(At least with respect to the payment gateway I am using) there is a difference between a pre-auth token, and a token payment. A pre-auth token will reserve funds on the card and will only allow you to capture up to the amount reserved. A token payment is a way to securely store credit card details on the gateway and charge them later, so it wouldn't actually touch the users bank until you make the actual charge, and isn't restricted to a specific amount.