PAYMENT METHODS

Payments to Egypt Panorama Tours may be made in the following ways:


SECURE ONLINE PAYMENTS BY VISA AND MASTERCARD:
You may pay us with VISA or Mastercard using our bank’s secure online gateway. Once you are ready to pay, we will e-mail you a link on which you can click to begin the simple online payment process. All such payments will be denominated in U. S. dollars.

PAYMENT BY AMERICAN EXPRESS OR DINERS CLUB CREDIT CARD:
IMPORTANT:  We only accept "mail order" (fax) credit card payments via American Express or Diners Club.  While we do accept VISA and Mastercard for payments online and for local payments within Egypt where we can obtain the client's signature, we regret that we no longer accept VISA or Mastercard payments by "mail order" (fax).

Please print and fill out the credit card debit authorization form found under "Credit Card Form" on the www.eptours.com home page.  Then fax (A) this form plus (B) a copy of both sides of your American Express or Diners Club credit card and (C) a copy of your passport showing your identification page and your signature (so that your signature can be verified by American Express) to one of our 2 fax numbers (Egypt fax +20-2-2359-1199 or USA fax +1-928-585-7116).  We receive faxes sent to the U. S. immediately via E-mail attachment.

We regret that faxed credit card debit authorization requests cannot be processed without all of the documents mentioned above.

Exchange rates applied for Egyptian pounds are determined by the credit card companies.  Egypt Panorama Tours cannot take responsibility for the exchange rate utilized in any transaction.

We will confirm receipt of your faxed documents by E-mail and advise if/when credit card approval is obtained.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Unfortunately a complication concerning credit cards arose in mid-2003 when, for the first time in recent history, the Egyptian government authorized Nile and Lake Nasser cruise boats, hotels, tour companies, car rental companies and the like to begin collecting payment in foreign currency rather than in Egyptian pounds. 

This causes a problem for those who wish to pay by American Express or Diners Club credit cards because these credit card companies only make payment in Egyptian pounds to vendors such as travel agencies for client credit card purchases.  Vendors, on the other hand, must pay for Nile cruise boats, hotels, etc. in foreign currency. 

This would not be an issue except for the fact that commercial banks in Egypt will not sell foreign currency to vendors!  Therefore vendors are forced to purchase foreign currency in the "parallel market" for a premium which can vary from as little as 2% to as much as 5% or, on rare occasions, even more.  Vendors must therefore pass on the "parallel market" premium to credit card holders.

At the present time we regret that we have no choice but to increase the amount of most credit card charges by the amount of the "parallel market" premium.  We will quote the final total in Egyptian pounds, including the "parallel market" premium, just prior to asking clients to fax us their completed credit card debit authorization forms.

The "parallel market" premium will not apply to any item for which our firm is allowed to pay in Egyptian pounds at the Egyptian bank exchange rate.  Nevertheless, clients with large transactions should consider the possible savings which can be achieved by arranging to pay online by VISA or Mastercard in U. S. dollars or by wire transfer rather than by credit card.

PAYMENT BY CHECK OR BANK DRAFT IN THE U. S. OR TO THE U. S.:

You may mail your check payable to “Ted Cookson” to:

Ted Cookson
    3501 Keyser Av, Villa 38
Hollywood, FL 33021-2402
U. S. A.

Please use ONLY regular USPS mail. Since no one is available to provide a signature, kindly do NOT use registered, certified or any other type of mail which requires a signature upon delivery. Similarly, please do NOT use Federal Express, UPS, DHL or other courier service as these also require a signature upon delivery.

Please make your check payable to “Ted Cookson.” Any check made payable to "Egypt Panorama Tours" or to "Ted Cookson/Egypt Panorama Tours" will be returned to the sender.

In addition, no check which has any notation (such as “Nile cruise” or “Egypt holiday” or “air tickets”) written on it will be accepted. Such checks will be returned to the sender. To avoid inconvenience, please inquire for details if this in unclear.

FOR PAYMENT IN EGYPT:

Please mail or courier your bank draft or certified check to:

POSTAL ADDRESS:
Egypt Panorama Tours
11728 Box 222 Maadi
Cairo, Egypt

COURIER ADDRESS:
Egypt Panorama Tours
4 Road 79 (between Roads 9 and 10)
Maadi
Cairo, Egypt
(Tel. +20-2-2359-0200)

IF PAYING BY WIRE TRANSFER IN EGYPTIAN POUNDS, U. S. DOLLARS, OR ANY OTHER FOREIGN CURRENCY:

Please send your wire transfer to:

Arab African International Bank
Maadi Branch
Station Square, Road 9, Maadi
Cairo, Egypt
SWIFT number:  ARAIEGCXMAA

for account number 356914 of Egypt Panorama Tours

If you send a foreign currency wire transfer to this bank, please add the equivalent of USD 25.00 to the total amount due in order to cover bank fees. This bank fee does not apply for wire transfers in Egyptian pounds.

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Please e-mail us to advise the amount you are paying and the date your payment was sent.  Then we will confirm receipt of payment to you by e-mail.

21 November 2009