Understanding payment holds

A payment hold, also known as a payment authorization, is a pending charge on your payment method. Airbnb uses a payment hold at the time of booking to ensure that you have the funds or credit available to cover a payment.

How it works

When you book a reservation, we share the payment amount with your bank, credit card company, or other payment provider. We place a payment hold on your payment method to reserve this amount for Airbnb.

Removing a payment hold

The payment hold is removed once a payment charge goes through. If you cancel a reservation after booking and the actual payment has not occurred yet, Airbnb will remove the hold at the time of cancellation. However, it may take 7 business days before your payment provider reflects this change.

You might not notice when a payment hold is removed because it often happens behind the scenes. A payment hold may be replaced by the actual payment charge or it may be removed entirely when a reservation is canceled.

Expediting removing a payment hold

Contact your payment provider if you have questions about how quickly a payment hold can be removed.