Supermarket fuel in France, Card Only! (1 Viewer)

[Squirepete]

Just got back to blighty after our annual trip from Algarve.
We usually pay for our fuel in cash €.
We had difficulty this time as the French supermarkets seem to have closed all the cashier kiosks,
and require machine card payment only. 24/24
The diesel in the supermarket was 1.43€ average. Total etc forecourts its about 1.58€.
You need to know the current exchange rate plus transaction charge to know your true price.

We did manage to fill up in cash at a Super U near Blois, which got us up to Calais.
(That's after we had to call breakdown and have a new battery. but that's another story.)

We usually fill up at Carrefour in Calais but they were 24/24 also, at 1.43€. I didn't know the price in UK,
but was glad I waited for Tesco in Dover at £1.28.

 

[iandsm]

I was wondering why you prefer to pay cash, is there some advantage?

 

[bigtwin]

Why do you prefer to pay cash?

Why are you interested in his personal spending habits?

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[iandsm]

Why are you interested in his personal spending habits?

Is there something wrong with my question, it's a perfectly legitimate question based on what the OP himself has posted. I was simply wondering if there was some advantage I wasn't aware of. If the OP is offended by my question, which I doubt, he won't answer.

 

[bigtwin]

Why are you interested in his personal spending habits?

Is there something wrong with my question, it's a perfectly legitimate question based on what the OP himself has posted. I was simply wondering if there was some advantage I wasn't aware of. If the OP is offended by my question, which I doubt, he won't answer.

I was just wondering why you were wondering and I wonder if he will tell us.

 

[iandsm]

I was just wondering why you were wondering and I wonder if he will tell us.

We shall see, I wonder if it's better than using a card because of charges etc.

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[JJ]

Revolut.

No charges.


JJ

 

[scotjimland]

Did someone say Cash .. thought he was dead.. along with cash payments ..

Long live Revolut .. love it , however,

One place it won't work (nor any other pre paid card) is the fuel pump that use your card .. it's ok at cash desk.. but not at the pump.

 

[Simon Richardson]

I've been caught out previously on a Pre Paid C/C as I didn't realise some take a big security deposit as well was the fuel - takes 20 days for the money to be available back on your card.

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[Pete5996]

Pre-paying by card can often be a lot easier than hanging out of the cab at the kiosk. Saves a wage for kiosk staff, of course. Now we just need a way to purge their love of the cheque book in the shops....

 

[SpeedyDux]

Pre-paying by card can often be a lot easier than hanging out of the cab at the kiosk. Saves a wage for kiosk staff, of course. Now we just need a way to purge their love of the cheque book in the shops....

That love could be based on the French law that makes paying with a rubber personal cheque a criminal offence.

Cash is freedom! Long live cash!

 

[Allanm]

I've been caught out previously on a Pre Paid C/C as I didn't realise some take a big security deposit as well was the fuel - takes 20 days for the money to be available back on your card.

We use cards all the time, prepayment authorisation amount is generally around €127 and is back on our card usually immediately. Longest we had to wait was about 1/2 hour.
If you use the diesel pumps for lorries ( we used to with our Winnebago at 78 gallons per fill!!) , prepayment can be as high as €800 but again, is available on your card within minutes.

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[Clarky]

When there are a number of credit cards with no exchange charges available I can't understand why anyone would want to mess about with cash payments for fuel.
We use a Zero card for just about everything in France and only use cash for small bits and bobs like the morning croissants.

Richard.

 

[PhilandMena]

Just got back to blighty after our annual trip from Algarve.
We usually pay for our fuel in cash €.
We had difficulty this time as the French supermarkets seem to have closed all the cashier kiosks,
and require machine card payment only. 24/24
The diesel in the supermarket was 1.43€ average. Total etc forecourts its about 1.58€.
You need to know the current exchange rate plus transaction charge to know your true price.

We did manage to fill up in cash at a Super U near Blois, which got us up to Calais.
(That's after we had to call breakdown and have a new battery. but that's another story.)

We usually fill up at Carrefour in Calais but they were 24/24 also, at 1.43€. I didn't know the price in UK,
but was glad I waited for Tesco in Dover at £1.28.

We too were shocked at the price of fuel in France which is now higher than the UK. We too have also found many fuel stations no longer manned and require a debit card. At City Europe in Calais we also found the fuel station no longer manned and all the pumps automated with the addition of a machine on the wall of the unmanned pay-booth that will issue a token after receiving a cash payment, that can then be used at the pumps. Never thought I would see the day where Fuel in France would be more than it is here. They must be in a financial crisis me thinks.

 

[PhilandMena]

I Thought I would add, when we filled up there on 27 May this year. It accepted my Caxton card and took €130 which was held for almost two weeks. This was later returned in full, less the cost of the fuel.

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[Bailey58]

We'd be lost without the Revolut card in Norway, and the rest of Scandinavia too. My Clarity card has died for some reason but that never worked in unmanned pumps nor did the Revolut as I soon found out. I always have to find a "proper" petrol station and explain the problem at the till and pay.

 

[Figaro]

Average price of fuel per litre in Italy is around 1.52 euro but also saw it much more, getting on for 2 euro at autostrada garages.
That's partly why we moved on to Croatia and then slovenia where it was more like 1.22

 

[Clarky]

Its not only about the ease of paying with a credit card in French supermarket fuel stations but if you pay at the booth you then have to negotiate the daft chicanes they put in.
Threading a 25ft A class round some of them is often a little tight to say the least.
Pay by card and drive straight out.

Richard.

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[Allanm]

We filled up yesterday, diesel at €1.40. (Super U) We bought Euros at 1.139 to the £ after paying transfer charges, so our cost was around £1.22 per litre.
Not as cheap as it was a couple of years ago, but still cheaper than Squirepete’s £1.28 a litre at Tesco.

 

[Spanner]

Did someone say Cash .. thought he was dead.. along with cash payments ..

Long live Revolut .. love it , however,

One place it won't work (nor any other pre paid card) is the fuel pump that use your card .. it's ok at cash desk.. but not at the pump.

It worked for us, in May this year we travelled through France to northern Spain and were able to use an Asda prepaid card everywhere we stopped including fuel pumps, perhaps we were lucky, on our return the balance left on the card was repaid in our local store without any penalty.


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[PhilandMena]

Revolut.

No charges.


JJ

Not correct! See below.
The prepaid card from works using its app and gives perfect interbank rates (the rates banks give each other – far better than bureau de change) for most currencies, including euros and dollars. The only exceptions are Thai baht, Russian roubles and Ukrainian hryvnia – here Revolut will give you the best rate it can find at the time with a slight mark-up, so check rates in the app.

There are no spending fees but free ATM withdrawals are limited to £200 per calendar month – a 2% fee applies above this.

Do bear in mind that Revolut applies a small mark-up on its rates at weekends, when the markets are closed. It takes the interbank rate at midnight on Friday and adds between 0.5% and 1% depending on the currency until 11.59pm on Sunday. With this card, you can either get the rate when you spend or lock in a rate before you go. For more on this, see the write-up below.

Need-to-knows

• You need a smartphone to use it as it's managed via an app, meaning you can load, exchange and withdraw funds with the touch of a few buttons. Once you've loaded cash, you can spend anywhere in the world.
• You'll either get a Visa or a Mastercard, though this won't affect the rate you'll get as Revolut uses the interbank exchange rate.
• You need to request the card in the app and it can take up to nine working days to arrive.
• • You can hold 25 currencies including pounds, euros and dollars on the card, and exchange between them instantly. So, if you have cash left over after your holiday, just swap it back to pounds, and use the card here.
  • You can spend in more than 120 currencies. When you spend, the card automatically exchanges from your available balances at the interbank rate for that currency.
  • Revolut is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, meaning money you deposit is ring-fenced (in a Barclays account), so in the event there are problems with Revolut, the money's safe.

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[teknik155]

Go to Luxembourg it's €1.12 for derv

 

[2657]

Go to Luxembourg it's €1.12 for derv

#1......it's a long way

#2......my motorhome stops when it runs out of fuel.....no matter where I am

 

[Pete5996]

Never thought I would see the day where Fuel in France would be more than it is here. They must be in a financial crisis me thinks.

I think they're permanently in a financial crisis, like most countries.

This time it's just that crude prices have gone up and there's always a proportionally higher rise in the pump price in France rather than the UK - and back at the turn of the year the politicians did their usual cynical stunt of jumping on the 'green' bandwagon as an excuse to raise the tax on diesel.....

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[Ridgeway]

It still surprises me that in the UK there are few to non Automat card payment tills at a gas station and when the clock strikes 11 or 12 they just close up leaving only an odd one open per area (usually the 24hrs Tesco or the like). I several European countries they even use chip based payment schemes with the chip inside the car and no need to pay at the point of purchase at all, it's just charged to an account automatically. The UK may catch up one day

 

[mikebeaches]

When there are a number of credit cards with no exchange charges available I can't understand why anyone would want to mess about with cash payments for fuel.
We use a Zero card for just about everything in France and only use cash for small bits and bobs like the morning croissants.

Richard.

I'm with Richard on this one.

We have two different credit cards for using abroad - Tandem and Aqua - that don't have any exchange fees, so give inter-bank net rates, and ADDITIONALLY have 0.5% casback!

Use them all the time wherever possible. Carry only a few Euro for very small bits and bobs, and about £100 in Sterling, for emergencies.

Not sure what the advantages of pre-paid cards (or cash) is these days.

Credit cards are paid off each month by direct debit, so everything is taken care of hassle-free - unless I'm missing something?

 

[Just smiffy]

Just got back to blighty after our annual trip from Algarve.
We usually pay for our fuel in cash €.
We had difficulty this time as the French supermarkets seem to have closed all the cashier kiosks,
and require machine card payment only. 24/24
The diesel in the supermarket was 1.43€ average. Total etc forecourts its about 1.58€.
You need to know the current exchange rate plus transaction charge to know your true price.

We did manage to fill up in cash at a Super U near Blois, which got us up to Calais.
(That's after we had to call breakdown and have a new battery. but that's another story.)

We usually fill up at Carrefour in Calais but they were 24/24 also, at 1.43€. I didn't know the price in UK,
but was glad I waited for Tesco in Dover at £1.28.

€1.43 at £1.13 exchange is £1.26, cheeper at Calais ....

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[carolyn]

I love Revolut but it was refused twice in France this year, once at Chateau Chambord and the other at a restaurant, both times my Post Office mastercard worked. I used it many other times though without a problem but I was taken by surprise as it has been so reliable.

 

[Nasher]

Many Asda petrol stations in the UK are card only with no staff.

I can't remember that last time I used cash to pay for fuel. Probably 1971 on the Old Kent Road (London) when I used to commute from Kent to London on my motorbike - from memory it was 32p a GALLON.

 

[denisejoe]

Just got back to blighty after our annual trip from Algarve.
We usually pay for our fuel in cash €.
We had difficulty this time as the French supermarkets seem to have closed all the cashier kiosks,
and require machine card payment only. 24/24
The diesel in the supermarket was 1.43€ average. Total etc forecourts its about 1.58€.
You need to know the current exchange rate plus transaction charge to know your true price.

We did manage to fill up in cash at a Super U near Blois, which got us up to Calais.
(That's after we had to call breakdown and have a new battery. but that's another story.)

We usually fill up at Carrefour in Calais but they were 24/24 also, at 1.43€. I didn't know the price in UK,
but was glad I waited for Tesco in Dover at £1.28.

You paid the equivalent to €1.45 ??

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