Paying for a transplant abroad

[JohnnyMarr]

Hello Everyone

 

Am due for a transplant abroad - Turkey - from the UK and was wondering what people have found is the easiest way to pay for the procedure.

 

I'm looking to pay with my Visa debit card, I bank with halifax but having looked on their website and noticed their may be an additional charge of 2.75% The cost of transplant will likely be in the region of 7000-8000 euro's so the cost will add up.

 

Its at the AHD clinic in Antalya which charges 8% for payments by card also. Not sure how you could get the amount of cash in euro's if you wanted to??

 

I'm leaving this really late also! Fly in a couple of days!!

 

Thanks

[Badboi]

Which surgeon you having your HT with? Have you asked the clinic what methods they would accept?

[TOharbourfront]

why don't you just bring cash? that's what im doing

[JohnnyMarr]

Toharbourfront - how are you getting together the cash though? I'm assuming you cant just walk in to the bank and ask for it in euro's?

[hsrp10]

Half cash and half credit card for both of mine

[TOharbourfront]

If you have the funds in your account you can ask the bank to exchange it for euros in any amount you want. At least in Canada you can. there are also private comanys that you can buy foreign currency from

[Shampoo]

Johnny....

as a US Citizen before I had my surgery in Canada last year I started looking into this and noticed besides the interest that credit card companies charge many of them also have an "international transaction fee".

 

So I contacted all my credit card companies and sure enough all of them except Discover had an international transaction fee. However Hasson/Wong did not accept Discover, so I did a Google Search to see if there were other credit card companies available that did not tack on this extra international fee. I found that Capital One did not charge the international fee, so I applied and got a Capital One Master Card which Hasson/Wong gladly accepted.

 

Per Capital One Website:

 

Will Capital One charge me a fee if I use my credit card overseas?

Capital One does not charge a fee for using your credit card for foreign currency transactions. Foreign purchases will be converted at the foreign exchange rate in effect at the time of processing the charge.

[WHTC-7706631290]

JohnnyMarr,

 

I would have simply made a bank transfer in order to avoid multiple transaction fees. I would also carry extra travel cash (euro) just in case the clinic sees the need for a few extra grafts to be placed while you're in the chair.

 

 

 

 

Meet WHTC's Dr. Patrick Mwamba in London - Free consultations on Feb. 15th, 2014

[alix]

I used an online currency exchange to send money from my UK bank account to my clinics bank account in Belgium.

I too use Halifax and found their exchange rates and fees un-acceptable.

the currency exchange gave me a much better deal.I also considered taking cash,but decided against it due having to exchange Pounds to Euros and risks of handling large amounts of cash,but if your clinic charges extra for card transactions,you might consider taking cash,however you need to be extra careful when taking large amount of cash to Turkey.

[Rootz]

Whatever you do, I do not recommend showing up with Pokemon cards and trying to barter with them. I know because I've tried. I wanted to trade my Graded 9 Poke Tour Pikachu (mint condition mind you) for a HT but was promptly declinded. They eventually escorted me out of the building.

 

Such bulls***.