You really shouldn't have to haggle at all. Get $15USD per passport and hand it over when you land. The actual visa is nothing more than a stamp that they put in your passport with the price of $15 stamped on it. Or hand over £10 note per passport and get your change from them.

Hi,

Just to clarify why we haggled;

Hubby saw the queues to the $15 booths & no queue at the Thomson desk. Being a man, he refused to queue!

I told him that Thomson would want £11; they did, but what happens if you go to the Thomson desk is that they give you the visa slip, stick it in your passport & you pay on the transfer coach.

At the coach, they requested £11 from each of the 4 of us. That's when hubby said, "No way" as the visa clearly states $15 on it & that doesn't equate to £11. They said it was to cover their handling fee....as they do sweet F.A to earn said handling fee hubby refused to pay £11 each & wouldn't get on the coach. He didn't make a scene, was very calm & dignified & as they didn't know what to do with him (& us) they accepted £8.50 each.

There is not much for which you CAN'T haggle in Egypt; remember to haggle in the chemists!

Regards

When the hubby and I went in Sept we duly went to the left hand cubicle he waved us to the next, the next one waved us to the next etc. Everyone else but me went to the Thomson Desk queue, they made us go to that one! I had my 30$ USD in our passports when we got to the top they asked for the £ I said no 15USD so then he waived us back to the first desk were the guy eventually got the stamps out for the 30USD! Hubby was fed up and impatient and just wanted to pay the money.

Incidentally when I have looked at my info today after booking at TC it states:

VISAS British Citizens p/p holders NEED a visa Valid for stays of upto 30 days for customers with return/onward tickets. The cost of a single entry visa has increased to ?20. Passport must be valid for 6 months beyond intended stay. Whenever possible advise customers to obtain visa before departure.

For these and all other nationals contact Consulate on 20 7235 9777 Consulate of Egypt 2 Lowndes Street London. SW1X 9ET hours 0930-12.30 Mon-Fri lodging, 14.30-16.00 Mon-Fri collection.

Seems to me they are advising everyone to get a visa regardless of whether they leave the Sinai.

Can't remember the advise but can you just send to the Consulate for the visa's i.e. sending your passports or do you have to apply for them in person?

So I take it that I will need another visa when we go again in July? as I intend to take the daughters to Ras Mo and Luxor.

Karen

Yes Karen you will need another visa to go to Luxor next time. Was it £20 you put up (question mark no currency figure)

We are just back and you have a choice to pay in dollars or sterling.We paid in dollars and it was $15. per person.When you get into the airport go to the furthest away desk on the left hand side.There is a sign on the window saying "visas $15".Quite simple really.

It doesn't say on the info sheet just ?20 I take it that they mean £'s.

Karen

Right...I would think they mean £'s. God at least Dick Turpin wore a mask to rob people!!!

We joined the shortest queue and gave the guy £20 sterling for the two of us - no problems at all. I think the trick is to look as if you've done it before and know the 'rules'.

That was in April this year.

The very first time we went, we'd no intention of leaving the Sinai area and so we knew (from reading info on this site) that we didn't need a visa. The guys in the airport were VERY insistant we did, but we stood our ground and ignored them. Again, you just have to look as if you know what you're doing.

The tour operators will blatently lie to you about the need for the visa.The reason for this is that they make a fortune by selling excursions.Most of these excursions are to cairo etc,places you need the visa for.No visa for you = no selling of excursions for them,they need you to buy the visa to stand any chance of selling their excursions. You can get a visa for £18 before you leave by sending your passport and the application form to the Egyptian consulate in london.The reason it is slightly more to buy this way is due to the fact that it will be a multiple entry visa that will be valid for 6 months if requested,other wise it will be a single entry visa.....

http://www.egyptianconsulate.co.uk/index.html