a closed Pro Forma.
Partial captures are allowed. The remaining authorised amount stays on hold until you capture more or release it.
Release frees the full remaining hold. You cannot release a partial amount — release cancels the unused portion of the authorisation.
Authorisations expire on Stripe's standard schedule (typically 7 days). If unused, the funds are released back to the guest automatically.
FAQs
I can't capture — the sidepanel asks me to pick a bill but the booking has none. Why?
Captures are allocated against bills. If the booking has no open bill with charges (and no closed bills), there's nothing to allocate the capture against. Add charges to the booking first — booked nights, extras, custom charges — and the open bill will appear.
Can I capture more than I authorised?
No. The capture amount cannot exceed the authorised amount. If you need to charge more, capture what you can, then create a new payment for the difference.
What's the difference between releasing and capturing zero?
Release cancels the entire remaining hold — the guest's card is no longer blocked. You cannot capture zero; the capture flow requires a bill allocation greater than zero.
Why don't I see the bill-selection screen — just an amount field?
Your hotel hasn't been migrated to Bill Management yet. The legacy capture flow only asks for an amount and creates a generic payment. The bill-selection screen rolls out as part of the Bill Management migration.
What happens if the guest's card declines on capture?
The authorisation remains in place and the booking still owes the amount. You can retry the capture once the card issue is resolved, or release the hold and ask the guest for a different payment method.
The authorisation expired before I captured. What now?
The hold is released automatically. Create a new authorisation on the same card (if it's still valid) or contact the guest for a new payment method.