I can't use my office fax maichine and the villa I am booking wants a faxed confirmation. Any suggestions on where to go? Kinkos is $6.00/page, that seems crazy! Am I right?

Thanks,
Sara

Hi Sara,

Enter "email to fax" at www.google.com

There are many firms that will convert your email to a Fax.

You might want to buy a simple Fax machine that doesn't require a dedicated line. That's what I ended up doing about seven years ago, after enduring the inconvenience and expense of running back and forth to a Kinko's eight miles way when trying to make foreign, and after dealing with all the delays of mail when getting copies of "things" needed when handling matters for my 90-year-old father. I think my machine was about $200. It still works fine. You can probably get a similar machine for about $100 now. If you will be making vacation plans this way every year, the price of a simple machine may end up being less than all those faxes. If you're daring, you might also try getting one on Ebay: http://search.ebay.com/fax-machine_W0QQfromZR41

There are cheap rates available by dialing 101 6868 011 ctry area local. The actual rates are listed on http://www.10-10phonerates.com/intl.html. Italy may be less than 10 cents/minute. If you could find someone willing to let them use their fax, you can just reimburse fo the call (which won't be much with this deal). Can you just call them directly to confirm (using the 101 6868). I have used it for both fax and phone and it worked fine and was cheap.

$6/page is a but much.

Here's what I did, maybe it can be of help to you: I have dial-up internet at home (yeah, I'm just an old fashioned girl I guess LOL). And I have a pre-paid phone card that I use sometimes to make intl calls from the office. And I have Office for Mac, but I'm sure it works the same way with Office for Windows. I programmed the Italy hotel fax number, prefixed with my calling card and a bunch of pauses, into my mail program contacts. Then I created a fax cover sheet in Word then filled it in with my data and the booking info. Then, instead of printing to a printer, I selected the option of faxing (it's under that same File heading). It let me select my contact from the contact list, and it faxed, no problema. Oh by the way, I wasn't connected to the internet when I did all this, otherwise it wouldn't have let my phone dial. Hope this helps, good luck!

We encountered the same thing while booking some places in France that did not have email or websites.

We bought a small personal fax machine (Brother) for 59.99 and it works great!

Would your office allowed it if you ensured that there would be no cost to them? You can fax by dialing the number with a prepaid phone card.

But efax.com might work (I used them a long time ago - not sure if they're the same now).

Nobody should need a fax machine! Several methods have been posted here, and there are even easier ones. Almost any computer is equipped to fax whatever you want to type in to whereever, with software that is meant for first time trial and error types to succeed in. Do a help within your computer (not on internet).

Thanks for all the advice! I tried to use my computer to fax but since I have broadband I don't think it will work. I don't have a landline phone so I can't hook it up to my computer either. I am thinking about using an email to fax service but the fax includes my credit card info and I am nervous to send that to a rather unknown third party. Hmmm, still not sure what I will do. I know my office isn't set up for international calling so I may just be out of luck. Thanks for the help though!
Sara

topping to keep info for myself!

your office needn't be setup for international calling. As far as your office is concerned, its 1-800 number if you use a calling card. I've done this from home (and my land line isn't setup for intl calling - or rather I can call and be charged something like $5/min)

We got tired of the Kinko fee and bought a Panasonic Fax machine for 49.95 at Office Depot. Had it three years now and it probably has paid for itself.

Here's a great dial-around for international calls:
10-10-987-011.

Check their website for pricing. They have no minimum monthly charge and I have found it to be very reasonable.

Saraam, I can't believe, with the proliferation of home fax machines now, that you can't find someone who could do this for you for the phone charges. Ask around, someone you know surely could fax this for you.