What Happens When Travelers Keep Their Hotel Key Cards
By Amanda Finn
VACATIONS
In a poll of nearly 4,000 readers by The Points Guy, about 39% of respondents said they keep hotel key cards, either as souvenirs or because they simply forget.
A user on the Ask Hotels subreddit queried hotel employees about the topic and received a fairly consistent answer — no one cares if you take the cards.
One Redditor said, "The cards are usually very cheap to make and not often a big worry in finance/budgeting for a hotel. I think one card is like 75¢ to make."
Some travelers hold on to their cards for practical reasons. For instance, one Redditor suggested retaining them to keep the lights on during future hotel stays.