Please sign in to post.
Holiday Sale! Save 20% Storewide!

European Toll Gates

Posted by on

We've rented cars several times in France and Spain but seem to run afoul of the toll gates when trying to pay at the end of an autoroute stint.

I've searched google till blue in the face but have been unable to find a clear, simple description of what toll lanes require passes, which require credit cards, and which take cash. I know there are signs over each lane but, to me, they seem designed by pyramid builders in ancient Egypt.

Simply put, I need to know how to pick a cash lane when getting ready to pay. Seems there are multiple, ambiguous choices and panic sets in a bit when traffic behind is heavy.

I know the sign showing a human with several coins is our friend. After that I am lost - especially when the aforementioned sign is absent. Anybody?

Posted by
3643 posts

I feel your pain. On a recent trip to southern France, we discovered that a green, downward pointing arrow indicated a lane where you could use cash. However, that was only after getting into a lane where cash couldn't be used, and our cc was rejected. Had to back out. Fortunately, there was no one behind us. Unfortunately, my husband dropped the ticket; and the extremely strong wind blew it away. Fortunately we were eventually able to raise help from an attendant who accepted our word for where we had gotten on. He took the cash, and away we went.
I think that possibly the lack of uniformity is due to the roads being managed by different companies. During our entire 12 days, we never saw that icon of a person with coins. All cash accepting lanes were automated.

Posted by
2916 posts

I had virtually the exact same experience as Rosalyn recently, except that I couldn't back up because half of Paris was behind me. I had been looking for the sign with the human and the coins, but only saw a green arrow and the Telepeage "T" near me; I now know what the green arrow means, but didn't then. So I went into the CC lane, and all my cards failed. Meanwhile, the wind blew my ticket away. I buzzed the intercom , and finally a person appeared. I gave her the amount of money that had appeared on the screen, and eventually she got the gate to open. Hundreds of cars had been honking.

This topic has been automatically closed due to a period of inactivity.