 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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even expensive fuel in France is cheaper than in the UK! Well, it is if you use diesel. I don't drive out of my way to find cheap fuel - on the long journey down to the Alps I use the motorway service areas; it's not worth a half hour detour to save a few euros. But otherwise, the big supermarkets are the best bet.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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We've found a station at Nuit St George that is so close to the autoroute that is quicker than using the nearest services.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Hells Bells, that sounds good. The few times I've tried getting petrol off the autoroute I've regretted it, so I don't bother now. Once got horribly caught up in roadworks in Reims, dodging trams. I noticed that fuel prices in Italy seemed high - fortunately my car will get to Genoa and back on one tank of diesel, as it did 40 mpg (even with aircon on practically all the way, some mountain climbing and quite a bit of 130 kph).
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You can see it from the autoroute once you know it is there. Through the toll booth, and turn right after 20 metres or so. Supermarket if you want anything else.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We didn't use to bother but for various reasons we've discovered there are some quite handy options close to the motorway. And the price difference can be as much as 20 cents a litre. 12 Euros for the 60 litres our car takes. Anyway the information is there for anybody who wants it.
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Hells Bells, Top tip, thanks for that 
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Excellent. Next time I'm in Thonon I'll fill up at Cora rather than Carrefour.
I don't mind nipping off the main road to fill up - only wastes a couple of minutes and can actually save time if there is a big queue (though this is rare). If I run it low I can fit in 70 litres+ so 20c/l on two tanks is close to E30.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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boredsurfin, it just coincides with the red light on the fuel guage too. Trouble is, on most occasions it just happens to be around lunchtime and it would be rude not to stop for lunch in Nuits St George.
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Through the toll booth, and turn right after 20 metres or so.
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I don't go past Nuits St george on my more easterly route - sounds a good spot though. I have wondered sometimes whether you lose out by coming off the péage - do several short trips cost the same as one long one? I have never tried to work it out. I pay no attention at all to toll costs - they are charged direct to my French bank account, like the management and maintenance costs of the apartment and I never look closely at those either. 
However I do, more often than not, use the Jura route rather than the autoroute past Bourg en Bresse. Takes only about 15 minutes longer, is much more enjoyable and saves both péage and fuel costs. I have tried the whole journey off-autoroute but you can lose the will to live on the section between Reims and Calais - interminable even on the péage!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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pam w, I don't think it is any more than possibly a couple of centimes at most. We've stopped using Bourg en Bresse since the new road opened.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Can anyone state that when the petrol attendees aren't onsite that either Debit or Credit cards actually work in the automated machines? I've been a few times to the supermarkets to find that the attendees are only there for a few hours in the morning and afternoon, most of the time its automated and I always seem to have a problem trying to get my card(s) to work.....is it just me!!? 
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Simon94, Credit Cards should be fine, I hardly ever use attended pumps now. I do notify the bank that I'm going abroad though.
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You know it makes sense.
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Tbh... The fuel station directly off the Channel Tunnel used to be dirt cheap, but I think it has gone up to normal 148 (ish) prices... Travelling down to Les Contamines, I use the Inter Marche 2 mins off the autoroute, as you turn up to St Gervais (Domancy)... Been there 3 times in so many months now and it is never higher than 133... Can 'almost get from Calais station to St Gervais station on 1 full tank...
Cracking site mind  Thx
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Simon94, no it's not just you. Very often the more rural ones will only take a card issued from a French bank. International credit cards (Visa/MasterCard) are NOT accepted.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Fill up at the Carrefour self service in the car park at Cite Europe then again at Geant Casino, Albertville never have to touch the Autoroute filling stations and in reverse on the way back.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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International credit cards (Visa/MasterCard) are NOT accepted.
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I've had no problem with my cards recently, even in rural areas, but some years ago it was a real problem - more than once I paid a Frenchman cash to use his card to put diesel in my tank.
It doesn't do to let the tank get very low though - just in case!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Simon94, Sorry bud... Used my Lloyds Debit card every time in automated ones and works every time...
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Simon94,
More than one card?
Only at petrol stations?
Which bank?
Have you spoken to the bank.
These days I would be surprised if there was a specific problem with French petrol stations, even rural ones. More likely to be a problem with your card/bank. As mentioned by someone else some banks/cards are set to decline abroad unless you call them. Although I have never had to do that personally I've read a few people who have hit that problem.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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If you've a French SIM or decent data roaming package, there's a free smartphone application called Essence Free which I find pretty useful. Can narrow search are by #km around you or search by city if you prefer.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I've never had to call Nationwide to use my card abroad.
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Speaking of petrol, guy at the pump next to me got up to 178€ filling his Porsche yesterday. 
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I'll try the card run again seeing as you all appear not to be having too many issues. I had informed my bank and it was a Barclays Debit and a Mastercard Credit card. They seem to be ok on the Autoroute petrol stations where you just handed your card over, maybe its just me, but I will perserve and try again. Cheers
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Simon94, I noticed that card acceptance got a lot better when they started introducing the pumps with a big LCD screen and card slot and keypad underneath.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I filled up going down and coming back at a self service at a Supermarket in Abbevile last month. About 8.45 each time and what surprised me was they were empty while the locals were queing for the manned pumps to open at 9 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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The credit card pumps are notorious targets for scammers so a lot of French people avoid them. I was done at one over Christmas last year, and and a local supermarket one down here on the coast is avoided like the plague. Romanian gangs get the blame down here but doubt there are many of those in the alps...
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albinomountainbadger, Aah! Only time my card got cloned in France I suspected the filling station at Lyon Airport (not a card pump)!
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You know it makes sense.
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albinomountainbadger, how does that work? Is there anything you can do to guard against it, other than not using those pumps?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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pam w, They put a gadget or two in/on the card slot. Sadly it's nothing new, there was publicity in the UK even before I left years ago about always checking ATMS if they look slightly damaged or strange.
Here's an example with some good pictures from a Romanian pump scam near Nice this year. What you see in the bottom photos is
-LEFT the original card slot, and
-CENTRE fake card slot cover linked to the gadgets in the top photos
-RIGHT the fake cover in place over the original in order to read your card at the same time as you pay for the petrol.
I've roughly translated the 'operational' details:
"Thanks to an ingenious bit of deception, the cards were copied to later be reproduced with misappropriation of the victims' bank details. [...] They also stuck a mini camera above the keypad, to capture the pin codes of each card. All that was left was to set-up a blank card with the new details and have a practically unlimited line of credit from the victims' accounts. The scam would pass unnoticed at the time, as the victim received both his petrol and his card back from the machine."
Full story: http://www.nicematin.com/antibes/la-station-essence-de-valbonne-etait-un-piege-a-carte-bancaire.1180466.html
Anyway, as you say, only way to avoid it is not to use them, but of course in the UK it was always the staff inside the petrol station who were suspected of copying card details (the reason you never hand your card over now but place it in the little machine on your side of the counter) so perhaps the only real solution is to join the queues of locals forming at the old school pumps and paying cash.
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FAQ
