I get that the night way isn't until June, but it makes no difference WHAT you're buying. If you use your card for something, you get charged.
That isn't true, and particularly not for travel. If you order stuff that Amazon don't have in stock, they don't charge until they ship. Which can be a pain if you have for whatever reason changed your card in the interim, as the order fails even if they also have details of a card which is valid. Indeed, more generally, mail order companies aren't supposed to charge until they ship, although a lot of them play rather fast and loose with the definition of "ship".
But back on travel, if you book on booking.com, or direct with Accor or Premier Inn or Marriott or whatever, on a cancellable basis, they will take your card to guarantee the first night but won't charge it. They might pre-auth, but for most people that doesn't matter. Ditto cancellable car rentals: sometimes they charge and refund, sometimes they pre-auth, sometimes they do nothing, depending on who you are, who they are and the phase of the moon.
This is the problem when people who don't book travel on a regular basis decide to use prosumer sites like booking.com. They're exposing the raw reality of room booking, and assuming their customers know the rules of the game. The OP is now learning that travel agents of yore did add some value in exchange for their vig.