Dear Michelle,

Thank you for your message and I would be happy to help.

Depending on the booking site you choose to make your reservation with (ex. Expedia, booking.com, Agoda etc.) you may be required to prepay for the booking in full, an authorization (hold) on your credit card may be placed, or you may have to simply pay upon check out at the hotel.

I would suggest reading the policy of the particular booking site you use, to see how their payment process works.

As trivago is a hotel meta-search, meaning users can search and compare different hotels and prices on our site, we pull information from multiple OTAs (online travel agencies such as Expedia or Booking.com) and display the prices together. However, once a user clicks through to book a room, they are directed to the appropriate booking site which provides that price to complete reservation and payment details. Trivago doesn't actually have any involvement in the making of the booking.

Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance.

Kind regards,
James Morrison
Trivago user support.