Hold rules where your card lives
The merchant's country decides how the hold is placed; your card's issuing country decides how fast you get the money back: its banking days, holidays and consumer-protection law. That's the country to pick in the estimator, wherever you actually travelled.
United States
Network rules and issuer policy decide everything. 1–3 business days is the norm; CFPB is the escalation backstop.
UK · PSRs 2017United Kingdom
Banks must unblock without undue delay once the amount is known. Fast releases; Financial Ombudsman with teeth.
EU · PSD2 art. 75European Union / EEA
The strongest release rights anywhere, written for exactly the hotel-hold problem. National holidays add wrinkles.
CA · Issuer policyCanada
1–4 business days, Interac quirks, statutory-holiday pileups around Christmas, FCAC watching systemic issues.
AU · Slowest big marketAustralia
Up to 7 business days quoted by major banks. No release-deadline law; AFCA is the effective backstop.
Card issued elsewhere? Use "your country" in the estimator. It applies a conservative 1–5 business-day issuer range and flags the lower confidence honestly.