Hi! My husband and I are trying to rent a cottage in Scotland. We're from the U.S. We're not going through Air B&B or a similar service. The owners or property managers have given us their bank information, rather than a way to pay by credit card. I'm wondering if paying by bank transfer is common in Scotland, because it seems strange to us. My husband also thinks it's a little strange that they asked for the balance six full weeks before the dates of our stay, which is in September. Is any/all of this standard operating procedure? I appreciate any thoughts on the matter!

Welcome to Fodors


Various methods are used -- bank transfers are very common in the UK and many Brits assume the same for Americans. Unfortunately a bank transfer will likely cost you between $25 and $50-ish depending on your bank. When I've had that sort of issue I've always just phoned up the owners and worked out an agreeable option. Sometimes Paypal or some other on-line payment is accepted. Or sending a check in US$ which they would hold and you would get back when you gave them £ cash on arrival. If you were a no show they would deposit the check (and take a loss due fees)

Final payment 6 weeks out is not at all unusual -- especially with a self catering cottage. It isn't like a hotel where there are lots of rooms -- if they only have the one cottage and the booking falls through they could be out a big chunk of the summer's income.

Though I know how we can fall in love with particular rentals online, I suggest finding another place. The beauty of online agencies like AirBnB & others is having an advocate should things go wrong. The same is true for paying with a credit card, getting you your money back if the place is not as advertised. With so many ways to handle the business of booking & paying these days there’s no reason you should bear all the risk of the transaction not to mention the additional bother & expense of a bank transfer. Assuming it isn’t the only holiday rental where you’re going I’d find another with owners equipped to accommodate a variety of payment options. It’s not just an issue of payment but how things go after you’ve paid.

In general I agree with MmePerdu -- more and more cottages/flats accept credit cards or PayPal so continuing to search is a good idea. But if it is a cottage you just love -- I'd first contact them by phone to see if they can offer an alternative. A bank transfer is so 'normal' in the UK they may not even realize it is a roadblock for American visitors.

I personally don't use airbnb, have used vrbo once in Scotland, and Booking.com once, but every other rental in Scotland - I've dealt directly with the owners.

I have twice paid German apts with WISE.COM, formerly TRAVELWISE.COM. Much cheaper ($5) than bank transfer ($35-40)

Perhaps you've never done a private rental before, but it is very common to ask for payment in full far in advance. Six weeks isn't unusual, it's not like a hotel. If you don't pay up, they have to find someone else and for small owners, a vacancy in high season can be devastating. In the US, tons of places do the exact same thing, and in lots of resorts they do also, even when not private rentals (hotels). Just try booking a hotel in peak ski season at a top resort, they are often nonrefundable a month in advance.

If you aren't sure what you are doing, you need to brush up on travel insurance unless you just didn't want to pay because you thought you might change your mind close to the date. I mean the insurance might cover health issues, but you can buy cancel for any reason if you really want that, but it's very expensive, of course.

Bank transfer isn’t something I’d advise to use as payment, credit card is preferable. I don’t think it’s “normal” at all considering the warnings on consumer programmes etc. Yes bank transfers exist but anytime I’ve arranged one for overseas payments, I’m grilled about it by the bank.

I don’t pay anything like that by bank transfer and I’m in the U.K., most are advised not to do so for fear of being scammed. I would use a site like AirBnb or booking.com etc for secure payment by credit card where at least you have some protection.

Bank transfer is a perfectly normal thing to use to pay for such things in Europe, same as six weeks out payment in full. With a currency difference make sure you carry all fees or they are out of pocket and won't be happy.
I very much doubt the owners would accept the US cheque option - they would lose a lot of money trying to cash it if you are a no show.
They almost certainly don't have the ability to accept a credit card payment, and may or may not be happy with PayPal, again due to fees.

If you are not happy with the payment method than look elsewhere, Airbnb or an agency or Booking.com or whatever.

I pay most big deals by bank transfer in the UK and into mainland Europe.

I'd give them a call and just raise your concerns, I'd argue that you don't know if they are going to go bust or even if the cottage exists so want to put part of it on a credit card to get the insurance benefit and stick £100 on the cc. That way you are insured for all of the deal.

They may not deal with credit cards though. If they only let out a single property it won't be worth their while accepting them. It is an expensive thing for small businesses to do.
Again if you aren't sure about it then don't do it and choose one from Booking.com or wherever, that will give you some peace of mind, and probably will accept credit cards.
You can always search for reviews of the cottage on Google and google Maps.

heti: Yes, as I mentioned, the owners would definitely lose on the exchange/fees and a cheque would be sort of a last resort if there were no other payment options.. But that very process was what was suggested to me one time by an legit owner. Send them a check/cheque drawn in $ and he would hold it as collateral in case of a no show. Now that was maybe 9-10 years ago and I know checques are used even less now. But that sort of showed good faith on both sides. Wouldn't be ideal of course. I'm not suggesting that is the way to go, just that I'd speak to the owner and discuss if there are any other options.

Scolopendra: You mention plural properties "The owners or property managers have given us their bank information,. . ." . Most owners - at least if they've ever dealt with Americans - or have been in business longer than cup of coffee - will have run into this issue. Did you contact them personally - do they know you are from overseas?

heti -- didn't see your latest post - was responding to the earlier one. I agree on both points - accepting cards is costly to small owners, and using booking.com or similar would offer peace of mind.

but only doing a small sum through the credit card only hits the owner with a small charge and makes the cc business fully liable for all your losses

An owner would have to be kind of dumb to accept payment in a check that wasn't cashed until after you showed up since you could always cancel payment on it if you wanted. You can even cancel payment on cashier's checks which a lot of people think you can't.

bilboburger, are you sure about that CC item? Why would a credit card be liable for your entire rent on a property if only a small amt was charged to the card? So you are saying that if you charged a deposit of 50 euro on a CC and the total payment was 3000 euro, and you paid 2950 euro by bank transfer, that somehow the CC would be liable for the entire 3000 euro? How would that be? Complaints to CCs involve chargebacks, them taking money back from the place you sent it when billed by the CC Now if you are referring to the travel insurance you get as card owner when you charge something, that travel insurance doesn't cover fraud by a hotel or property, it covers cancellations and then unforeseen expenses due to delays.. But even that cancellation insurance won't cover amts you didn't charge to the card. And maybe cards differ, but even the cancellation insurance on my CCs only covers the flight, it won't cover cancellation costs of vacation rental. You need to buy independent travel insurance for that coverage.

I don't think typical travel insurance covers fraud, actually, but I think you can buy some maybe on some website portals where such vacation rentals are offered? Just looking at the terms of some typical travel insurance policies, they don't say they cover you losing money because you show up and nothing is there, for example (or fraud). they cover bankruptcy or ceasing of operations, but that's for major cruise lines, etc., they couldn't even apply that to some individual that was just perpetrating fraud.

We paid a deposit by c/c for a holiday cottage in Scotland for later in the year, by paying it to their payment partner, not PayPal, but something similar. No problems, and we got an email confirming that it was paid, and the balance due 6 weeks before we arrive. The reputation of the cottage company is good, and we looked at that before we booked. It's the first time we have booked a cottage, and so far no problems.

Payment partners charge a subscription of up to 100 pounds a month. May not be worth it for the very occasional cc payment on a single cottage.

We also use Wise (TransferWise) for moving around big sums of money, and when you get your card (physical or virtual on your phone), you can also use it to pay for things as you would with a debit card, in Euro. It allows you to have different currency accounts and you can move money between them. I agree it is much cheaper than a bank draft and you can move money quickly and at short notice, allowing you to respond to a spike in the money market to take advantage of a good rate.

Lavandula

Christina, great question and just to put your mind at rest (Mrs Bilbo being a lawyer and very very interested in this subject)
I don't know how it works in every country (UK no longer in EU and doesn't use Euros) but in the UK the law is absolutely clear about CC companies taking on the FULL financial responsability for a partial expenditure of at least £100.

I'm just battling through with a shoddy builder in the UK to reroof my house and the credit company is not fighting any financial claim but they want my evidence so they can go after him (£100 expenditure was all it took).

Obviously I am not a lawyer and I'm not giving legal advice, but all I would say is that I normally split large expenditures this way as a matter of course using bank transfers (which is my usual method of payment).

It is called "Section 75" https://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/...rotection.html

I also use Wise for transferring money from my US account to my Italian account, and also for making payments to European companies or individuals from the US account.

It is perfectly normal to make payments by direct bank transfer in Europe; in fact it's the normal way to make bill payments. I opened my Italian account 25 years ago when I moved here. I got a checkbook with my new account, and I've only used two checks in 25 years.

Paying by bank transfer for cottage rentals is common in Scotland, and requesting the balance six weeks in advance is a standard practice. While it might be different from what you're used to, it's a legitimate way to secure your booking. Just ensure you communicate openly with the property owners and verify their authenticity for a smooth transaction.