Med Tour Guides and Credit Cards?

[StevenA]

I am about to arrange a driving tour of the Amalfi Coast and found a great tour company. My concern is that they want me to fax them my credit card info to hold the tour. The tour isn't until November, they claim that the card will not be charged, that it's needed because of the number of folks who cancl without telling them. I don't disagree, I am only concerned about giving my credit card info to someone I don't know or have any control over. Is this normal for oversea tour companies? Your input is appriciated.

StevenA

[janazaz]

Glad you asked this question. I also want to know if they expect Euros or credit cards for payment.

[CruisinGerman]

If you are booking with a reputable tour company, this is perfectly normal and there is nothing wrong with giving your credit card number.

 

It's actually the "tour companies" that insist that you pay cash that I would be concerned about, because this means that they're probably not licensed, or are just sending out a "car" and a "guide" to stick a wad of bills in their own pocket under the table.

 

My personal rule is that any "receptive tour operator" (a receptive tour operator is a company that provides tours and ground services) I use must be willing to accept my American Express card. American Express has higher standards for accepting merchants (and charges them higher fees, too -- but that's another topic of discussion) which gives me more of a comfort level in choosing a tour company.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

[ajpack]

When I had to send my credit card number, I sent half of the number in one email and the other half (plus exp. date) in another email from a different email account. I learned that on this board and never had a problem.

[DALSAL]

We used GreekTaxi for our Athens tour and we gave them our cc# just for good faith and it was a secured site.Then we paid him in Euros (or travlers check) as he requested..btw he and the tour was WONDERFUL! Dot

[shuttle-c]

We went with a guide/driver in Rome, who goes to several places in Italy.

They didn't require a credit card and they were very good. You might look into this group.

 

We just returned from Rome (pre-cruise) this month.

We chose to get a driver and we spent 10 hours going where we wanted.

We used Marco Tavola of http://www.RomeConnection.com. You can also call him at 39-335-8039363. He was great. He made us feel so at home driving around all day. He took us where we wanted to go and had some suggestions himself. He provided bottled water for us and his mini-van was very comfortable.

 

It wasn't a standard tour with a guide, but he had enough information and to be very helpful and information about Rome. We also wanted Pizza for lunch so he found a little cafe by St. Peter in Chains church. We learned about not just Rome, but felt like we had met a family member also.