ladyrep

After all of your help we are ready to book our February trip to India with Castle and King. Arvind is requesting 50 % deposit plus the payment for our internal air. What method of payment have you used and how was the processed?

Thanks four traveling women.

rhkkmk

credit card but I did not pay in advance

dgunbug

We paid for our train ticket that he procured - probably by credit card, although it could have been pay pal. Arvind did not charge us a deposit, although his policy may have changed. He is totally trustworthy. When my husband was pickpocketed on our second to last day in Delhi, Arvind offered us money if we needed any.

MaximusSteele

With airline tickets payment that would be about 60%, 9 months in advance! Great business this my friends!!
All over the world, I have never seen anyone paying that early and that much. Have you calculated the interest component on it?
Will they charge 3% as bank charges for making payments with the credit card later on?

Pawan1987

50% is too much for the trip in February. Basically companies need a token amount for processing the booking which varies from 15-20% of the tour. You need to pay the balance money 2-3 months prior to the date of travel.

Yes, you need to pay for the airline tickets in advance, as they cannot be held for this long.

I prefer bank transfer over credit card payment.

FromDC

We gave them a 50% deposit for hotels approximately 7 months in advance. In our contract, the deposit was refundable (minus a fee) with enough notice. I booked our internal air directly.

If you compare C&K's prices with other tour operators or the price if you book on your own, I think you'll see that they are super competitive (at least that was true for our trip last year). They receive a small commission on hotels and yes, they have "use" of the funds in the meantime and it is partly good faith on your part. This is how they earn the money to stay in business. They take part of the risk (they must make deposits to the hotels to hold them for you)and you take part of the risk (or the insurance company if you decide to buy travel insurance).

Kathie

"I prefer bank transfer over credit card payment." is a tour operator's response. For the consumer, a credit card payment is less expensive and safer.

rhkkmk

if you are unhappy with the advance pmt, tell avrind that and knowing him I am sure he will make adjustments...

he is not out to gouge anyone!!!

ladyrep

We are not concerned about paying in advance, however, I do agree that 50% plus our air which is almost $400.00 is pretty steep. He must be getting more professional as he now has a contract. We will discuss with him and decide.

Kathie

Despite the protestations of the two one-time posters, a 50% deposit is not uncommon.

FromDC

February is the busiest month. When we started looking at hotels more than six months in advance, some places were already full for specific dates, others had only certain rooms available (typically the more expensive ones).

Be sure to check the exchange rate before you decide how to pay. You may get a better conversion rate if you pay with a credit card in rupees, and just be sure that you don't use a credit card that charges a foreign transaction fee.

jat

ladyrep, did you end up paying the 50% deposit? Did you have him book your India domestic air tickets or did you do that on your own?

ladyrep

jat: we decided to pay the 50% deposit and yes we had him book our internal flights. Our internal flights were about $450.00 because we are also going to Cochin. We were hesitant at first, but as he has so many supporters on this board we decided to let go of our concerns and pay the deposits as requested. We are not paying the balance until we connect with him in Delhi and some Fodor's comments were that they completed payment at the end of the trip. Re flights we did our own research but had him do the actual booking.