Host demands guest name and credit card owner name to match (Portugal)

[Iza23]

Hi,

I recently booked a stay in Lisbon for me and my friend. We used his father's credit card to pay for the booking, as the price exceeded the limit of my credit card. The host says that upon check-in, the owner of the credit card has to be present, because this is compulsory in Portugal. 

I have booked accommodation in Lisbon before and have never heard of this requirement.

I do not wish to cancel my booking or argue with the host. Is there a good solution to this?

I thought of writing a letter of authorization that shows that my friend's father authorizes his son to use the credit card that was used for the payment.

I'm happy to get any advice!

Thanks!

[Romana19]

Nic takového neexistuje,můžeš k platbě použít jakoukoliv kreditní kartu,její platnost ověřuje banka,ne hostitel

[Yadira22]

Hello @Iza23 

hope you are well. 

This is very odd- as a host we have no say in how payment from the guest’s side was dealt with, this is purely something to do between said guest and Airbnb. So, requesting this to me sounds very weird. 

The only thing I can imagine is if this booking made was created on behalf of a third party- ie your friend’s father. This is not allowed as per airbnb’s terms of service. 

I would strongly suggest you contact Airbnb and get their view on this matter as they can handle cancellations and have access to all this information, etc. 

Good luck to you! 

Yadira 🙂