Foreign hotel bill

Grumps

Have you considered using one of the Currency Transfer providers such as CurrencyFair.

You can set up an account FOC beforehand and then, assuming they will accept payment at the end of the holiday, and you can Guarantee having access to a computer, then you can transfer the balance directly into the Bank account of the Hotel. It takes minutes rather than hours.

The majority of these providers have competitive Exchange Rates and, from memory, CurrencyFair charges a flat fee of 3 Euros whatever the amount.

They are certainly cheaper than transferring money through a normal Account.

The way it works with CurrencyFair is that you transfer Sterling into a Bank of America account held in Eire, either in block, or, I'd suggest, 'feed in' over a period. You can then either hold it in Sterling or, if you want to 'hedge' the Exchange Rate, transfer the monies into Euros in 'blocks'.

You'd have to check the T&C's but, from memory, the 'flat fee' only applies when the money goes out of the account.

If you can't 'guarantee' having access to a computer then perhaps get a trusted relative to open an account and pay money in through them. Enabling them to then make the payment when it is demanded.

I'm sure someone else will be along to confirm what you need by way of the IBAN number, etc, of the (Hotel) Account into which the money is to be transferred.

These Currency Transfer providers are commonly used by Expats or persons with second homes abroad either to make payments or to transfer monies into Euro accounts held by themselves.

Do a Search on the Forum as I'm sure these organizations will have been discussed previously.

Enjoy your holiday.:beer:

Grumps

I've now noticed that Martin has an Article on 'Sending Money Abroad'.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/foreign-currency-exchange

It probably wasn't intended for the purpose discussed but, for the amount involved, is perhaps relevant.

pandora205

I had this dilemma when I went on an extended holiday to New Zealand. I began by looking at pre-paid money cards but my bank charges for using my debit card to purchase one (other than theirs which isn't a good exchange rate). In the end I took out a Post Office credit card, as there is no fee for using it abroad. I was given a credit limit of £4k (they offered more but that was enough) and used that for hotel bookings, apart from two which had fees for card use (where I paid cash). It was very easy, even though I'd booked a couple held against my debit card: they were fine for me to pay using a different card.

CLAPTON

Grumps wrote: »

Have you considered using one of the Currency Transfer providers such as CurrencyFair.

You can set up an account FOC beforehand and then, assuming they will accept payment at the end of the holiday, and you can Guarantee having access to a computer, then you can transfer the balance directly into the Bank account of the Hotel. It takes minutes rather than hours.

The majority of these providers have competitive Exchange Rates and, from memory, CurrencyFair charges a flat fee of 3 Euros whatever the amount.

They are certainly cheaper than transferring money through a normal Account.

The way it works with CurrencyFair is that you transfer Sterling into a Bank of America account held in Eire, either in block, or, I'd suggest, 'feed in' over a period. You can then either hold it in Sterling or, if you want to 'hedge' the Exchange Rate, transfer the monies into Euros in 'blocks'.

You'd have to check the T&C's but, from memory, the 'flat fee' only applies when the money goes out of the account.

If you can't 'guarantee' having access to a computer then perhaps get a trusted relative to open an account and pay money in through them. Enabling them to then make the payment when it is demanded.

I'm sure someone else will be along to confirm what you need by way of the IBAN number, etc, of the (Hotel) Account into which the money is to be transferred.

These Currency Transfer providers are commonly used by Expats or persons with second homes abroad either to make payments or to transfer monies into Euro accounts held by themselves.

Do a Search on the Forum as I'm sure these organizations will have been discussed previously.

Enjoy your holiday.:beer:

sounds like madness to me: just too many things to go wrong fro a one off payment for a holiday

Grumps

CLAPTON wrote: »

sounds like madness to me: just too many things to go wrong fro a one off payment for a holiday

Perhaps something outside your sphere of knowledge?

thebritishbloke

Grumps wrote: »

Perhaps something outside your sphere of knowledge?

Or it's just a load of hassle and risk that isn't worth saving a few quid for?

grimmo49

thanks to all for your input,will probably go down the halifax clarity route

PenguinJim

thebritishbloke wrote: »

Or it's just a load of hassle and risk that isn't worth saving a few quid for?

You generally save 4% on the exchange rate as well as the transfer fee. If doing a £2,000 transfer, that's a £105 saving. If you consider that a "few quid", would you mind giving me just a couple of quid? :beer:

I'll be transferring £8,000 internationally this year, and likely each year for the foreseeable future. I'll be saving ~£350 a year by using UKForex instead of Barclays. Well worth an hour of my time to set up initially.

too_fast

PenguinJim wrote: »

You generally save 4% on the exchange rate as well as the transfer fee. If doing a £2,000 transfer, that's a £105 saving. If you consider that a "few quid", would you mind giving me just a couple of quid? :beer:

I'll be transferring £8,000 internationally this year, and likely each year for the foreseeable future. I'll be saving ~£350 a year by using UKForex instead of Barclays. Well worth an hour of my time to set up initially.

I'm a big fan of UKforex, and use them every couple of months, but I'm not sure it is appropriate in this instance.

If anything happens to the hotel (bankruptcy etc), you'd be covered on a credit card, but not if you just sent them a money transfer.

Also, I don't think the 4% benefit on the exchange rate is correct. I havent got the figures to hand, but a while ago I compared the cost of making a foreign payment on a 0% credit card, with a UKforex transfer, and UKforex was in the region of 0.5% better than the credit card.

PenguinJim

Ah, I'm sorry, in my case I'm using it for bank transfers. That would have been pertinent information, you're right!