 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi, we are driving from Calais to the French Alps 27th-28th December and back 4th-5th January. I'm wondering if you would recommend buying the road toll pass ("Emovis Tag"), or is it cheaper to pay for each toll as you pass them? Thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Motherofthree, I am not aware of Emobis but I do have the tag from APRR which is quite popular amongst the snowheads community.
http://www.aprr.fr/fr/telepeagelibert/particuliers/offre-occasionnels
There is a small upfront cost to obtain the tag as a small additional monthly service fee applied only to the months you have used the tag. I believe the charges are the same.
I think most would agree the convenience and speed far outweighs these small charges especially if you are going to use in future years.
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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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Motherofthree, get the tag. Well worth it.
So convenient if by yourself.
But best bit is if got companion: they can stay sleeping while you go through the Peage, rather than being woken up to pay.
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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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Thanks for your replies and for posting this link. This road toll pass is actually cheaper than the “Emovis tag” one that I was looking at!
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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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Emovis used to be SANEF which was one of the first to have a website in English and offer direct debit on an English bank account. As Ozboy says there are small charges which are clearly outlined on the Emovis site. Emovis charge the same tolls as on the road. The convenience of driving through the 30kph lanes, not having to wake the other half or be woken and not paying until the following month makes the small charge worth it.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Do you know if APRR charge the same toll fees as if you pay each time you pass the toll booth? Thanks
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@Motherofthree, yes fairly sure they do. You should be prepared for around €120 - €150 in tolls for a return trip to the alps depending on where you are going.
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| Motherofthree wrote: |
| Do you know if APRR charge the same toll fees as if you pay each time you pass the toll booth? Thanks |
They do.
I have one.
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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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I recommend getting the tag. If you have a roof box be aware that some of the fast track peage lanes have 2m height barriers.
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Wow, that’s expensive but I was aware it would be something like that. We are driving to La Plagne. Thank you for all your replies.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Highly recommend a tag. We have the emovis one. There used to be a deal if you were taking the tunnel which gacevyou a tenner off which is the initial charge. If you have a tunnel crossing check their website to see if they still do it
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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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It'll be busy. Think about timing. Best to avoid arriving in resort between 10 and 4 pm.
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The transceiver is a good idea if you are driving on your own or don't want to wake your passenger to pay. There are 4 sections of toll between Calais and La Plagne. A transceiver will save you about 10 seconds on collecting the ticket and about 15 on paying. Personally I have never bothered. It seems a lot of money to save less than 2 minutes on the journey.
I'll have to check on the billing for using your card on the route. If your debit card charges £1 for each transaction no matter what the value of the transaction it could add an extra couple quid to your bill if each section appears separately. IIRC the tolls come to 65-75 euros each way (I cannot remeber exactly).
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You know it makes sense.
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@Motherofthree, well worth getting one.
The initial charge is a deposit on the tag and gets refunded if you close the account and return it.
If you order the APRR one online, the site doesn't like UK post codes. Get around this by putting your post code as a line in your address and put 00000 in the post code box (I think its 5 digits in a French post code) . Remember 00000 will be your temporary password the first time log into your account.
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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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@johnE, my credit card gets charged once at the end of the month for all charges that month. If I'm paying by card at each toll (like this summer when my tag failed) then there's a transaction charge each time.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Tags are not really worth it IF you are doing a once a year trip,as others have said its just as quick to use a debit or credit card (plus not paying until you get your statement) and there are no extra monthly usage charges and no strange exchange rates to worry about. (Make sure you get one of the many low rate forex cards)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Of course, getting a tag is worth it. It's illogical to claim otherwise. There are no disadvantages, other than the initial set-up effort, and the advantages are that you avoid the faff of repeated cycles of collecting a ticket and then the card insertion every segment; there's no potential to lose a ticket or be unable to find it as you approach the toll; multiple transaction charges on your card; no requirement for a passenger to be awake to do the ticketing/payment; and you get fast-track through reserved gates when it's busy. You can take the tag with you and use it on a hire car, as unlike the stupid Dartford Crossing system, it's not car-specific.
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Fri 6-12-19 14:19; edited 1 time in total
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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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I don't have a tag but do have a French bank account so I don't have to pay a transaction charge for each toll.
Worth checking on what you would be charged on your credit card.
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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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| Quote: |
transaction charge each time.
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It is this transaction charge I was concerned about. A few years ago I was using a sterling debit card to drive down the Aosta autostrada and the bank helped itself to £1 every time I paid a toll. There are a lot of them on that section of motorway.
@LaForet, You are simply wrong.
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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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| johnE wrote: |
| @LaForet, You are simply wrong. |
Wrong that with a tag I don't have to queue, stop, get the passenger to open the window, take a ticket, close the window, and drive off?
Wrong that with a tag the passenger doesn't have to be woken up if they're asleep, then find the ticket, find a credit card, and I don't have to queue, stop the car, open the window, and the passenger has to insert the ticket, then insert the card, then retrieve the card, close the window and we drive off?
Wrong that with a tag I can sail through a <30> lane without even stopping?
When I said 'illogical' what I meant was I can't see the logic of recommending to someone that they not get a tag given all its advantages and absence of disadvantages, other than the effort to get it set up. Yes, once upon a time, setup was convoluted, but it's now much easier.
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Fri 6-12-19 14:50; edited 4 times in total
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Having a tag saves a lot more time than a few minutes, in busy times you can use the tag only lanes so far less queuing, also as we often have two singles in the car with us its much easier to split to travel costs when you get one bill instead of having to remember the cost of each toll, especially if you use them during the week going to different resorts to ski
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| LaForet wrote: |
| johnE wrote: |
| @LaForet, You are simply wrong. |
Wrong that with a tag I don't have to queue, stop, get the passenger to open the window, take a ticket, close the window, and drive off?
Wrong that with a tag the passenger doesn't have to be woken up if they're asleep, then find the ticket, find a credit card, and I don't have to queue, stop the car, open the window, and the passenger has to insert the ticket, then insert the card, then retrieve the card, close the window and we drive off?
Wrong that with a tag I can sail through a <30> lane without even stopping? |
@johnE - LaForet is correct as there is only one monthly transaction charge when using the card as they bill for all charges in one go at the end of the month. Therefore using a tag is probably cheaper than paying manually with a UK card at each toll station.
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@robs1, Surely you just look at your bank statement, where you see exactly each toll charge, add them up and divide by two.
@LaForet, You forgot about changing gear, applying the clutch, brake and moving the steering wheel. All of which you have to do 8 times going from Calis to La Plagne.
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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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Having a tag is definitely worth it especially on the really busy weekends when queuing slowly through the 30kph lane saves massive amounts of time over the ordinary lanes. Agreed when it's really quiet the time saving is minimal but it's quite common for a car that's just passed you to take 5 minutes to pass you again if it goes through the ordinary lanes.
Don't forget the fun watching the French drivers behind avoid following behind you because they think the stupid English driver is in the wrong lane.
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| robs1 wrote: |
| Having a tag saves a lot more time than a few minutes, in busy times you can use the tag only lanes so far less queuing, also as we often have two singles in the car with us its much easier to split to travel costs when you get one bill instead of having to remember the cost of each toll, especially if you use them during the week going to different resorts to ski |
We've had the APRR tag for about 11 years. Last Christmas we saw first hand just how much time it saves. We were travelling with friends in 2 cars and our tag stopped working at Chalon-sur-Saone, theirs worked perfectly. They got to Aime a full 80 minutes ahead of us. I guess that at quiet times of the year it probably doesn't make much difference but when it's busy it certainly does.
For us, the ease and lack of faff makes it fully worth the small monthly charge (about 1,50 euros i think for the month that you use it).
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| johnE wrote: |
[
@LaForet, You forgot about changing gear, applying the clutch, brake and moving the steering wheel. All of which you have to do 8 times going from Calis to La Plagne. |
Now you're being silly.
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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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| Timc wrote: |
| Don't forget the fun watching the French drivers behind avoid following behind you because they think the stupid English driver is in the wrong lane. |
This is definitely great fun. Plus the GB, usually in a Bentayga or Cayenne, who tailgates you all the way into the 't lane and suddenly realises that they Have A Problem .....
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| LaForet wrote: |
| Timc wrote: |
| Don't forget the fun watching the French drivers behind avoid following behind you because they think the stupid English driver is in the wrong lane. |
This is definitely great fun. Plus the GB, usually in a Bentayga or Cayenne, who tailgates you all the way into the 't lane and suddenly realises that they Have A Problem ..... |
+1
I confess I had to Google 'Bentayga' as it looked like a keyboard accident...
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You know it makes sense.
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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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| Timc wrote: |
| Don't forget the fun watching the French drivers behind avoid following behind you because they think the stupid English driver is in the wrong lane. |
This^
The time-savings vary depending on how busy the toll stations are. If it's normal then maybe it is only a few minutes and a bit of convenience but we have definitely gone round the outside of massive queues to the dedicated booths before now. Maybe we've been lucky recently but we haven't hit a huge toll queue for four or five years.
But every year we have the fun of looking in the mirror looking at people who think we're in the wrong lane.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I must be incredibly lucky but have rarely encountered a queue of more than one or two cars at the toll booth.
People do occaisionally accidently enter the Telepeage lanes and get stuck, but these appear to be French cars not GB registered ones. The other cars reverse out of the way without showing much anger.
Our challenge is to pick up the toll ticket without actually stopping, which isn't that hard. I've never managed to pay without stopping.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The biper does make it so much easier when driving back and forth by oneself.
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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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@wills_h, More or less essential if travelling on your own
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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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I've done it without. I also had an extreme case of man flu. It was possibly the most miserable drive of my life! I think that was 21 years ago though.
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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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| johnE wrote: |
@robs1, Surely you just look at your bank statement, where you see exactly each toll charge, add them up and divide by two.
@LaForet, You forgot about changing gear, applying the clutch, brake and moving the steering wheel. All of which you have to do 8 times going from Calis to La Plagne. |
Yes I guess you could do that but I dont use my DC for paying tolls especially the 1 or 2 euro ones which you get sometimes when changing motorways or going to town etc, each to their own and I admit we are like others here we are very childish when the tag beeps we always cheer and seeing others fly by in their knob cars and then pass them in the queue makes us smile
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
each to their own and I admit we are like others here we are very childish when the tag beeps we always cheer and seeing others fly by in their knob cars and then pass them in the queue makes us smile
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And vice versa there is a strange satisfaction watching the car go through the 30k barrier while you slow up and pay then overtaking them a few 100 metres down the road.
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ah yes, the nervous tension the first time you approach a toll after months away from the French roads, and the joy when you hear the beep and know its working ! We reckon it saves us 30 minutes on a 12 hour journey to cruise through the 30kph lanes, so well worth the extra small usage charge. And it saves the bickering with my DH that used to happen when either ticket or card failed to work, or the person responsible for feeding them into the toll machine took too long, or dropped them down the side of the car seat where they couldn't be retrieved without opening the door... All in the past thanks to the doofer on the windscreen.
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| pam w wrote: |
| It'll be busy. Think about timing. Best to avoid arriving in resort between 10 and 4 pm. |
We were planning to arrive around noon as check-in doesn't start until 5pm. Is it really busy arriving in the resort from as early as 10am?
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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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| adithorp wrote: |
@Motherofthree, well worth getting one.
The initial charge is a deposit on the tag and gets refunded if you close the account and return it.
If you order the APRR one online, the site doesn't like UK post codes. Get around this by putting your post code as a line in your address and put 00000 in the post code box (I think its 5 digits in a French post code) . Remember 00000 will be your temporary password the first time log into your account. |
Thanks for your advice, useful to know.
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Another possibly option: get a sterling account if you don’t have one, then get a euro account via them. Transfer some euros into it from your main account. Think it’s a 40p chargé or something like that.
Set your debit card to use the euro account and you’ll not have the transaction charge then.
Tag sounds less faff though 
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