quote:

Originally posted by MATHA531:

quote:

Originally posted by rmcrf:
Our TD requested that if we were able to pay cash for optionals it would make it easier for him as he sometimes had to pay cash out. We still paid with our credit card.

Nothing wrong with that; as long as it remains a request not a mandate to pay a certain
percentage with cash; that they can't do.

It was simply a request only - I believe some paid by cash and most by credit card.

when paying for optionals on a Britain/Ireland tour ensure your TD doesn't ask you to pay for the Ireland optionals in the same currency as the Britain optionals i.e. both in pounds.(they use a conversion rate of .84 - robbery.)

Whilst in Europe i usually carried about 500 euro with me - 80% of hotels had safes for overnight/stopovers and i carried the cash securely on my body during the day - in 17 countries i never once felt ill-at-ease with this amount - even walking around streets during the day (not at night though) I couldnt have enjoyed the trip without sufficient cash available at all times!!

We've always paid for optionals with our credit card, and have found the exchange rate, when our monthly statement arrives, to be very good, compared with what was stated when on tour.
Maybe we were just lucky. But it's been the same result every tour.

quote:

Originally posted by nation:
We've always paid for optionals with our credit card, and have found the exchange rate, when our monthly statement arrives, to be very good, compared with what was stated when on tour.

nation ~ I have had the same experience on my TT's. I would never carry as much cash as the optionals would require.

I agree with Dimpz that I would never carry that much cash.

Another advantage can be the delay in paying. Recent trip to Italy I arrived home on May 26 having paid for the optionals with my CapitalOne card which has a cut off of the 23rd with due date of the 23rd of the following month. I always pay it off in full. To my surprise when I got home the optionals weren't there yet. They weren't posted until the 28th of May and so I didn't have to pay for them until this month. Loved it in June, but of course am hating it in July.

I use Traveler's Cheques to pay for optionals. I generally purchase my cheques when the rates are low and I end up losing less on the exchange. Using a credit card is another option, however you may find that the credit card company may "hold" your purchase until the rate is higher before processing it. This is just another nice way they have of making more money.

I don't advise carrying large amounts of cash with you, I find that when I'm in the UK it is very easy for me to simply use an ATM to get extra cash if I need it. The bank rate of exchange is usually surprisingly better than you think, plus because I have to pay a $3 service charge for the exchange, I usually take out a sufficient amount to make it worth my while.

I use a 3-wallet system when traveling; wallet-1 has my "walking around" money £20-40 and it is easily accessible. Wallet-2 has my "backup" money in case I go short and an extra credit card for emergencies, it's harder to get to, much smaller/thinner and generally overlooked unless someone is specifically looking for it. The bulk of my money goes into Wallet-3 or my "Traveler's Safe" that's hidden safely under my clothes. Sometimes I even pop an extra £20 into my camera case, just in case I happen across an interesting pub.

Hello there, Fox Designs. Welcome back. Haven't seen you around these parts for a while. Good to see you back.

Brenda

Hey another question relating to this topic.... if you are paying by credit card, do they take the momeny out straight away or does it take a few days/weeks??

Kristy

quote:

Originally posted by icequeen:
Hey another question relating to this topic.... if you are paying by credit card, do they take the momeny out straight away or does it take a few days/weeks??

Kristy

Icequeen,

My experience has been that you will "settle" with the TD towards the end of the tour, when he does the Credit Card paperwork. They usually set up a little "office space" in the lobby area of the hotel. At that time you will be asked to sign the credit slip.


Bob

quote:

Originally posted by BrendaC:
Hello there, Fox Designs. Welcome back. Haven't seen you around these parts for a while. Good to see you back.

Brenda

Hi there BrendaC... I pop in and out. I wasn't able to take a tour this year as I just purchased a condo here in Toronto and funds are short. I'm looking at 2010 for my next trip, possibly hiring a car with a friend.

quote:

Originally posted by icequeen:
Hey another question relating to this topic.... if you are paying by credit card, do they take the momeny out straight away or does it take a few days/weeks??

Kristy

Most of the TDs I dealt with like to do the credit card stuff just once because they had to fax information back to head office for processing. On pretty much all the tours I've done, we just filled in the optionals form and did they payment stuff around 2/3rd through the tour. If anything was unavoidably canceled, then the TD gave cash back.

quote:

Originally posted by FoxDesigns:

quote:

Originally posted by icequeen:
Hey another question relating to this topic.... if you are paying by credit card, do they take the momeny out straight away or does it take a few days/weeks??

Kristy

Most of the TDs I dealt with like to do the credit card stuff just once because they had to fax information back to head office for processing. On pretty much all the tours I've done, we just filled in the optionals form and did they payment stuff around 2/3rd through the tour. If anything was unavoidably canceled, then the TD gave cash back.

In our experience, we filled out the forms on about day 1 or 2, then a few days later (5 - 10 - depending on the length of the tour) we would get our form back and a couple of days later we would see the credit card had been debited. I think some TD's wait for a while in case the traveller changes his/her mind about their optionals. It is much easier to change things before the CC payment has gone through.

quote:

Originally posted by icequeen:
Hey another question relating to this topic.... if you are paying by credit card, do they take the momeny out straight away or does it take a few days/weeks??

Kristy

My tours have mostly been 10-14 days. Usually the TD has gotten the info by about 2/3 of the way through and the charge as been on my card by the time I got home. My recent "Best of Italy" tour was a bit different. The TD didn't finalize the info until very near the end, I think because there were several optionals near the end that could have been canceled if bad weather. It ended up that it did not appear on my card until at least a week after I got home. It gave me a whole extra billing period before I had to pay it. That was nice.

You use the term "do they take the money", I'm assuming you mean when does the charge appear since they do not actually "take the money" unless you are using a debit card instead of a credit card. Or am I confusing something?

quote:

Originally posted by luvtotravel:

quote:

Originally posted by icequeen:
Hey another question relating to this topic.... if you are paying by credit card, do they take the momeny out straight away or does it take a few days/weeks??

Kristy

My tours have mostly been 10-14 days. Usually the TD has gotten the info by about 2/3 of the way through and the charge as been on my card by the time I got home. My recent "Best of Italy" tour was a bit different. The TD didn't finalize the info until very near the end, I think because there were several optionals near the end that could have been canceled if bad weather. It ended up that it did not appear on my card until at least a week after I got home. It gave me a whole extra billing period before I had to pay it. That was nice.

You use the term "do they take the money", I'm assuming you mean when does the charge appear since they do not actually "take the money" unless you are using a debit card instead of a credit card. Or am I confusing something?

When i mentioned take the money.... that is what i was refering to.... the charge appearing on my account!

Thanks heaps for your replies.

Kristy