We have just come back from our 4 weeks in France (weather a lot better than over here apparently but didn't seem as hot as usual) and noticed that more and more of the toll booths seem to be unmanned. This means you either pay cash or use the credit card.
Using the credit card is easy and no pin is required. Insert it and it spits it out very quickly and the barrier opens. We have used this method quite a lot and have had no problems. We use a card which gives the current money market rate so this is usually better than using cash.
Only once in all our trips to France have we had an unmanned booth refuse to accept our ticket which we had taken fron the first toll booth as per usual. Luckily someone came along, gave a Gallic shrug and sorted the problem.
Most times everything works well.
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It involves great responsibility from the passenger in the front of the car to get it together quite quickly after being in a state of bliss, just watching the French countryside go by.
You must be alert to the calling from the back of the car that there is a toll coming up.
You then grab the bag of change from the glove compartment and then with a joint effort from the driver assess if you have to pay and which lane to go into.
If you are short like me, you then assist the driver with directions to get as close as possible to the booth so you can pump the vast amount of coins needed into the machine (which is a good place to get rid of them), larger change is needed at manned booths.
During this stage you must always look out for cars and vans changing lane suddenly.
You must then drive away rejoicing at the fact you have completed another section of road which just takes you closer to your holiday and you didn't drop your money on the floor.
We then wait for our friends to come through who have a bigger car than us.
Personally I used to like the tolls where you threw your money into a big bucket type gizmo, very satisfying.
Following a tip from my sons, it might be an idea to have a box in the front of the car, with coins sorted into 'types'. They put a foam rubber insert with rounded cut outs, which (I think) used to hold candles into a shallow box. They sort all their coins into 1 and euros, 50cents, etc., and pop them in the cut outs, and then no matter what the toll it's easy to get the right change together once it flashes up on screen.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Quote: Originally posted by jandjstott on 25/6/2012
We have just come back from our 4 weeks in France (weather a lot better than over here apparently but didn't seem as hot as usual) and noticed that more and more of the toll booths seem to be unmanned. This means you either pay cash or use the credit card.
We have not long got back from 3 weeks over there and noticed this aswell.
I did'nt like paying by Credit Card but mainly had no choice this year.
Got the APRR tag. Seems realy efficient but you do have to have a splutterung of pidgin French and the ability to read between the lines when you try some of the website's text in Google Translate. Getting it and using it wasn't rocket science though.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Paying for toll roads in France
