Soon my wife and I will be visiting Turkey for the first time. While in Istanbul we will be taking a three-day tour of that great city offered by a tour company that appears to be reputable as far as I can tell. I do, however, have a concern that I want to run by you Fodorites out there. The company we selected has made it clear that we will be expected to pay for our tour in a cash (USD) payment made directly to our tour guide. A credit card will not be accepted. I find this unusual. I don't like carrying around the rather large sum of cash I will be handing over to the guide and, anyway, I find this to be a "sloppy" way of doing business. I don't mean to be overly suspicious on this matter but I also don't want to be the victim of a scam. I welcome your comments on this. Thanks

My wife and I will be visiting Turkey for the first time in a few weeks. While in Istanbul we have arranged for a three-day tour of the city's iconic sites. The tour company we have chosen seems to be a good one however there is one detail they have requested that I am uncomfortable with. They have made it clear that we are to pay for our tour in cash (USD) with a handoff of the money directly to our tour guide. A credit card will not be allowed. I find this unusual. I don't like carrying around a rather large amount of cash waiting to hand it off to our guide and, anyway, I find this a poor way to do business. Maybe I'm overly suspicious but I don't want to get scammed. I would appreciate input ou this. Thanks

Payment in cash is very common in Europe, we have done so over the last 15-20 years, mostly euros, though sometimes US$. We were in Italy this May, and again on Crete and Athens end June/early July and there too guides wanted to be paid in cash.

I can’t comment on your tour operator, but you have probably researched their reviews, etc. Asking to be paid in cash isn’t usually a scam. I see why you don’t want to carry a large amount of cash, have you asked your tour operator if they will accept cc payment as an exception? That may work.

I had a remarkable experience in Istanbul many years ago (2001). Too long and strange to detail here, but the short version is my mother and I met a guy in the park who invited us to his home to buy some rugs and he wanted to be paid in cash (we learned that after going & looking at them). The rugs were beautiful. We actually went to an ATM, got large sums of cash and paid for the rugs. Back at the hotel I could not believe what we had done -- I did not think we would ever see those rugs, but they arrived in the US before we did.

If the person/company has legit reviews, it will probably be fine. Will you be paying it day by day? That would be something to think about, paying the first day only. Assuming that goes well you can be more comfortable about the rest. If it would absolutely ruin your entire trip if something goes wrong (and you wouldn't have the $ to do something else), again maybe rethink it.

Hope you enjoy -- we had a fabulous trip.

IME, asking for cash payment is not unusual. Asking for payment is USD is a bit less common, as is asking for full cash payment before the start of a multi-day tour -- but I don't often work with tour guides, so my experience might not be particularly informative.

If you are uncomfortable with carrying the amount of cash required, consider withdrawing it from an ATM shortly before you are to hand it over. Make sure you know your bank's daily withdrawal limits and its fees for withdrawing USD from an ATM in Istanbul.

Trying to negotiate day-by-day payment males a lot of sense to me. And if you have any doubts about the transaction, consider taking photographs of the transfer of funds that include the face of the person to whom you are giving it as well as any identification the person can provide. I'm not saying you should do that; just noting it as an option.

That said, I would note, FWIW, that visiting Istanbul on your own is incredibly easy. With only three days, you would have to be selective, but you would be able to see some wonderful things. The Moon Guide is excellent, IMO.

Istanbul is fascinating -- enjoy! (And welcome to Fodors.)

Please see responses to your other thread
Payment For Istanbul Tour

and also please click on the orange triangle beside your post -- you will get a screen you can use to type a request to the moderators to merge the two threads. They do so frequently, as starting two threads on the same topic is not umcommon for first time posters!

Many thanks for your responses. Reassures me that this mode of transaction is SOP. I'll bring the cash.

We merged your two threads. Unfortunately you apparently opened a new account and started threads under both screen names. Please use your original screen name Gallivanter,

We have a couple of private tours booked in Greece, before we get to Istanbul.

They both requested payment in cash, thankfully not USD as we are Australian, so certainly don't have that.

In both cases I said I preferred to pay with a credit card and they immediately agreed, no extra charge for card fees either.

It might be worth just saying you don't want to use cash, which is how I feel.