Originally Posted by
DaileyB
I have enrolled my 12 year-old (American) son in a Chinese school in Wuhan that he will be attending for about 7 weeks. Have about 4 weeks of tuition in cash, but need to pay for another 3 weeks (roughly $600 to $1200 depending on the activities he chooses.)
Paypal claims that it can be used in China. Wondering whether anyone has any experience with it. Also, I am getting a discount for paying cash for the tuition, and if anyone has any other suggestions as to how to get the money to the school from the U.S. (I am returning to U.S. on 5/26), I would appreciate their insights.
DB
I know we have been in email contact about this issue, but since you started a thread, I might as well provide my opinion for all to benefit:
1) getting a bank/CU account that reimburses ATM fees is always a good idea for international travelers
-I have Schwab, which is awesome, but if I didn't, I would revive one of my CU accounts from years' gone by
2) international wires usually aren't crazy expensive, and they are surprisingly easy to set up
-in addition to your bank, all of your brokerage accounts and mutual funds can send them
-all (tmk) Chinese banks can accept USD wires
-the caveat is that the $50,000/year limit is fairly strictly enforced (most of us use friends when we go over this amount, but must ensure that we trust them a great deal because when the money arrives, it is theirs... full stop)
3) PayPal is perhaps the worst possible way to transfer money in existence; even for an amount like $600, I wouldn't even consider it (principle)