Normal to Prepay for Vacation Apartment?

Is it common practice to prepay the full fee via wire transfer prior to arrival? I%26#39;m renting an apartment for the first time and am feeling a bit apprehensive.

The rental company has positive reviews and looks reputable, but I%26#39;m still a bit nervous.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

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Although prepaying is common enough I%26#39;d NEVER pay using a wire transfer service - you have NO protection if something goes wrong. Personally, I%26#39;d walk away from anything that didn%26#39;t accept credit card payment.

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I must correct myself. The agency said %26quot;bank transfer.%26quot; Is this a safer transaction or should I still avoid?

Thanks!

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I must correct my earlier posting. The agency requested a %26quot;bank transfer%26quot; not a %26quot;wire transfer.%26quot; Is a bank transfer a safer option? Or should I look for another apartment that takes credit cards?

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

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Could you maybe post a link to this company?

If not, what%26#39;s their name in address?

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Prepaying for a vacation apartment via bank transfer is quite common. Inside the EU bank transfer is the cheapest option for both sides. To accept credit cards here is rather expensive for the dealer and for owners of one or just a few vacation apartments not common at all.

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Germans make many payments by bank transfer where in other countries you wd probably use a credit-card eg charity donations. They never did pay by cheque the way we did in the UK (and to some extent people still do inthe UK).

We have even paid for furniture for our flat in Berlin by bank transfer to the furniture company, upon delivery; we also pay for Airberlin tickets from our German bank account.

However it isn%26#39;t normal to be asked to pay full fee for a rental until really near the date in my experience; in some places we%26#39;ve paid part in advance and the the rest on arrival.