The Sheraton credit card authorization form lets someone other than the registered guest pay for a hotel stay with their own credit or debit card. There is no single Sheraton-wide download. Because Sheraton operates under Marriott International, each property manages its own version, and you get the form by contacting the specific hotel where the reservation is booked and asking the front desk or reservations team to send it to you. Start early: Marriott properties may need five to seven business days to process an authorization before the guest arrives.1Marriott Help Center. How Do I Get a Credit Card Authorization Form?
Getting the Form From the Property
Call the hotel where the reservation is booked. Some properties email a fillable PDF, some send a link to a secure upload portal, and some ask you to pick up the form at the front desk. Not every Marriott-brand hotel accepts third-party authorizations, so confirm on that same call that the property allows one for your reservation.
Ask for the form as soon as the booking is made. If fewer than three days remain before check-in, call the hotel and ask whether an expedited process is available; last-minute submissions risk delays or rejection at the desk.
What to Have Ready Before You Fill It Out
Gather this information before opening the form:
- Your full name as it appears on the card, not necessarily the name on your driver’s license if it differs.
- Card type, full account number, and expiration date. Most Sheraton forms do not ask for the CVV on the back, and hotels are prohibited under payment card industry rules from storing that code after authorization.
- The billing address tied to your card account, which the hotel runs through address verification.
- Your issuing bank name and phone number, which some versions of the form request for verification.
- The guest’s full name, address, phone number, and the reservation confirmation number.
- Exact arrival and departure dates.
Some properties also require a photocopy or scan of the front and back of your card plus a government-issued photo ID, and treat the authorization as invalid without both.2The Burgundy Hotel. Credit Card Authorization Form Ask when you request the form so you have the documents ready.
Filling In the Approved Charges
The form is usually two pages. The first collects your card and personal details; the second is where you specify what you are agreeing to pay for, and this is the section that causes most of the problems.
You will see a list of charge categories with checkboxes. A typical Sheraton form covers room and tax, restaurant charges, room service, telephone, laundry and valet, parking, internet access, and an “other” line, and often includes a single “All Charges” checkbox that covers everything.3Virginia Department of Health. Sheraton Credit Card Authorization Form
Check only the boxes you actually want to pay. If you only want to cover the room rate and taxes, check that box alone. Selecting “All Charges” puts you on the hook for minibar purchases, pay-per-view, parking, and anything else the guest bills to the room. Corporate travel managers routinely limit authorizations to room and tax to keep expense reports clean.
If you leave every box blank, the hotel has no idea what you are agreeing to pay for and the form will come back to you. Even a “cover everything” authorization has to be checked explicitly.
Dollar Cap and Rate Fields
Most forms include a maximum authorized amount for the full stay. A hotel representative typically fills in the nightly room rate and applicable taxes so you can calculate the total, and some Marriott-brand versions state that the form is incomplete without those rate and tax figures filled in by the hotel. If those lines are blank, call the hotel for the exact numbers before signing.
When setting your cap, remember that state and local occupancy taxes, resort fees, and tourism assessments sit on top of the quoted rate and vary by city. Padding the cap 10 to 20 percent above the estimated total gives the hotel enough room to run the final charges without contacting you mid-stay for more authorization.
Signatures
The form requires the cardholder’s printed name, signature, and date. Your signature confirms you are the authorized user of the card and that you agree to the charges listed above. Some forms also include a guest signature line acknowledging that a third party is covering the bill.
Electronic signatures are legally valid for this purpose under the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, which prevents a signature from being denied legal effect solely because it is electronic.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 15 Chapter 96 – Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce If the hotel sends a fillable PDF, typing or drawing your signature in the field is acceptable. Properties that use Sertifi or DocuSign capture the signature with an audit trail and speed the process considerably.
Submitting the Form Safely
How you send the completed form depends on what the property offers.
- Secure upload portal. Some Sheraton locations provide a link to an encrypted upload page. This is the safest option.
- Fax. Still widely used and considered more secure than email because the transmission is point-to-point rather than sitting on a mail server.
- Email. The least secure option, and many properties discourage it. If the hotel accepts email, ask whether they have a secure or encrypted address before sending your card number over regular email.
Never text the form or send it through social media or unsecured messaging apps. It contains everything someone would need to run fraudulent charges on your card.
Submit at least five to seven business days before arrival, then call the hotel to confirm receipt and ask whether any fields were incomplete. A missing checkbox or illegible signature is easy to fix a week out and a crisis the night before check-in.
What Happens After You Submit
The hotel reviews the form for completeness and runs a pre-authorization on your card. That is a temporary hold, not a charge, confirming the card is valid and has sufficient available credit. The hold usually covers the estimated room and tax total plus a buffer for any incidentals you authorized. At full-service Sheraton properties, expect the incidentals portion to add roughly $100 to $200 per night on top of the room rate.
If the card is declined during pre-authorization, the hotel may cancel the reservation. Some locations release declined reservations to other guests without notifying the cardholder, particularly on sold-out nights. Keep your available balance well above the expected total, and give your card issuer a heads-up that a large hotel charge is coming so it does not get flagged as suspicious.
Guests paying through a third-party authorization form should plan on checking in at the front desk rather than using mobile check-in or a digital key. The hotel may need to verify the guest’s identity in person and confirm the authorization before handing over room access.
Using a Debit Card Instead
Some Sheraton properties accept debit cards on authorization forms, but the mechanics differ from a credit card. A credit card hold reduces your available credit without taking any money. A debit card hold freezes actual cash in your checking account, and that money is inaccessible until the hold is released, which can push a thin balance into overdraft. Debit holds also tend to take longer to fall off after checkout. If you have a choice, use a credit card.
When the Hold Comes Off After Checkout
After the guest checks out, the hotel processes the final charges and releases any unused portion of the hold. The hotel’s side usually happens within hours, but the card issuer may take longer to reflect the release. Marriott’s own terms note that holds may not be released by the issuing bank for up to five business days after departure.5Marriott. Digital Entry Terms of Use
Weekend and holiday timing stretches this further. A Friday checkout means the five-business-day clock does not start until Monday, and a Monday holiday pushes it another day. For debit cards, the frozen funds can be unavailable for a week or more. If you need the hold released faster, call your card issuer after checkout and ask them to expedite it; some banks will do this once the hotel has sent the release.
Common Reasons the Form Gets Rejected
Hotels see the same mistakes repeatedly:
- Missing or illegible signature. If you are signing a scanned PDF by hand, use dark ink and print clearly.
- Wrong confirmation number, or a number that belongs to a different property.
- A card that expires between the signing date and the guest’s checkout date.
- Blank charge categories, including cases where you meant to cover everything but did not check the “All Charges” box.
- No dollar cap where the form requires one; the hotel may reject the form or set its own limit.
- Missing supporting documents, if the property requires a card copy and photo ID.
One Form per Reservation
Each authorization covers a single reservation at a single property. Multiple rooms, or the same guest staying at more than one Sheraton, require a separate form for each. The authorization is also tied to the specific dates on the form. If the guest extends the stay, a new or amended authorization covering the additional nights is usually required, and it needs to be handled before the original checkout date so the guest is not asked to put down their own card.