wire transfer or credit card
 

Travel experts,

We just found out from our Namibian travel agent (in the final stage of our booking) that there is a 4 percent charge if we want to use a credit card (where a direct wire transfer -- their preference -- would incur no extra costs (except from our bank)) Has anyone else come across this? I'd prefer to use a credit card for the fraud protection. I have never used this agency before and feel a little funny sending anyone i've not met face-to-face this much cash without any type of protection or guarantee. Thoughts? Also, this is the only part of our trip to Namibia and SA where we're using an agent. And now I think i know why! We're not super-rich, so a 4 percent fee is actually quite expensive for us.

Thanks for the advice in advance and cheers!

This is actually quite common in the travel trade. Credit card companies, if they even grant the travel agent a merchant account, will charge a percentage fee, as they do on all merchant accounts. I don't know if that fee is higher than on other merchant accounts, but it seems that most TAs will pass this fee on to the buyer. Wire transfers to Africa for travel are fairly common, as can be seen on other threads. I've made several to Tanzania and Kenya. If you are confident that you've signed up with a good agent, then you should have no problems. Perhaps you could confirm with the properties that they have your reservation from that agent.

Which agent are you using? When I was planning my Namibia trip last year, I specifically asked Cardboard Box if they surcharge credit card payments and they said no.

I ended up self booking because they said they don't book one of the properties I wanted. None of the lodges I booked with added a surcharge for credit card payments (some didn't even take a deposit, I paid on checkout). So that's an option unless you're booking a Wilderness property which I don't think take direct bookings.

That said, surcharging credit card payments is not uncommon and if you trust the agent, sending a wire shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks all for the information. The name of the company is New African Frontiers. They've been in business for 10 years, according to their website. I suppose that is a good sign?

Have you asked for references?