Hotel key cards work by using various technologies such as RFID and magnetic stripe. The information encodes inside the key card can only be read by RFID readers or magnetic readers.
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Common Hotel Card TypesSome hotels use access cards with magnetic strips, ('mag stripe cards' for short). Magnetic stripe cards are also known as 'swipe cards'. But there are other alternatives to hotel access, such as proximity (RFID) cards, access cards with holes, photo ID cards, barcode cards, and smart cards.
While specific hotel door lock systems may vary by hotel, chances are they use one of the following hotel room door locks: Magnetic Door Locks. Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) Door Locks.
Cards with scratches, exposure to debris, and other types of physical damage can be rendered unusable. Key cards may become inoperable when the magnetic stripe is demagnetized through exposure to magnets. Name tags, signs, and purse and wallet closures, and mobile phones are all potential sources of magnet exposure.
As long as it's a plastic key card, you should be fine keeping the card as a souvenir. The cards are re-coded after each stay and they are very inexpensive for the hotel to replace. If you're staying somewhere with an actual key, please ask in advance.
Although there are many types of smart cards, when it comes to hotel smart cards, there are two main types: magstripe and RFID cards. Magstripe cards are the most common type of hotel key card, and they work by storing data on a magnetic stripe that is read by a door lock for hotels.
“The number one issue was cards being demagnetized by being carried next to a cell phone or set on a TV in a hotel room,” Hermanson says. “Anything with an electromagnetic field transmitting from it can cause a mag stripe to demagnetize.”
Phones do create a magnetic field, but thankfully, it isn't strong enough to demagnetize credit or debit cards. The small magnet in the phone's speaker is the main culprit of generatingthe magnetic field. This field, however, is too weak to cause sufficient damage to a credit card magnetic strip, with some exceptions.
What can corrupt hotel key cards? The most common causes are worn, poor quality, or physically damaged strip. Keep in mind that the quality of the strip isn't the greatest in the first place, as hotels buy cheap keycards in bulk. The quality of the reader and programming machine has an effect also.