While it makes sense to take a card to guarantee against a no-show, it’s always felt a little slimy to me that they make it feel like they, rather than a random property someplace far-flung, are the ones who would collect the fee if I didn’t make good on the reservation—and only if I actually didn’t show up.
It looks like they still pre-emptively give out your full credit card details directly to every property in plaintext, but that they might now make a notional effort to record when the property accesses the CVC?
https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/policies-payments/gue...