Just returned from five weeks traveling in France via rental car (4,500 km) and toll roads. Happy to report we did NOT use cash or "chip & pin" credit card, but just a regular credit card. With a "tap" of the card we paid and off we went! Easiest trip by car using toll roads so far in Europe. We did follow the protocol from Rick Steves remembering to pull into the toll booths with the "green" arrows only and/or credit card symbols. (The lanes labeled "T" are for cars with automatic "Télépéage" for payment by electronic transponders.) If you want a receipt just push the button for receipt. Cheers!
Posted by
91 posts
We just finished our toll road trip and had the same experience.
We had two different styles of toll road: ticket and pay when you leave and the second was with toll roads where you would stop and pay during your journey. I used one card, Capital One, for all tolls.
Posted by
Washington DC Metro Area
8 posts
Thanks for posting this, very helpful! I was wondering if I needed to get a transponder from the rental car company for tolls and god knows how much they would tack on. If it is easy to just pay tolls using the toll booths, we may not opt for the transponder, as I think it may be a minimum of 12-15 Euros per day? I am guessing based on US rates.
We have a one week rental and are mostly spending time in the Loire Valley, with two nights in Mont St Michel.
Glad you mentioned Capital One card, we have the Spark Miles card too. Does this card require a PIN anywhere in France to use? If so, have to find out what it is, as I have no idea. Don't want to get stuck with a non-working card if PIN is a requirement.
Posted by
France Southwest
1839 posts
It is very rare in France for a rental company to have the transponder option.
In any case, at all tolls, you can pay by credit card without a PIN code if your CC has the contactless function.
This is also valid for all contactless transactions under €50.
Posted by
Corvallis,OR, USA
117 posts
How about at the gas stations? I've read conflicting reports on credit cards working at the pumps. I plan to use my Capital One which has tap & pay and I also know the PIN. Did you have any issues at the pumps?
Posted by
OP
Seattle, WA, USA
38 posts
Regarding gas stations, yes we had issues particularly the last few weeks of our trip. Not sure why. Could be certain gas stations or credit card. Have yet to investigate. That being said, we solved the problem by "prepaying" inside with credit card and then pumping gas. Credit card worked that way, but not directly at pump.
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
6608 posts
On my May trip, my cards (I tried two) didn’t work at the pump, but worked perfectly well when paying inside the station.
Posted by
Chicago
8092 posts
Glad to hear this -- last time we did major road tripping was about 6 years ago and every region had different companies running the tolls and some would not accept our credit cards at all, others were fine and almost none had a cash option.
Posted by
OP
Seattle, WA, USA
38 posts
Just an additional note regarding credit card and gas pump charges: If you are successful at tapping your credit card at the pump, don't be surprised if there is a "preauthorization charge" of $150.00 on your credit card record. This happened to us a few times, but rarely shows up on your charge record and if it does, it disappears within 24 hours.
Posted by
Washington DC
87 posts
We used our phones (Apple Pay) for nearly every transaction in France, including tolls.
Posted by
OP
Seattle, WA, USA
38 posts
Agreed. I don't think I used cash at all in France for the five weeks. It was all tap with the phone. Mine was GooglePay. In fact, I had coins from a previous trip which finally I unloaded at the airport to buy a French chocolate bar. Ha! It's become so easy to pay. We experienced the same in Greece last summer.
Posted by
Louisiana, USA
359 posts
I used the "tap" option all over Paris and also had no problems on toll roads.