Navigating a free stay... completed booking with security deposit hold

We gave a 2-night stay away in a Chamber of Commerce event. We want them to book it like a normal stay using a discount code that gives them a zero balance. We also want to place a security hold on their credit card prior to their stay. We've tried to have our guests book this way in the past, but they were denied in the booking process because there was no balance, so we ended up charging them $1 (which seems incredibly unprofessional). Is there any way to accomplish what we're trying to do -- get a credit card on file and complete a booking with no charge?

Hello!

We do have this issue with zero balance bookings on our bug list and it is being escalated. No timeline yet, but we are working on it.

You can work around the issue by creating a booking (not a quote) on the backend, then sending the guest a "Request Security Deposit" link.

Thanks,

Eric Esquibel