Best Method Of Payment ?
 

Hi all,

I'm going down to South Africa to train for my PPL soon.

I will be paying as i fly.

Can anybody please tell me,what the best way to pay would be to get the best rate?
Pay by Visa Debit card after the lesson, Credit Card ,or take money out and exchange it ?

Many thanks.

A typical UK credit card will have a loading of approx 2.75%. Debit cards vary, you'd need to ask your bank.

Taking cash out and exchanging it there won't give you a significantly better rate and carries a security risk (not just because it's SA .... the same applies anywhere).

If you want to budget up front for the costs I would suggest you do a bank transfer or get a draft drawn up by your UK bank in ZAR and take with you. That is likely to be the cheapest option but it means paying a lump sum, unless you split the payments, but then your transaction fees become greater.

Guess what .... however you do it the banks make the money.

The only other option is to get someone in SA whom you trust, and who needs sterling, to do a swap.

As I have seen people kiss godbye to large sums of money by paying "up front" I have to advise you to pay as you fly and do this by credit card as the credit card company offer some protection if the company you are trainning goes bust.

You say you are paying as you go which is a good start but just to get this clear for any one else who is about to start flying trainning!

Don't pay up front & use a credit card.

Hi,

In the US, I have used Travelex and Fairfx debit cards. Works really well. Don't know if they do the Rand.

Basically, you send them the cash and they charge up a debit card for you.

There are many companies offering this service, but some charge for all withdrawals, some for recharging, some for ATM withdrawals. All will have charges for the Foreign Exchange between, say, pounds and dollars.

The two mentioned were among the best I found. Travelex gave you a spare card free, handy if one gets stolen or lost.

The handy thing with the FairFX one was that it is a Visa Electron, so avoided Ryanair charges. But that's now changed ;-(

The present exchange rate is extremely favourable (around 12.5 rand to the £pound).
Ask at your bank for the best way of doing it, but if you're offered pay in advance terms only do it: a) whenyou are actually over there and b) when paying by credit card.

Alternatively you could withdraw cash from an ATM before each lesson to cover the cost and nothing more, but check to see how much you'll be charged by your bank.

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Both require a bit of research but they will save you a lot of hassle.

Seconding A & C here 100%. Pay as you go and use a CC for everything, keeping receipts. In the bigger scheme of things, you trade a little money (2.5-2.75%) for a lot more security. Aaaaaaaand: if you have a CC that gives you FF miles, your training may actually get you in the air twice ;)

Enjoy :ok:

If you use either type of card, notify your card issuer before you go that you will be visiting SA (and any other countries en route), so they will not refuse your card - if the computer identifies any abnormal spending out of the UK. SA ( and other countries) have hot spots where cards may "refused" especially where large spends occurr.:uhoh: This will save you being financially stranded. Take two cards - keep them separate - in case one is "lost".

The best way is to use a travel card go to the post office buy the travel card and put your money in the card and only pay as you fly , as has been said many times before do not pay up front

I second the CC option. No hassle, and the cc company will help you somewhat if you fall out with the school and your refund is not given, or the school goes bust, or something like that.

Like Trinity said, give the cc company a heads-up call so they can update your record. A large sum of money to a foreign company with which you have no prior record is one of the prime flags that trigger the cc company fraud detection computers. If there's a note in your file saying you called ahead and this is to be expected, they will not call you about it at 4am.:)

Also make sure there is actually enough credit on your credit card. Simply deposit some additional money on your credit card up front as if you are paying a huge monthly bill (same account numbers and everything). There's nothing more annoying, credit-card wise, than trying to sort out a credit shortage from a foreign country. (Short of losing the cc altogether, that is.) Oh, and a positive balance in your credit card account actually may bring in a tiny bit of interest.

Hi everybody,

thank you so so so much, for taking the time to read my post and replying.:ok:

Im now looking into all the options you guys have given me.

Once again thank you all!!!!

Might travellers cheques be a good option?

Hi

See if you can get a credit card from Nationwide Building Society. They don't charge commission on foreign transactions which is a big advantage over everyone (I think?) else.

Steve

I used to use Nationwide CC (as stevelup said, it is free of the commission charge - typically 2.75%). I now use Abbey Zero which is also commission free - I had a lot of problems with the Nationwide CC being suspended without any warning when I tried to make certain purchases (French SNCF rail tickets, Mobile phone topups for example). The Abbey Card seems free of these "issues."

I believe there is also a CC issued under the UK Post Office which is similar to the Abbey one.


Other Comments (I stand to be corrected on any of these!):

I'm not particularly up to speed with the legal side but I recall that the protection mentioned (£100 - £30k???) is only law with regard to spending (ie contracts made) in the UK (I think that most providers add worldwide cover voluntarily, to their contracts though).

BackPacker mentioned putting the CC into prior credit. Again I suspect that the user is still "protected" from loss by their contract terms but I think the basic cover under the Consumer Credit Act is not applicable because whilst the account is actually in credit (literally) it is not strictly being used to obtain credit (and therefore outside the scope of it). (Vice versa, in a similar way, I understand a current account which is overdrawn also "enjoys" purchase protection under the same statute).

Travellers cheques are unlikley to accepted unless "cashed" b4hand into local currrency, + the cost of t/c's, and the exchange rates, normally £ to $ and not SA rand. Nationwide though commission free, "may" load it thru' exchange rate differential - they have to make money somehow:ugh:

Nationwide are starting to charge for use incertain parts of the world outside the UK.
The Post Office Credit Card has no charges when used anywhere in the world.
Defo use a credit card for the protection it offers and you also benefit from a good exchange rate.