question on how others paid For St Petersburg tours

[spunks]

We have a large group from our neighborhood (over 40) and have been booked with Alla for quite a while but they seem to be having some issues with the way we are to pay them. My question is simply...how did you pay them? We have no problem paying with credit card, but the way they want us to do it leaves us a bit uncomfortable.

 

Thank you for any information you have. We have used credit cards and ATM machines all over Europe, so that is not the issue.

 

Doug

[dogs4fun]

We have been to Russia multiple times and have used Alla Tours on several occasions.  I can vouch for the fact that her tours are excellent!  When we booked a group tour with Alla we paid via credit card in St. Petersburg (the guide had a terminal for our cards). When we booked a private tour we were required to pay a deposit before the tour (think it was 20%) - in this instance, we provided our credit card details via their secure site (believe it was on our message tab on the website).

We have never had a problem with payment for the tours - Alla is extremely reputable and is rated #1 on TripAdvisor. In fact, we have never had an issue with our credit cards in all of Russia (never hacked, etc.). If you wish, you may email me for further info - email address in included in my signature.

Enjoy your cruise - the Baltic itinerary is amazing!

[fabnfortysomething]

can you explain how they want you to pay them that makes you uncomfortable?

 

we have been to St Petersburg twice

 

first time we paid in US dollar bills[pristine condition]

 

second time we all paid individually credit card at their office

 

no deposit or credit card hold required

[dogs4fun]

39 minutes ago, fabnfortysomething said:

first time we paid in US dollar bills[pristine condition]

 

second time we all paid individually credit card at their office

 

no deposit or credit card hold required

Things have changed a tad. Deposits are required for private tours, evening performances and the Sapsan train to Moscow (according to their website). So, even if you book a group day tour, you would need to pay for your evening performance before arrival in St. Petersburg. You would still pay for the day tour in St. Pete.

It is against Russian law to pay in any cash currency other than rubles. If you recall, there were a flurry of posts last year regarding the owner of one such company that got into serious trouble for accepting USD cash and not reporting it to the Russian tax authorities.

[fabnfortysomething]

8 minutes ago, dogs4fun said:

Things have changed a tad. Deposits are required for private tours, evening performances and the Sapsan train to Moscow (according to their website). So, even if you book a group day tour, you would need to pay for your evening performance before arrival in St. Petersburg. You would still pay for the day tour in St. Pete.

It is against Russian law to pay in any cash currency other than rubles. If you recall, there were a flurry of posts last year regarding the owner of one such company that got into serious trouble for accepting USD cash and not reporting it to the Russian tax authorities.

 

we last travelled to St Petersburg last year and didn't need to pay deposit

is this a new change this year?

 

 

we did have to pay in Rubles

we used TJ  and they quoted us in US Dollars and said would be converted to Rubles on day of payment at exchange rate on the day to be paid by credit card

 

As 2 of us use pound Sterling and 1 Euros we asked for quote from start in Rubles to avoid 2 foreign transaction conversions and this worked in our favour as exchange rate  was much better at time we booked

[dogs4fun]

39 minutes ago, fabnfortysomething said:

we last travelled to St Petersburg last year and didn't need to pay deposit

is this a new change this year?

I don't know precisely when the changes were instituted but ... if you check the FAQ for the big 3 (ALLA, Spb, Tj), you will note that they ALL require prepayment for train and theater tickets and ALL require a 20% deposit for private tours. Additionally, Spb requires a 20% deposit even on their group tours - Alla and Tj do not.

[napoxoguk]

2 hours ago, dogs4fun said:

 

It is against Russian law to pay in any cash currency other than rubles.

Just for some peace of mind of those people who do prefer to deal with cash - I don't think it is. If I remember correctly,  any restrictions on foreign cash currency transactions only apply to residents and/or currency exchange operations. 

 

3 hours ago, dogs4fun said:

... the owner ... got into serious trouble for accepting USD cash and not reporting it to the Russian tax authorities.

This, however, is a real issue - every time you pay with USD/Euro cash, you can rest assured none of it will ever find its way into any tax return form.

[dogs4fun]

55 minutes ago, napoxoguk said:

Just for some peace of mind of those people who do prefer to deal with cash - I don't think it is. If I remember correctly,  any restrictions on foreign cash currency transactions only apply to residents and/or currency exchange operations. 

To clarify - it is not legal to use US dollars or Euro for transactions in Russia. This law applies to the Russian owner of the business accepting the transaction. There are those Russians that still accept foreign currency for "under the table" transactions but, to be sure, it is illegal & if said Russian is caught, he/she faces fines and/or prison.

Edited March 23, 2019 by dogs4fun

[napoxoguk]

37 minutes ago, dogs4fun said:

To clarify - it is not legal to use US dollars or Euro for transactions in Russia. 

To quote Article 6 of Russian Federal Law 173-FZ ("On foreign currency regulation and control"), "hard currency transactions between residents and non-residents shall not be restricted", except currency exchange operations (which are restricted as per Article 11 of the same Law).

 

Under Article 1 of that same Law, "foreign currency transactions" are understood to include, inter alia, "use of foreign monies as a means of payment".

 

Since a transaction between a cruiser and a Russian company would be a transaction between resident and non-resident, it seems to me it will not be illegal. Whether or not it is advisable is another story altogether (in my opinion, it is not).

 

[dogs4fun]

14 hours ago, napoxoguk said:

To quote Article 6 of Russian Federal Law 173-FZ ("On foreign currency regulation and control"), "hard currency transactions between residents and non-residents shall not be restricted", except currency exchange operations (which are restricted as per Article 11 of the same Law).

 

Under Article 1 of that same Law, "foreign currency transactions" are understood to include, inter alia, "use of foreign monies as a means of payment".

 

Since a transaction between a cruiser and a Russian company would be a transaction between resident and non-resident, it seems to me it will not be illegal. Whether or not it is advisable is another story altogether (in my opinion, it is not).

 

http://petersburgcity.com/business/bguide/currency/

"Goods (work, services) may not be sold for foreign currency cash in the Russian Federation. For shopping purposes, foreign individuals may exchange hard currency cash into roubles in special currency exchange offices."

[napoxoguk]

2 hours ago, dogs4fun said:

http://petersburgcity.com/business/bguide/currency/

 

Thanks for the link! 

 

This article is extremely dated - just as an example, the "mandatory sale of 75 percent of foreign currency receipts" requirement was lifted back in 2007, if I'm not mistaken. Back then, there were indeed additional restrictions on currency transactions even between residents and non-residents. Like I said, if you follow the letter of the law, the only major restriction remaining is currency exchange - so selling dollars for roubles to a friendly peddler outside of the Hermitage is a no-no.

 

That said, I'm still quite uncomfortable with foreign cash transactions when it comes to paying for cruise tours (not the actual guides, though). I'll have a hard time articulating my position, and even a harder time defending it, but I feel that most of the museums, churches, and other attractions you visit are, in the most general sense, the property of the people of Russia and the very least all these tour agencies can do to "give back"  is pay their taxes. If you pay cash you can be almost 100 percent sure that it's not happening.

 

 

[angie7911922]

We used Anastasia's Travel, so didn't deal with Alla, but we just paid with CC on their site. It was a secure site. That's what most companies should be doing.

[LondonTowner]

We e beento SPB twice and both times did our trips with Alla. On each ocassion we paid with CC on 2nd day. Very easy.

[Toofarfromthesea]

I just prepaid using my travel credit card on their secure site.  We're using SPB-Tours.  I'm comfortable self-insuring what I consider the miniscule chance of getting screwed.  And triple points on the card are nice, too.  I didn't have to pre-pay the whole thing - they only require a 20% deposit - but I like to have everything already paid for - as much as possible - when I get on the ship.

[Wayfairers]

I have heard that St Petersburg can be skipped due to high winds.   Do the companies requiring deposits refund those deposits if the ship cancels the port due to weather?

Edited April 3, 2019 by Wayfairers

[Toofarfromthesea]

52 minutes ago, Wayfairers said:

I have heard that St Petersburg can be skipped due to high winds.   Do the companies requiring deposits refund those deposits if the ship cancels the port due to weather?

 

They say they do and I have no reason to doubt it.  And no wish to personally find out. 😉

[RosemaryTraveller]

We are booked with Red Sun Tours and don't need to pay any deposit. They say we can pay with CC in St. Petersburg. That's fine for us.

[dogs4fun]

On 4/3/2019 at 12:01 PM, Wayfairers said:

I have heard that St Petersburg can be skipped due to high winds.   Do the companies requiring deposits refund those deposits if the ship cancels the port due to weather?

It usually states on the company website under FAQ regarding refunds. All of the top tier companies whose websites that I've checked state that they issue refunds if your ship does not make it into port.

Last year one of the ships (can't remember which one) failed to make it into St. Petersburg for both days! I assume that all companies requiring deposits refunded. Reputations would be damaged if they failed to keep their word as stated on their website. Check the reviews on TripAdvisor and Cruise Critic - I found no such complaints.

[Wayfairers]

8 hours ago, dogs4fun said:

It usually states on the company website under FAQ regarding refunds. All of the top tier companies whose websites that I've checked state that they issue refunds if your ship does not make it into port.

Last year one of the ships (can't remember which one) failed to make it into St. Petersburg for both days! I assume that all companies requiring deposits refunded. Reputations would be damaged if they failed to keep their word as stated on their website. Check the reviews on TripAdvisor and Cruise Critic - I found no such complaints.

I assumed that would be the case but I found one company in South America that said if the ship cancels you need to ask the ship for a refund because we won’t give you one.  I found another company to use for that port.