I just called my credit card company

[pink]

To avoid the dreaded 'fraud prevention' situation that happened to someone in the presale, I just called my credit card company to make sure I could pre-authorize a charge. They said they couldn't do it until 3 days before the charge, and I should know the exact amount of the charge. Bleh. I've got to admit, when I said 'burning man tickets' the operator perked up, and I explained the lottery process and how I wouldn't know the exact day of the charge or the exact amount.

So is there any way to know, or for the org to let us know when the charges are starting? I told her I'd know because people would start posting "I got tickets!!", and since they were scrubbing the list it's likely they won't start exactly tomorrow, but I would hate to be the first one drawn and have my card declined due to fraud prevention, although she did say it would be unlikely for a $500 charge to flag, but an $800 one could.

[trilobyte]

No, there is no way to know 3 days in advance of when (or if) your card will be charged. And unless you're only entered at tier 1, there's no way to be certain of the exact amount (only a maximum total, based on the highest pricing tier you're registered for).

Registration ends tonight. From there, the database will be de-duped and then scrubbed to remove scammers and scalpers - that process could take a few days. After that, the drawings will start - a process that could take several days, expected to be complete on or before the 1st of February. When the main sale starts I'll create a 'been awarded tix' stickythread. When the drawing is complete, I'll start a 'didn't get tix' stickythread as well.

[pink]

Yeah, I'm just going to have to watch the board closely for happy dance posts. They thought giving the max amount may help, but the pre-authorization is still only good for three days. So maybe I'll just keep on pre-authorizing every three days.

[Savannah]

If pre-authorizing every 3 days were an option, I would do it. Make sure to include the fees when you tell them the (maximum) amount to authorize.

DELIVERY & FEES:

* Physical tickets are only shipped within the US and Canada. All other international orders are held at Will Call
* Within the US, tickets are shipped securely using USPS Signature Confirmation, which costs $12 per order.
* To Canada, tickets are shipped securely using USPS Express International, which costs $29 per order.
* Having tickets held at Will Call costs $12 per order.
* In addition to delivery fees, all orders are subject to processing fees of $6 per ticket and $1 per order.

http://tickets.burningman.com/

[pink]

Yup, I've already got the amounts on a sticky next to my bed. I think my credit card company might get sick of me!

Ok, now I understand that antsy feeling that the pre-sale people were talking about!