Paying for European Camp Sites

[teeboy]

Hello - normally we go off season, so just get a big long list of campsites and just turn up.

This year we are going in July / August so I figured I should pre-book. I am amazed at the number of sites that want a payment via bank transfer (rather than using a credit card)

I found it hard to work out how much my Bank would charge for an international bank transfer. So after a bit of google-ing I found this lot. https://Transferwise.com - they appear to do bank transfers in a cost effective way.

Does anyone have any tips for cheap bank transfers to European destinations - the other options appears to be posting a booking form with your credit card information on, which sounds old fashioned and a bit insecure.

I would be interested to know how you do this - or am I just picking campsites off the beaten track.

Here is the route we are planning ROUTE

T

 

[jts46]

We have always just turned up, paid either by cash or debit card. "Transferwise" want a destination bank don't they? Which you can have if you live in that country.........

John

 

[teeboy]

I think as it is peak season most want a deposit. Only one of 8 so far has accepted an email as a confirmation.

Transferwise have accounts in each country so you don't have to. Every bank account in Europe now has an ibahn number so they can be identified across borders.

It has worked well so far, and at a reasonable cost - just wondered if others had found a better way.

T

 

[jts46]

As i have said we have never in 30 years of travelling around europe never booked a campsite and we had two children with us. Wife was also teacher so we had to go in peak times.

John

 

[bvddobb]

Isn't one of the good things of 'Europe' that we now have the SEPA pay system, with IBAN numbers and such? So you can - within the EU - transfer money without additional costs? Or is that limited to the EURO zone? In that case you could lobby for the UK to join after all...

 

[jts46]

It is limited to euro zone, we have a house in france and we have to pay to transfer money from GBP to EUROS

John

 

[bvddobb]

It is limited to euro zone, we have a house in france and we have to pay to transfer money from GBP to EUROS

John

Then start your lobby! Have the UK join the club!

 

[teeboy]

It is limited to euro zone, we have a house in france and we have to pay to transfer money from GBP to EUROS

John

Do you do that transfer using your normal bank? Is it a fixed fee or a percentage of the transfered value? Do you get a good exchange rate?

 

[WelshGas]

I presume most of these sites would accept credit/debit cards on site. Couldn't you just phone up and pay by card thus avoiding a bank transfer.

 

[jts46]

Do you do that transfer using your normal bank? Is it a fixed fee or a percentage of the transfered value? Do you get a good exchange rate?

percentage and the rate is usually 2 to 3 cents below rate

John

 

[calicasas]

As i have said we have never in 30 years of travelling around europe never booked a campsite and we had two children with us. Wife was also teacher so we had to go in peak times.

John

Totally agree with John we have been camping all around Europe for the last 25 years and have never booked. Always found a space and paid on site directly.
What's more we have found that in Spain they won't even take the booking, insisting that there is always space and sure enough there always has been. The only time you may want to book would be in known tourist hotspots, but we always try to avoid these...

 

[teeboy]

I have just found a few in Switzerland with the same no booking policy.

We have to take in some hotspots as we have kids, so need a few stops with water parks etc.

We need 9 stops:

1 - In UK stopover for ferry - Credit Card
4 - Paid by Credit Card
2 - Paid by bank transfer - wasn't given the option to call and pay by CC, but didn't try to be fair!
1 - Booked via email with no money requred
1 - To book in Switzerland, but might just turn up, as these appear to be ski resort campsites that are busier in the winter than summer.

As mentioned out of season we are happy to free roam - but we assumed that in the summer it would be trickier - glad to here it is still possible to turn up and stay in the summer holidays

 

[Kirk]

Hi Teeboy, The only time to really book is for the dates of grand vacances which starts on the last Saturday in July and lasts for two weeks, we actually avoid these dates completely as many of the campsites are normally ram full.

 

[Skylark2.0]

We came across the IBAN thing recently. I called the sites in germany and they said they knew it was a problem and agreed to hold the sites for us. The ASCI sites seem to be happy with just an online booking. Always worth asking

 

[Billabus]

Regarding the request from companies to have payment by bank transfer: I recently bought a replacement canvas for my T4 Cali from Germany who would not accept a credit card and insisted on a bank transfer ( as did a separate Italian company for some parts for my '77 Beetle Cabrio). It is likely due to the impoverished banks increasing their charges for card use, as many have recent done. Even my local garage has started to add 3% to payments on credit cards for this reason. Sign of the times?

 

[teeboy]

That TransferWise site claims that bank transfers also cost money though. The amounts they claim are pretty outrageous.

From what I can make out if you use a UK bank to transfer money to a non-UK bank then the fees will be about £5 for the sender, and the receiving bank may also make a charge - so it could really add up - especially for small campsite bookings.

Transferwise get around it by having accounts in each country and don't actually transfer the money - they just rely on the fact that there is money being transferred in all directions. So far I have only paid 99p for each transaction, and the exchange rate used is very similar to the bank transfer rate.

So I am pretty happy that I am getting a fair deal - so I will excuse their exaggeration of banks fees

T