Why don't you charge all the money up front?

Quick Answer:  High international bank fees can dramatically increase the price of travel

Bank Fees for International Transactions are High

It's not unusual to find bank fees add 5-9% extra to the costs of international travel bookings paid up front.

 The banks will charge you a fee for using a debit/credit card, then another fee to transfer the funds into the currency of their accounts, then a second FX fee for exchanging the funds into the currency of the Stay, and then another fee for actually transferring the funds to the Stays bank account in their own country.

They might even charge the Stay extra fees to accept incoming foreign transfers, which means Stays will also put up their prices.

All of which might actually take 7 business days to achieve.

So, a typical €1,000 booking paid in US Dollars might be $90 higher (9%) if you paid all up front.

As digital nomads travel more than most people these costs can add up to quite a bit more over the course of a year.

Increased Risk of Hackers and Scammers Driving Up Costs

Having all that money sitting around our bank accounts can make us a bigger target for both hackers and scammers. 

Which means we have a lot more costs in terms developing until secure software systems for your money, checking bank account details of our Stays, managing their changes, chasing missing or slow bank transfers etc.  So we'd have to increase our own fees to cover these extra costs.

Nomad Stays Prefers to Keep Prices Low for You

To live up to our mantra about affordable accommodation Nomad Stays prefers to keep our prices low for you. 

We also think you are the best person to manage your own money so we'd prefer you have your money under your own control until the time you need to pay it over to a Stay.