How long can a transaction stay pending?

[bernardblack]

I made a payment to Airbnb with my Diners Club (which went through, but transparently switched to a Discover transaction in USD) nearly a month ago. It's still not posted. Because of Diners' terrible online capability with no pending transactions, it's not visible at all on my online account, but when I called last week they still saw it pending. According to Airbnb, they've definitely cleared the payment. Another booking made about the same time with Airbnb using my Westpac Amex showed pending immediately, and posted one or two days later.

I want to close the Diners Club before the next annual fee, because there are now other, more convenient cards that cover its value proposition.

I expected the payment to go through on my last Diners statement, which closed about ten days after the transaction. Obviously it didn't, and still hasn't. Given the lag in points delivery, it means I'd have to wait a full month after the statement issue in order to clear out the points, and if the transaction posts this month, then I'd be up for another year's annual fee before I can get the points.

What's my position if I'm being kept from closing a credit account because they won't clear something? Is there a time limit after which the pending transaction is unenforceable? Can I demand a waiver of the annual fee? If they do post it before the next statement, is there a way to get them to honour the points when the delay is on them?

 

[ftm]

I'm not 100% on how pending transactions work exactly, but my understanding is that a pending charge that is intended to convert will do so when the merchant settles their 'machine'. For most merchants this is overnight.

If a pending charge is because of a hold, then it is up to the merchant to release the hold. If you're having trouble getting it released, and Air Bnb have said they've have, then usually the card company will clear the pending charge if they get a letter from the merchant saying they no longer intend to proceed.