感觉似乎就是冻结款项的意思。末句里的hold具体就是指的酒店住宿或租车押金或保证金。

至于为什么冻结？原因可能如下：

信用卡预授权

信用卡预授权是指发卡机构或其代理机构在特约商户扣款前，确认许可冻结额度的交易。预授权会占用卡片的信用额度，当客户对预授权进行结算时，该预授权将会被取消。预授权发生30天内，若客户没有进行结算，则该预授权将会被取消。

简单的说：信用卡预授权就是商户在持卡人消费前先冻结一部分资金，在消费完以后持卡人签字，商户才能正式扣掉这部分资金。比如你去住酒店，先告诉酒店你要住几天，酒店会把住这几天需要的费用从你信用卡里冻结了，在你结帐离开酒店的时候确认消费金额后，酒店就会用你的卡片做预授权完成，这样就从你的卡里把实际消费金额扣除，酒店就收到这部分款项了。之所以这样做是为了保证持卡人的信用卡里面的钱够当前消费使用。
预授权的好处：可以尽量避免跑单现象的出现。如果客人做完预授权后没有买单就离开酒店，酒店可以向银联提出预授权完成的申请并提供客人消费单据和预授权单据。这样银联就可以从跑单客人的卡里把钱划入酒店帐户。

http://baike.baidu.com/view/1462887.htm

原文提到 bonds for hotel booking and car rentals. 其中 to hold ／ a hold = 预订酒店房间或租车 ＝ 按 金 ／ 订 金 ／保证金。

付了订金，酒店／租车公司就会预留房间或车子给客人。

其中使用信用卡支付 按 金 ／ 订 金 ／保证金 的操作，下面两个网站有清楚解释：

- For hotel booking

“What is Pre-Authorization?

“A pre-authorization will place the pre-authorized amount in a holding-state and temporarily reduce one‘s credit card limit, but it is NOT a transaction charge and will not be reflected in one‘s credit card statement.

”Depending on one‘s credit card bank‘s set up, the pre-authorized amount will drop off typically after 14 days.”

http://www.park22hotel.com/page/what-is-pre-authorization.ht...

－ For Car Rentals - Credit Card Security Bonds:

”The Security Bond is related to the insurance excess that you have elected, simply put - the higher your liability to the rental company and their insurers, the more they want as a Security Bond. Usually the Bond “matches” the liability - many people talk about a “wipe” of the debit or credit card, but mostly this is backed up by a ”pre-authorisation“ on the customer‘s debit or credit card, freezing that amount on the card until the pre-authorisation is released (about 4-5 days after conclusion of rental).

Often, the card holder is not aware that such an amount has been frozen on their account.

http://www.familycarrentals.com.au/terms-bond.php

”If you provide a credit card bond xxx Car Rentals will authorise it at the start of rental for an amount of $200.00. A credit card authorisation holds or secures an amount on your credit card, allowing xxx Car Rentals access to the funds in the event additional amounts need to be charged, such as damage liability, rental extension or fuel charges.

”A credit card authorisation is not a charge but it will limit the funds available on your credit card. Please note that xxx Car Rentals is un-able to cancel a pre-authorisation once it has been processed.

”The pre-authorisation is automatically cancelled by the customer’s credit card provider between 14 – 28 days if the pre-authorisation is not used by xxx Car Rentals. Please note that the credit card used has to be in the same name as the main driver picking up the rental car.

https://www.redspot.com.au/Security-Bonds.html

根据以上业界解释，个人建议译为 “按金／订金／保证金”。

如客户最后没有入住酒店或租车，此笔按金／订金完全可以退还。

由於客户还未授权 pre-authorization 商戶收取費用， 所以信用卡公司也未正式将该笔费用列为客户消费项目，所以只是向商户作保证而已。

原文的信用卡服务却更周全，连未授权收费的按金／订金也会列出让客户看到。

供参考。