Club Arnage

Does anybody know if british credit cards work in the automated pay machines at the tolls on autoroutes?

maybe and then i not 100% certain

I'm fairly certain Andy 3 Cobras paid by card at the toll booths - maybe with a debit card but I can't see that making any difference.

I'm not so sure Steve 1 cobra, i've had instances where CC & DC have both worked and failed, it may be to with which Bank system they are hooked into?  Perhaps Gilles may know ;D

Well veering slightly off from the original point, did anyone manage to pay for fuel at the pump with a card?? We tried about 8 or so cards (both credit & debit), none worked!!

don't think so chris, i have used CC & DC in france some do and don't work, i believe it to be the banking computor system. As the same card can be accepted and refused depending where it has been presented.

maybe gilles can help?

From my experience I can tell the Peage take all currency and cards, as much cards as possible. They basically want their money.

Fuel is a weirder subject though. A fortnight after Le Mans I was back to move my sister's household permanently somewhere in the region of my parents (Morvan). I have spent over an hour looking for an OPEN petrol station on Monday morning for the journey back home. Found one that was closed at 8 AM, and I remember they charged €1,160 a litre. Then I found Carrefour by 8.30 (thank God they were open by then) and filled up for €1,009 a litre. That's a 10 pence difference a litre!! :o
Petrol stations don't take any card unless they are open. But do ask if they accept your card before you start filling up. Because if they don't, it might be a long walk to the closest cashpoint... :(

I suppose based upon the logic that they wouldn't want any hold ups and congestion at the toll booths, the machines should accept pretty much anything.  I'll have to try my Blockbusters card next time then!

All UK debit and credit cards now seem to work at all French motorway tolls. So you can save yourself a long wait at this time of year by heading for the "CB" tollgates.
That certainly applies to Barclays, Nationwide, Tesco and Woolwich cards.
UK cards do not work in French "pay at the pump" machines - I think they go over the floor limit, and French cards are always verified by a 'phone link before the transaction is verified. I've never had a problem with a petrol station with a manned till using UK cards.

I had immense problems with a Tesco Matercard in more than one place just this year.

Fag shop in Adinkerke twice
Restaurant in Place du Jacobin twice in two days
Petrol station in Carrefour Le Mans (booth not pump)
Hotel in Frankfurt

They often end up with "no authorisation", so I give them another card to use.

I don't suspect the retailers. Tesco have been really annoying. If your card appears somewhere "unexpected" then they request the transaction be authorised by phone.

Most retailers can't be arsed and simply say "card rejected have you got another".

A few times Tesco have been on the mobile within seconds of the failed transaction to ask where I am. Which I suppose is commendable from a security viewpoint but a pain when you are trying to shop.

So I call then before going away and tell them to expect transactions from these countries...

Thank you, they say, but that doesn't mean we will allow all transactions. Doh...


I tried renewing my domain name with my US provider by phone using that card. Twice it got rejected so in the end I used another. I called Tesco to ask them whet's up, they said an authority had been given. The retailer didn't get it though...Of course, I now have three identical payments to the US company which will cost me time and money to sort out...

I am going to stop using Tesco Mastercard abroad...


Having said all that, back to the original question - the tolls always take whatever I throw at them. They don't even have time to validate. I suspect they work on the law of averages - if they get the occasional dud then it's not a biggie for them...

I found that in frnace late at night on a motorbike you just go round the barrier ??

Oh and with the convoy this year we all paid by card ?

we got in the wrong queue at the first toll booth, and after a quick fumble with the wallets, paid by barclays debit card without a problem.  Can't see the credit cards being rejected....

Yep my TSB visa debit card worked, £1.23 toll + £1.00 overseas transaction charge - not the cheepest way of doing it but when you've got in the wrong que at 8.00am rush hour not alot of choice realy!

I always use the cards as they are cheaper for me.

NAtionwide Debit visa card, all i pay is the rate for the day which is a better rate then you can chnage cash for. Get a differnet card.

Thankyou Gentleman for the quick and informative answers. :) :)

Yup, uk cards do work, as I found out about 18 months ago, and it almost certainly saved us from being in the middle of a major pile up! 
We were heading for Calais from Reims and got in the wrong (short) queue by mistake, which was a CB queue, so wife put her card in, up shot the barrier and off we went,  leaving behind a whole queue of cars, coaches etc waiting to pay!  Mile up the road the heavens opened and we hit a wall of water at about 90mph, the Aston then decided that it wanted to wander back and forward across the two lanes as it aquaplaned, luckily we were pretty much on our own, just one car a few hundred yards behind. So I let the card slow down, keeping an eye on the mirror, and then wooosh the guy behind, span, hit the barrier and then ended up stationary in the middle of the dual carriageway.......   We never saw another car behind us till we passed the next junction....   When we got to Calais someone told us that there had been absolute carnage.....  If we'd waited in the "pay cash" queue we'd have been in the middle of it all,   now we always use the CB booth if there is one!

My Visa credit card did it everywhere in UK last April !!!  ;)