Methods of Payment and currency conversion.
Most of our adventures are costed in USD except Portugal which is in Euro as these are the currencies used by most international hotels and operators, in the countries we travel to.
The TRUST accounts for OTS are located in New Zealand where we have both a USD and an NZD account.
Outside the Square use WISE (formally Transferwise), for all our international payments, and to calculate exchange rates as they are significantly cheaper than the banks.
We highly recommend WISE and anyone who travels a lot will love this company. It is worth setting up your own FREE account and having a look around all the features. Once you have it set up it will make paying OTS and any other international payments in the future easy and will also give you the chance to have a multi-currency debit card for travelling should you desire one.
Using the link below you will get a FREE first transfer up to $500, (enough for your deposit) when you set up your FREE account.
Setting up your own account and getting it verified will take you about 20-30 min
Do I have to set up a WISE account? No not at all, it is just our suggestion to help you save money. You can use any currency transfer company you already have set up, or of course you can use your Bank and instruct them to transfer the money, directly to the OTS trust account.
Setup your own WISE account (via this link for a discount first transfer)
Deposits
To confirm your booking on an adventure a deposit of USD$500 / GBP 500 / NZD $750 / AUD $750 is required at the time of your booking. This is a non-refundable deposit as OTS will incur costs in arranging the trip. But the deposit is fully transferable to another adventure should you need to cancel of change your booking, and this can be done any time before 90 days prior to the start of the trip, (see T&C) a deposit held on file has no expiry date, you can just transfer it to a later trip.
Balance of payment can be made any time but no later than 60 days prior to the commencement of the trip.
Due to the nature of Adventure travel and the prices of the resources on which it depends, the published price of any trip is subject to change at any time, before or after booking confirmation, up to 30 days before the departure of such Product.
Before paying in full please insure you have read the Terms and Conditions which are there to protect both your and OTS, and have protected yourself by taking out sufficient travel insurance cover to cover any cancellation charges should the unexpected happen.
New Zealanders
Deposit = $750 NZD, just internet bank direct into OTS Trust account the NZD amount, (which will be emailed to you).
Balance payment = An invoice will be sent out showing the balance in NZD converted from USD at the current ( WISE rate)
Credit Cards can be accepted by setting up your own free WISE account and using it to pay us in USD. You may need to pay some on Credit Card to validate a Credit Card travel insurance policy, otherwise it's not really a cost-effective way to pay. (You can request this option if needed)
Although you do not need to setup a WISE account to pay in NZ, I would suggest anyone who travels a lot opens and account and applies for a multi currency debit card as it saves us travelers a fortune over time. Use this link to set up your own account. WISE
USA America
Deposit = $500 USD all trips (or 500 Euro for Portugal)
For the deposit only we can accept PayPay and if using your credit card + 5%
If Choosing PayPal, email us to let us know so we can send you the correct information to make your deposit.
Payment options
- Setup your own WISE account (via this link for a discount first transfer) if you already have a WISE account just login. You need to set up the account including your address and social security number, ACH payments into your account are then easy from most of Americas big banks, or if you use a smaller bank or credit union you can use the Debit card option.
- Once your account is setup then select "accounts" and add some USD's to the wallet to your account.
- Once you have succeeded in adding enough dollars from your bank to your own WISE account, to pay your deposit or final invoice your all ready to go!
- Email OTS letting us know you WISE account is set up and working and we will send the WISE account details.
- When you have received the account information from OTS
- Select “Send money”
- Select “A from account outside WISE”
- Select at the top, International (EURO) or Same currency for (USD) depending on if you are sending OTS - USD or EURO
- To pay (Enter the details for the OTS adventures account sent to you with the deposit information, which will either be the USD account or EURO depending on the tour.
- You have lots of options as to how to pay. (ACH / SWIFT) Debit Card, Credit Card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. Each option has a different cost which is very transparent and easy to see, ACH / and debit card being the cheapest, and credit card the costliest. (Also note if you pay using credit card your bank will treat it like a cash advance) You need to put the amount needed by OTS example $500 for the deposit into the lower box which is the amount that arrives our end. The top box will display the charge you pay, which will vary depending on how you are paying. If you choose to select WIRE it will add $7.50 to your final bill from us so avoid this option if possible.
Alternatively, if you prefer not to set up a WISE account then you can just ask OTS for our New Zealand based USD bank details, and your bank can arrange an international swift transfer to our OTS $USD Trust account based in NZ. This is the easy, very safe method for those of you who like to take the payment details into your bank, and have them do all the work for you (Your bank will usually charge you a fee for this which varies bank to bank but is usually around $30-40 and we have to change $15 our end, You need to email us to get the ANZ USD Trust accounts details for your bank as it is not the same as the Wise account details sent to you with the deposit information.
Australians
Deposit = AUD $750 just internet bank direct into OTS Trust account the NZD amount, (which will be emailed to you).
Balance payment = An invoice will be sent out showing the balance in AUD converted from USD at the current ( WISE rate)
Credit Cards can be accepted by setting up your own free WISE account and using it to pay us in USD. You may need to pay some on Credit Card to validate a Credit Card travel insurance policy, otherwise it's not really a cost-effective way to pay. (You can request this option if needed)
Although you do not need to setup a WISE account to pay in AUD, I would suggest anyone who travels a lot opens and account and applies for a multi currency debit card as it saves us travelers a fortune over time. Use this link to set up your own account. WISE
UK
Deposit = GBP 500 just internet bank direct into our UK account, (which will be emailed to you).
Balance payment = An invoice will be sent out showing the balance in GBP converted from USD at the current ( WISE rate)
Credit Cards can be accepted by setting up your own free WISE account and using it to pay us in USD. You may need to pay some on Credit Card to validate a Credit Card travel insurance policy, otherwise it's not really a cost-effective way to pay. (You can request this option if needed)
Although you do not need to setup a WISE account to pay in GBP, I would suggest anyone who travels a lot opens and account and applies for a multi currency debit card as it saves us travelers a fortune over time. Use this link to set up your own account. WISE
Rest of the world
Setup your own WISE account (via this link for a discount first transfer) and transfer to our Trust account in New Zealand, this gives you lots of options as to how to pay. See above
If you have your own FOREX account with another company already set up or would like to use your own bank to buy USD and transfer internationally just let us know. We will send you the account details for you to make an international transfer. (You can request this option if needed)
You will only ever pay a max of one currency conversion or international transfer fee for your holiday, this is our guarantee, (we pay all other charges) whichever currency you are paying in.