We are booking a guest room in Sifinos. They want money deposited into their bank, which requires us to be charged a wire fee. Is this typical?
Posted by
4434 posts
It is not unheard of. It's been a while since I did one that way, and it is a hassle more than anything else. If the place has good reviews, etc. then I would feel secure in doing this.
Posted by
The Heartland USA
8469 posts
its the common way to do regular business payments in many countries - bank transfers. Just unfamiliar to us in the US.
Posted by
France Southwest
1831 posts
If you found it via "roomsinsifnos" this is not abnormal and it sometimes happens with small local structures which do not have a reservation system or are not listed on booking.com or other reservation platforms.
What would not be legal would be to ask you for cash upon arrival.
Posted by
Washington DC
27187 posts
I've never had the need to wire money overseas, but several people on the forum have reported using Wise (formerly TransferWise) for that purpose when they were renting an apartment or needed to pay a traffic fine. By all reports Wise's fees are much, much lower than those charged by US banks.
You can probably find some of the earlier positive comments about Wise via the Search function here.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thanks for everyone’s insight.