We will be driving from Amboise to Chamonix. Toll roads are expensive but shorter time. What happens if your toll is larger than the change you have. I know our credit card works for every other machine in France but not toll booths. We have used toll roads but the cost in change has been manageable. With this long trip I'm afraid we won't have enough change to pay. Any ideas??
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
You should make an effort to carry plenty of change. Smaller bills, under 50 euros, are also accepted. You can often request 10- or 20-euro notes when withdrawing cash from an ATM. You can also make more than one withdrawal from an ATM (e.g., if you don't want 400 euros all in 20s).
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
Why not just get a real chip and pin credit card from Andrews Federal Credit Union?
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
The manned (clearly evident icon) booths take bills.
Posted by
Tilburg, Netherlands
2829 posts
Ed, more and more toll plazas do not have any human attendant.
Posted by
Santa Rosa, CA, USA
355 posts
If you use the website viamichelin.com, you can get a good idea ahead of time of how much cash you will need. I would just plan ahead to have enough cash. For longer trips you're not talking about change so much as you are bills. I usually put an envelope or ziplock in the glove box with a variety of bills and coins to use for tolls.
Posted by
OP
South Carolina
3 posts
Andre, you're right. We have traveled from Bayeux to Amboise and haven't met a "manned" booth yet. The largest toll we've had was 8€20 and we've managed that. I don't know if the booths from Ambroise to Chamonix will be manned. I've looked at the projected toll and it's around 90€...that's a lot of change. Rick recommend s packing light...that weighs more than my clothes!
Posted by
1 posts
Well here is a bit of a shocker. Yesterday we were driving in France and stopped at a toll booth where the attendant looked at our Andrews FCU Chip/PIN card and so "Non." So we paid cash. Today we were on another toll road and decided to use the automatic credit card reader booths. The machine rejected the Andrews card. With several cars behind me I had to call for help and an attendant walked over to our car and took cash for the toll. I showed her the Andrews Visa and asked why it was rejected. She said the card is not compatible with their network. Because of some language difficulties we could not learn more. The Andrews card works everywhere else including train and parking vending machines. Not sure what has happened on the toll roads.