Travelling through France in a week or two and will be spending a fair amount of time on the toll roads - particularly the Calais - Grenoble run on day 1.

Will I be able to pay by card?
Does it have to be a particular type of card? (Mastercard, etc)
Do any UK bank cards cause problems / get refused?

Is there a smart card I can buy in advance?


I've heard there can be problems paying for fuel in France with certain cards.
In my experience (3 or 4 years ago) this wasn't a problem. Have things changed?

 

I have always used Mastercard and Amex.Never had any problems,

 

Yup, absolutely no problems paying with UK cards.

If you've got time you could get a télépéage badge, have a search on here for a thread by Welshman for how to do it. As as a result of that thread we've had one for a few years now and it's really well worth it.

(Sorry to be lazy and not find it for you )

 

There are a few petrol stations that I have had trouble getting fuel at - usually the auto ones in the middle of the night when have been nearly out of fuel!! away from the autoroutes also beware on Sundays when rural ones seem to close down!

regards tolls - recently bought a transponder through SANEF which certainly makes life a lot easier. Cards work fine in tolls but much better with a passenger - crawling across the seats gets tedious and the effort to get close to the toll booth is risky on the alloys Have a great trip!

 

Sanef Telepeage is brilliant - you even get your own lane at the tolls and so can skip some of the queues.

The Sanef website is all in French but pretty straightforward and will post to UK addresses. They also have helpful English speaking staff on the end of the phone to help if you get stuck.

 

I used a Nationwide Visa card. Simply jump out of the car, run around and pay the toll Le Mans style...

 

It's for this reason that the GF is coming with me.



Thanks for the help guys - I've had a look a the SANEF website. Not sure if siginging up for a monthly charge + €30 deposit is worth the bother, especially as we go two weeks today.

 

good thought! like it

 

Yes it is fairly straightforward. From recollection I downloaded the application form from the Sanef website and sent it off. You give credit card details and they send you the doofus which sits in a cradle which is stuck your windscreen. You then just get billed automatically as and when you use it. There's a deposit for the doofus and an annual sub, currently 20 Euros.

Just remember to keep your credit card up to date but you can now do this online.

Although Sanef is the Autoroute operator for the North east part of France there is a reciprocal arrangement with the other French operators so your doofus will work on any Peage road in France.

 

No dukes of hazard shenanegins - no deal.