How long deposit will be held?

A credit-card pre-authorisation is held for 21 to 25 days after the rental. The amount remains in your account but is temporarily unavailable on your card. After the hold is released, your bank may take a further 4 to 5 days to show the amount as available again. This period allows time for UAE traffic fines, which may not appear online immediately.

• This is a credit-card pre-authorisation, not a cash refund.
• The hold period is 21 to 25 days after the rental.
• Your bank may need an additional 4 to 5 days to update your available balance.
• The timing allows for traffic fines to be updated online after the rental.

How long is the deposit held?

The credit-card pre-authorisation is held for 21 to 25 days after the rental. This is a temporary hold on your card, not a deposit taken from your account: the amount remains in your account but is unavailable to use while the hold is active.

After the pre-authorisation is released, your bank may take a further 4 to 5 days to show the amount as available again. The exact timing can vary by card issuer, so allow for both the hold period and the bank’s processing time when planning your available credit.

The 21–25-day period allows time for UAE traffic fines to be updated online, as they may not appear immediately after the rental ends.

Is the deposit charged or blocked?

The deposit is blocked through a credit-card pre-authorisation rather than charged as a payment. The amount remains in your account, but it is temporarily unavailable to spend because the card’s available credit is reduced by the held amount.

Because no payment is taken for the hold itself, its release is not the same as a refund. When the pre-authorisation is released, the blocked amount becomes available again once your card issuer updates your available balance. Your bank may take a further 4 to 5 days to reflect this after the release.

Why is the amount held for 21 to 25 days?

The 21–25-day hold gives time for UAE traffic fines related to the rental to appear online. Fine records may not be updated immediately after the vehicle is returned, so the pre-authorisation remains in place while this information becomes available.

This is why the amount may stay blocked even when the rental has ended and the vehicle has been returned without issue. It is a credit-card hold, not a separate charge or a refund waiting to be paid.

Once the pre-authorisation is released, the card issuer may still need a further 4–5 days to update your available credit. The bank’s display and processing time can vary, so the released hold may disappear from pending authorisations rather than show as a separate refund entry.

When will the amount be available after release?

After the pre-authorisation is released, your card issuer may take a further 4 to 5 days to show the amount as available again. This bank-processing period is separate from the 21–25-day hold period.

As this is a credit-card hold rather than a payment, you may not see a separate refund transaction. Instead, check your available credit and pending authorisations: the held amount may simply disappear from the pending list or return to your available balance.

The exact display timing can vary by card issuer. If the hold is still visible after the expected bank-processing period, contact your bank first to ask about the status of the released pre-authorisation.

What to check if the hold is still showing

Check the available credit and pending authorisations on the same credit card used for the rental. A released pre-authorisation may disappear from the pending list or return to your available balance; it may not appear as a separate refund transaction.

If the hold remains visible

Allow for both parts of the process: the 21–25-day hold after the rental and a possible further 4–5 days for your bank to update the available balance. Card issuers can display released holds differently.

If the amount is still shown after that expected period, contact your card issuer and ask about the status of the pre-authorisation. Have the card details, rental dates and held amount ready. The bank can confirm whether the hold is still active or has already been released but is awaiting processing.

The key distinction is between the rental company’s pre-authorisation hold and the bank’s own processing time. Allow for both periods when planning the available limit on your credit card.