Sending money to India

PennyQUest_2

Hi all, (first post so please be gentle!)

I am travelling to India on holiday for the first time this Christmas with my husband and kids .

One of the places I am trying to book are asking that we send a deposit to them since we are requesting them to reserve a place at peak season. Only trouble is I really have no idea how to go about doing this at minimum cost. I had intended to use paypal but notice that the Indian rupee is not one of their listed currencies.
I would be very grateful if anyone of you lovely MSE people can help a very clueless forum newbie!

TIA
Penny

PennyQUest_2

Hi all, (first post so please be gentle!)

I am travelling to India on holiday for the first time this Christmas with my husband and kids .

One of the places I am trying to book are asking that we send a deposit to them since we are requesting them to reserve a place at peak season. Only trouble is I really have no idea how to go about doing this at minimum cost. I had intended to use paypal but notice that the Indian rupee is not one of their listed currencies.
I would be very grateful if anyone of you lovely MSE people can help a very clueless forum newbie!

TIA
Penny

Teahfc

If the Place requesting advances are kosher ( check trip advisor etc ) then a bank transfer will cost you about £20 with your bank. You will need the their bank details account number branch etc. OR look at another place that does not require a advance but will take a credit card number as a secured booking,Most companies will do that asking for money up front is not the normal surely ?

PennyQUest_2

Thanks for your reply, I think the place are legit. as I found them through Tripadvisor, but I believe they are a very small enterprise, I have mailed them to see iif they will accept anothr form of payment but I don't want to appear awkward. Unfortunately they are the only lodging in the area we are looking at so we are very limited for choice.

Voyager2002

You could also ask them whether they could accept a payment in dollars (or even sterling) via Paypal.

catokelly

PennyQUest wrote: »

Thanks for your reply, I think the place are legit. as I found them through Tripadvisor, but I believe they are a very small enterprise, I have mailed them to see iif they will accept anothr form of payment but I don't want to appear awkward. Unfortunately they are the only lodging in the area we are looking at so we are very limited for choice.

I dont think you would be able to transfer the funds in Rupees as no major UK bank/International Money Transfer company transfers to India in Rupees, it's usually US Dollars.

I usually use Thomasexchange UK to transfer Dollars to India and it usually arrives the same day.

If the hotel is legit, they should really have told you that you could pay in US Dollars, they must be used to sorting out payments from potential guests?

Bob_the_Saver

catokelly wrote: »

I dont think you would be able to transfer the funds in Rupees as no major UK bank/International Money Transfer company transfers to India in Rupees, it's usually US Dollars.

I usually use Thomasexchange UK to transfer Dollars to India and it usually arrives the same day.

If the hotel is legit, they should really have told you that you could pay in US Dollars, they must be used to sorting out payments from potential guests?

I'm not sure about this so check it out but I think I read somewhere that
Paypal can't operate in India at present (I'm probably wrong) but I know my account ALWAYS gets blocked when I try to use it there.

Ah maybe this is what I saw

http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archives/2010/07/paypal-stops-india-electronic-bank-withdrawals/

Voyager2002

Check out one of the Indian banks operating in the UK (eg ICICI or Bank of Baroda). The ICICI website has a big headline about services for NRI (non-resident Indians, that is Indians who live in places like Britain) and one of the main services that NRIs need is the ability to send money back to their families.

cskay

As Voyager2002 said you can use one of the Indian Banks here. Note that money transfer services although targeting NRIs are not limited to them only. You can easily open an account with one of these banks. Benefit will be, most of them transfer money free of charge to India and also their exchange rates will be quite competitive.