I've been in contact with Welsh Dragon Tours who state that they can no longer accept credit cards from outside the UK and will only do international bank transfers now. Has anyone paid this way? Bank transfers make me nervous these days.
Thank you!
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10190 posts
I use Money Corp or Wise for transfers. They both have US bank accounts so your wire is domestic. Unfortunately, your bank might charge you for the wire.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32752 posts
can you give them cash on arrival?
Once you've seen that they actually exist?
No protection at with a bank transfer. I use them but I also know exactly where the money is going...
Posted by
Lincolnshire, UK
1834 posts
They have been in business for 16 years and do get consistently good reviews on Trip Advisor.
Posted by
Greeley, co, usa
2406 posts
I’ve used Wise ( then called Travelwise ) twice. I’ve also used 2 different banks. Wise was about $5, banks $35 and $40
Posted by
2328 posts
I don't get the company demand for a bank transfer.
Person uses a CC, travel company immediately charges the full amount - where's the difference? Is it the merchant fees charged by CC issuers that is the problem - if so, add on a user fee. Bank Transfers are not normal course business in NA and are a PITA.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10190 posts
True it's a PITA if you live in the States, but transfers have been commonly used in Europe for almost twenty years. Some banks don't even issue checks with checking accounts anymore. It's too bad this company isn't accepting a credit card.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
They are no longer accepting credit cards because their merchant service provider stopped allowing overseas transactions without the card physically present due to high levels of credit card fraud from the US and Australia.
Of course, in the US we are cautioned against bank and wire transfers because of the high levels of fraud with those transactions. sigh :)
{ WEBMASTER EDIT } June 7, 2023: The following response was provided by Welsh Dragon Tours to help clarify a few things:
We have been trading as a Visit Wales listed inbound operator since 2005, when we launched Welsh DragonTours. Perhaps it would be useful to read some of our client reviews, that include post pandemic submissions, up to 2023. It is unfortunate that our MS provider, after nearly two decades, made the unqualified decision to withdraw their provision. In the UK travel sector, we were not alone. One reply above mentions that a number of UK businesses are not accepting card transactions (CNP) from outside the UK., which is quite correct. In fact, issuers to certain sectors of business are withdrawing the facility generally, and Travel has been hard hit by this decision.
Whilst we appreciate that being unable to accept card payments may be inconvenient, we identify to all our clients the cost of IBT prior to taking deposits, and offer assistance to anyone who may not be familiar with the process, or have concerns surrounding this method of payment.