What is BOOKING.COM on My Bank Statement?

Q: What is Booking.com on my bank statement?

Booking.com is an online travel platform for hotels, apartments, and other accommodation. If you see BOOKING.COM on your statement, you made a prepaid booking through their website or app and the payment was collected by Booking.com directly rather than at the property.

Q: Why does it say BKNG not Booking.com?

BKNG is the abbreviated billing descriptor used by Booking Holdings, the parent company of Booking.com. Some banks display BKNG* followed by further text rather than the full Booking.com name. Both refer to the same company and the same transaction.

Q: Did I pay Booking.com or the hotel?

If the charge appears as BOOKING.COM or BKNG* on your statement, you paid Booking.com directly — this is a prepaid booking. If you paid at the hotel on arrival or departure, the charge would appear under the hotel or property's own name instead.

Q: How do I get a refund from Booking.com?

Log into your Booking.com account, find the booking, and check the cancellation policy shown on the reservation. If the booking is within the free cancellation window, you can cancel online for a full refund. Outside that window, you may need to contact the property directly or contact Booking.com customer service to request a goodwill refund.

Q: Is a Booking.com charge a scam?

Booking.com charges are legitimate if you or someone you know made a hotel or accommodation reservation through their platform. If you did not make any booking and see this charge, contact your bank immediately to dispute it and request a new card, as your payment details may have been compromised.

Booking.com often is not the merchant

This is the central thing to understand about Booking.com charges, and it explains most confusion.

For many reservations Booking.com is only the intermediary. The property takes the payment directly, which means the charge on your statement carries the hotel's name, or the name of the company that owns it, rather than Booking.com. A stay booked through the platform can therefore produce a charge with no obvious connection to it.

Other reservations are prepaid through Booking.com itself, in which case the platform name appears. Both are normal, and which applies depends on the individual property.

Pay now versus pay at the property

Type	When charged	Descriptor
Prepaid	At booking	Usually Booking.com
Pay at property	At check-in or check-out	The hotel name
Free cancellation held	Not charged, card held only	An authorisation, released later
Non-refundable rate	Immediately at booking	Either, depending on the property

No-show and late cancellation charges

Failing to arrive, or cancelling after the free-cancellation deadline, allows the property to charge under the rate rules you accepted. These charges arrive after the stay date and are frequently disputed by people who assumed not turning up cost nothing.

The applicable policy is in the confirmation email, and it is property-specific rather than a Booking.com policy.

Extras charged at the property

City and tourist taxes, parking, breakfast, resort fees and minibar charges are commonly excluded from the price shown at booking and collected on site. A separate, smaller charge from the hotel after a stay is usually one of these.