Gas station pre-authorization hold

[Gollum]

Recently, I was unable to buy as much gasoline as I wished because the POS (Point Of Sale) terminal (in this case, at the pump) maxed out at $100. I remember this happening many years ago, but the pre-authorization at the time was $50, and now it's $100.

I've always wondered whose fault it was that I can't buy as much gasoline as I want with a credit card because of the pre-authorization limit. The employee at the POS terminal inside explained this to me after I asked for clarification.

He said: "It's not up to your bank. It's not up to the gas station. The pre-authorization limit is determined by the company that we (the gas station) use for our POS terminal (at the gas pump)."

He said that a workaround is to go into the gas station office before pumping gas to explain the situation.

[Anonymous]

Circle K (Canadian ownership) has pre-authorization limits with Visa at $75 and Master Card at $125 posted right on the pump.

When I go into the Convenience Store the limits do not apply. Will not venture a guess on whether the pump limits are based on their regions or specific stations? No idea. 

[SunriseEarth]

Since I mainly WFH, I don't go to the gas station much (thank goodness), but I belive my AMEX had a $200 pre-authorization. 

As for workarounds,  you can either max out at the pump and then start a new transaction or go into the gas station to pay.  

[Gollum]

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@SunriseEarth wrote:

Since I mainly WFH, I don't go to the gas station much (thank goodness), but I belive my AMEX had a $200 pre-authorization. 

As for workarounds,  you can either max out at the pump and then start a new transaction or go into the gas station to pay.  

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I tried calling American Express Customer Service, but I got tired of waiting on hold so I hung up. At the gas station, I used my American Express BCE via Google Wallet (tap to pay using my Android phone). The pre-authorization was $100. Maybe this is a Google Wallet limitation... dunno. The person inside the gas station office did not mention Google Wallet when he said that the $100 limit is not the gas station's fault. My American Express BCE has a chip but is not tap to pay. I like using tap to pay because of the improved security.

[purebulldogs]

A different scenario but it reminded  me when a friends Amex card kept getting declined at gas stations. They told him it was a $200 pre authorization. He hadn't realized Amex had lowered his limit to $100 above his balance at the time. 
different preauthorizations can be a hassle that's for sure 

if gas keeps going up my bucket card would get declined at every station due to the authorization amount. Crazy prices 

[MarkintheHV]

Instructions on pumps here in our area are to hang up the pump and start a new transaction.  So far, I have not yet had to do that yet (max gas purchase was $95), but, according to a friend, it works.

[MachoHombre]

I recently did a week long motorcycle ride where I was filling up multiple times a day (typically about 4 gallons/stop).   The ride was during the Discover Card gas5% quarter so that was my card of choice.  At the time I found interest in noticing all the pre-authorization charges on my card.

24 gas stops in 7 days I had pre-authorizations ranging from $1.00 up to $175.00     

**It is absolutely station/brand dependent.   

Maverick (a popular gas station in my region) only did $1.00 pre-authorizations.    

Luv's (big auto/truck gas chain) did $175.00 pre-autorizations.

The most popular pre-auth amount outside of these two brands was $100.00 by multiple stations.

YMMV (sorry for the pun)

[Cashbackjunky]

Interesting topic. I just filled up at Kroger yesterday (had .60¢ per gallon off, so I waited until DW and I were almost empty and had her park at the pump next to me) - took $120.54 to fill both. Swiped my Chase Freedom - Visa Sig (not the Flex).

Not sure what the limit was but my purchase went through with no problem

[CreditMarathoner]

The best bet IMHO is to just fill up with 2 transactions if needed for now.

I do wish though that they'd update the software in the pumps to allow you to (optionally) specify a dollar amount to pre-authorize, or a specific amount of fuel (in gallons or liters) you wish to purchase.  The former for those on a budget or who need to buy more gas than the default pre-auth would buy, and the latter for when you're filling up a gas can with a specific amount.

Pumps all have keypads and menu systems now, so it shouldn't require new hardware, and the cashier in the store can do it, so why not add it to the pump itself?

[TRC_WA]

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@SunriseEarth wrote:

Since I mainly WFH, I don't go to the gas station much (thank goodness), but I belive my AMEX had a $200 pre-authorization. 

As for workarounds,  you can either max out at the pump and then start a new transaction or go into the gas station to pay.  

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That is correct... AMEX is $200.