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We are driving down to the alps soonish and its been a few years since we last did it. Last time we used cash for all the tolls but its a pain finding the change and carrying the cash.
Ive looked into the tag thing that goes in the windscreen but we dont go often enough to warrant it.
Is using a card easier? I was thinking of using a prepaid travel card. But i think i read somewhere that alot of cards dont work in the toll stations.
So stick with cash or is a card good to go?
Thanks!
Get a tag, just very easy
I just use my credit card. Yes there's a bit of a fee but never had an issue with my MasterCard. Pop it in, off you go
Cards are easy enough to use. It's good to have some cash and a card available, that way you can pick the queue that's the shortest. As for change... if you expect to only be using up change then you're probably not going very far - it doesn't take a long journey to clock up €10+...
Ive yet to see a visa debit card not work in a toll.
Having said that we now own a TAG for the summer trips and simplicity. Reminds me I need to order my swiss vignette for the hols.
Ideal sounds good to go on the card front. Will make sure I have a bit of cash just in case.
I would like a tag. But its unlikely we will go down more than once a year. So probably not worth the cost. Do the toll payments just come out via direct debit?
We always use a credit card (my wife is French), none of my French relatives have a tag either. These days cash booths are limited, most are card only
Stoner you can buy the Swiss vignette at the border or at any post office
Tag. It's about £20 for the tag and the monthly charge for one month - use a credit card and I bet you'll pay that in currency charges anyway and have the inconvinience. Just comes out of your bank account on direct debit and you can nail through on the 20kmh lanes.
Whatever you do don't try and do it on one of those prepaid currency cards - they don't work. I use them all the time in Europe and they're great, but they aren't reliable on tolls or fuel.
Sanef tag takes all the pain out of the peage tolls, we're thinking of getting an Italian one as well as it removes a potential trigger for 'differences of opinion' between the occupants of the front seats. Also she doesn't run the risk of falling out of the window of the T5...
Sanef tag here for my once a year trip. It's a T5 Caravelle so (as AP says above) it removes any possibility of confusion by over zealous toll operators
if you have multiple tolls in one day, they only charge your card once, so you shouldn't pay a charge on each toll payment. course credit card you don't pay those charges anyway.
So, the T5 is classed as a 'light vehicle' and therefore the same toll fee as a car, on the basis that it's under 2.0m high? Excellent!
Yep, I lent my mate my tag for his t5 - charged as a car and fits through the fast lanes to the left.
As above, don't use prepaid cards for tolls or fuel - they end up taking some sort of deposit while transactions are pending which effectively reduces the balance to zero and can stop you using them anywhere else for a few days - total pain!
Stoner you can buy the Swiss vignette at the border or at any post office
I know, but for the price of a swiss stamp I can have it ready for the summer before I go. There's often queues on the A40 at Geneva. Or if I come in via Bern I dont have to try and find a post office or garage open if its the middle of the night.
T5s go through as cars in France and here in Spain. Seemingly not reciprocated at the M6 toll.
I have never seen the need for a sanef tag, and we're in France quite a lot. And there are about 5 or 6 toll stations in the 2h30 between here an Bordeaux. The worst toll for queues (typically 10km in summer) is crossing the border at Behobia and the tag doesn't help at all for that.
We have a Sanef tag for France and use a credit card for Italy and the Alps tunnels that dont accept the tag. Its alot easier with the camper than trying to reach using the card through the van window
Get a tag; it's quicker as there are increasing numbers of no-stopping lanes and the telepeage lanes are usually much much faster to get through than the card or cash lanes.
RHD vehicle, UK credit card, roll through tolls: no-brainer. Get yourself a tag.
So, the T5 is classed as a 'light vehicle' and therefore the same toll fee as a car, on the basis that it's under 2.0m high? Excellent!
All vans and minibuses under 2m height and 3.5 tons are classed as light vehicles on French autoroutes, even if they have roof racks or boxes.
I've just registered for my sticker for emissions to get near Paris in a few weeks... 🙁
We tried the tag last summer, and it made chuff all difference to queuing times IMO.
TAG here too. As said above great in a right hooker when the passenger is asleep. It definitely helped with queues for coming back from the alpes at Easter.
You get billed only for the months you use it plus the tolls. I think.
I've just applied for a credit card with no fees for paying in foreign currencies. Hopefully it arrives in time!
i have the sanef tag. its defo a good idea for all the reasons above
As said above great in a right hooker when the passenger is asleep.
That is an advantage, sure. But queues? By the time you get to the "tag only" lane you're pretty near the front of the queue anyway. And if you have bikes on the roof the barriers are sometimes too low.
The first time you skip past a 1 hour queue at a monster peage snarl up, you'll be glad of the sanef tag and never want to be without!
worth consider your card's/bank's foreign transaction fee. Want to pay that once for the whole trip's toll total via SANEF, or 15-odd times for doing per booth with your card?
Eit: hadn't realised this:
if you have multiple tolls in one day, they only charge your card once, so you shouldn't pay a charge on each toll payment. course credit card you don't pay those charges anyway.
Is that right? Shows you how closely I look at my statements!
By the time you get to the "tag only" lane you're pretty near the front of the queue anyway.
Depends on the road. Some of the big toll areas on the autoroute du soleil or on the way out of paris have 20-30 lanes and they're starting to make sure everyone knows VERY early which side they need to go. Anyway, personal choice and all that.
The first time you skip past a 1 hour queue at a monster peage snarl up, you'll be glad of the sanef tag and never want to be without!
Not possible. More than few minute's and the queue goes back to the two/three lane section and everybody spends the same time in the queue before the split to muliple lanes.
The first time you skip past a 1 hour queue at a monster peage snarl up, you'll be glad of the sanef tag and never want to be without!
Not possible. More than few minute's and the queue goes back to the three lane section and everybody spends the same time in the queue before the split to muliple lanes.
When the N90 is snarled up on a Saturday evening in the winter it's not the tolls that are holding everything up. So you really do smash past a seriously slow queue.
if you have multiple tolls in one day, they only charge your card once, so you shouldn't pay a charge on each toll payment. course credit card you don't pay those charges anyway.
Every payment appears as an individual transaction on my credit card statements (but there are no fees on my card)
What's the cost of a tag then? We've just driven down to Spain and going again in October. Isn't there a monthly or annual fee?
My annual fee is 15 euros.
Thanks guys, I'll be driving down on my own this year so have just invested in a tag, hopefully save a lot of faff!
I've driven there many years and used cash. The rate on card transactions isn't very competitive.
However last year I used the SANEF tag. It's soooooo easy, you just sail through the barriers waving at all the mugs digging around for change and beat all the queues.
In fact the only time there is a queue for the tag lane is when a dozy Brit has driven into that lane by mistake and is struggling to reverse out of it while all the tag users are honking at them.
Pay by DDR a month or so later.
You only pay the tag rental for the month you use the tag.
you end up 'gaming' the barriers and seeing how fast you can go and how close you can get before they open...
Depends on the road. Some of the big toll areas on the autoroute du soleil or on the way out of paris have 20-30 lanes and they're starting to make sure everyone knows VERY early which side they need to go. Anyway, personal choice and all that.
Maybe that's it. I drove from Calais to Ile de Re last August, lots of holiday traffic, and didn't encounter a single peage where the tag made a significant difference to queuing time.
Card are easier TAG is easiest especially if it's busy. I reckon it saves us an hour between the alps and Calais on a busy day.
I like the tag, because I'm lazy and the cost isn't significant enough to worry about. I don't go on holiday when 'other people' i.e. those with kids do, so I've yet to come across a massive queue that is saves time on. It is nice to just roll through the peage though.
I miss driving in France, it's just better than over here!
You can (under their T&Cs) lend the tag to someone else, though you still get the bill. You can also get the €20 deposit back by returning the tag. Though there's still an initial fee.
Easy to get as you can book it with the tunnel, if you happen to be using the tunnel. Tag lanes you can drive through at 30kph without stopping are pretty cool, though worrying at first when you're not sure the barrier will raise.
Though if card lanes do contactless now then it's a little less faff. Still have queues though.
