To stay at our first choice for a particular auberge, we are to send a foreign draft or a bankers draft for a deposit to France!! Went to two banks today, no help. Called my VISA company, no help. Haven't encountered this before in previous trips, nor any of the other places we're planning to stay for this trip. Any help? (PS, we don't live in the middle of no-where-- we're in south Orange County, California). Thanks!

Any full service bank should be able to handle this, although, suburban branches are usually unfamiliar with the process. I live in a suburb and went to Wells Fargo Bank on two occaisions to get "International Drafts" this last year. The people at the bank had to call a HQ Location to get direction and they were referred to an inbranch manual that explained how to do it. I got my drafts both times.

We always stay in places where they need a deposit in the form of a foreign draft. The first time I went to the bank, it took them 1 1/2 hours to figure it out. The next time, the person who did it last time was on vacation, so another person took over and I have to wait again 1 1/2 hours for her to learn how to do it. The third time, there was another person and I couldn't bear to wait another 1 1/2 hours, so I taught him how to do it and how to convert US$$ to SwissF ( a banker???). This last time, they had a new system which I kind of know and I taught the whole department how to do it!!!

Any full service bank should have an international department. Get the branch to call them and they will tell them what to do. I have done it many times. There is usually a fee of about $25. If you are at a branch the draft usually need to be ordered and may take a week. Be sure to send it registered mail. A few years ago we nearly lost our villa for 15 people in Portugal because the draft I sent never got delivered to UK. That meant I had to pay a stop fee and a reissue fee for a new draft!!! Another choice is to get the persons bank routing number and particulars in France and you can have your bank wire the money.

Hi Jane: <BR>Why would you want to stay in a place that wants a foreign draft for a deposit? There are so many WONDERFUL places in France that require only a credit card number. (PS, I live in Orange county, also, on the coast.)

This is sort of in line with lynlor's comment of "Why bother with it?" However, if you really must stay there they should be willing to accept a normal cashier's check denominated in dollars and drawn in an amount estabished by the exchange rate plus a little more for a conversion fee. All they have to do is run it through their bank and the funds are available in about 10 days max. If they can't work with this -- they are probably not worth working with. [This isn't meant as an "everybody takes dollars" arrogant comment; it's just a practical suggestion for dealing with the way most banks will work.]

The simplest may be to use Western Union. I would call them as a possibility. If that didn't work I would merely wire the funds to them. It will probably cost about $25 to $30, I should think. I wire money to banks all over the world. All you need is their bank information. <BR>Good luck, and let us know what worked for you, Jane <BR>Gigi

I've done this in a few minutes, you just have to go to a Foreign Exchange place like Thomas Cooks, it's easy. They have acccounts on foreign banks in major Eur coutries and write checks for you on them on the spot, but they do have a hefty fee for doing it, of course, but if you must, you must. I know they have Thomas Cooks in the LA Area; just look in the phone book under Foreign Exchange for these services, you'll find Thomas Cooks and others (I used to live in LA so I know they have one in Torrance). If that's what they ask for, I personally would not tell them that you have decided they should accept a check in American dollars and send that to them instead, or you will likely be out of a reservation, and I would not judge they are not worth dealing with if they won't do that; I would guess they are just a small business, and probably not in a major city.