Mousehole cottage deposit options?
 

I am trying to reserve a self-catering cottage in Mousehole Cornwall for our trip to southeast England next spring. The cottage owner will not accept a check or a credit card to hold the reservation and my bank wants $30.00 to wire the $80.00 deposit to her account. Also international postal money orders are not accepted in Great Britain. Other than sending GBP in cash, any suggestions?

Travelers checks.

Get your bank to supply a cheque in sterling drawn on a UK bank. UK banks charge about £10 to do this for another country. The cottage owner can pay this into a bank account just as if it were a UK cheque and it is guaranteed as it will be issued by a UK bank. Mousehole, by the way is in the south west of England, not the south east.

Sorry, I meant to type southwest. Thanks for the suggestions. I will look into drawing the pound sterling cheque.

Oh, I thought you said your host would not accept checks, that's why I suggested traveler's checks, which are guaranteed for face value (won't bounce like a personal check) and are available in pounds for a lot less than a $10-15 fee.

Moneygram or Western Union.

Or mail him the cash by registered mail.
When was the last time your mail was tampered with?

Is it a new thing that Great Britain doesn't accept international money orders, I've sent them many times to book a cottage. It doesn't sound as if the owner is very helpful or eager to have your business, but perhaps the cottage is worth it. GeoffHammer's suggestion is one I've used. Worked well.

I agree about the travelers checks. Go to AAA or your bank and get the appropriat number of checks in sterling (or round off higher and it will just apply to your account). It will cost far less than messing with all the bank issues of conversion and special checks. Some hotels don't like to deal with traveler's checks, but they can take them to their bank and deposit them like cash -- hard to imagine them refusing. I've done this numerous times when they said wire transfer only.

If there's a minimum purchase, just take the extra TC's on the trip!