most secure ways to pay for gites?

I've used PayPal to pay for vacation rentals in France and have had no problem. I use a credit card rather than taking the funds directly from my bank account.

Thanks, Carolyn! Waiting for a few other responses on this topic.
Penny

I've never used Paypal for a gite rental, but I use it all the time to buy stuff on eBay. I accept money as well thru paypal for selling things on eBay and in my etsy shop...I've used it for years and have never had an issue with it.

I've used it to pay for movie tickets, with a local business who prints my photos I sell on etsy, pay for photobooks, renting hotels on Hotwire, buying train tickets on Trenitalia ...I generally have a balance in my account because of my selling activities, but before I carried a balance, I used both my credit card and bank account to make payments...

When I made a claim for non-delivery of an item purchased through PayPal, they responded quickly to the issue.