# Paying for fuel in France



## jeangenie (Jan 24, 2010)

Hi

At the moment we are in Northern France making our way up to Calais to get a ferry to the UK.

After touring for 8 weeks we found that some of the fuel stations were 24/24 where the only way you could pay for fuel was by card if the stations were not open.

Unable to use Barclay Debit or Barclay Credit Card.

Is anyone able to offer advice on which card is best to use to buy fuel when the stations are closed so that we are well prepared next time?

Thank you


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## dragabed (May 24, 2008)

*http://dealer.truma.com/_anweisungen/Truma-Katalog/pdf_verze*

caxton is the way for us 
after reading reviews on here applied for one,a few hic ups at first but no problems using it in france.


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## joedenise (Jul 20, 2007)

Have used both Nationwide Credit Card and Saga Credit Card successfully.

Denise


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## Glandwr (Jun 12, 2006)

Any Visa card will do in my experience

Dick


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## geraldandannie (Jun 4, 2006)

Glandwr said:


> Any Visa card will do in my experience


Yup. We have Smile Visa debit cards, and we've had no problem for the past few years (including the automatic pumps).

Gerald


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## spire2003 (Dec 21, 2008)

jeangenie said:


> Hi
> 
> At the moment we are in Northern France making our way up to Calais to get a ferry to the UK.
> 
> ...


Never had any trouble anywhere in Europe with Mastercard. I always inform them before i travel and tell them where i am going.


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## stevee4 (Oct 12, 2007)

I used Caxton in all sorts of ways. From fuel, food, campsites, and cash. The beauty being I could control how much money was on it and if there was any loss or fraud it was only ever going to be what the card held. Loading is easy and a decent (better thanUK banks) rate of exchange. 

Loved it would recommend it.


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## Addie (Aug 5, 2008)

Halifax Clarity trumps the Caxton card in my experience (we have both).

Often a automatic pump will pre-authorise an amount of upto say €150 which often takes several days to be returned to your account and the actual amount debited - leaving the difference untouchable. We use automated pumps all over Europe - no issue.

Halifax's exchange rate has always been better then the days prevailing rate and over the last couple of weeks a good few points better than Caxton. Furthermore all purchases are fully insured and you have 2 weeks to check your bill online before the funds are debited from your current account. Also you don't have to worry about having adequate funds available to make a purchase in an emergency and should it be used fraudulently it is fully insured.

If you stray out of the eurozone as we have a Caxton euro card loses its viability and the global card doesn't appear to have as competitive an exchange rate. 

'Downside' is the charge for cash withdrawls - 12.9% a year or circa 1% a month (£1 on a £100) however this is pro-rata so if you withdraw cash a few days before your statement date you pay only 0.5%. 

If you have a Halifax Current account (free to setup) you also get a £5/mth bonus if you spend over £300 on the card - more than offsetting any cash withdrawls upto £500.


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## mikebeaches (Oct 18, 2008)

jeangenie said:


> Hi
> 
> At the moment we are in Northern France making our way up to Calais to get a ferry to the UK.
> 
> ...


Similar problem for us in Northern France a couple of days ago.

Went into a 24/7 unattended E.Leclerc filling station where fuel was a good €1.26.2 per litre. Faffed around for almost fifteen minutes trying various cards and trying to summon somebody on the intercom.

Then Sue spotted a small sign - 'French bank cards only' !!!

Not much we could do but curse, and move on to another filling station. Managed to get the same price for the fuel, but paid a cashier.


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## kc10 (Jan 28, 2010)

Maybe those who have used a Caxton Card to pay for their fuel can help out here. 

In the T&C's it says that if you use it for an automated purchase like fuel then the machine debits €100 (or there abouts) from the card before you get the fuel. If your fuel is only €60 it can take up to four weeks to get the difference refunded to your card. Is that the case? We have a Caxton Card but never used it for fuel because of that reason. We only used cash. Buying fuel in France is a headache. 

Keith


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## rosalan (Aug 24, 2009)

We used the Norwich and Peterborough Visa Debit as there is NO interest or exchange fee charged.
We have never had a problem with any card. We have had a problem working out their system or reading very dim screens at times.
Be persistant and carry a good luck charm.
Alan


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## GEMMY (Jun 19, 2006)

Never had my Tesco credit card refused, points mean prizes. :lol: 

tony


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## altom (Sep 12, 2009)

Hi
I used a Caxton some 5 days ago on an auto pump in Alpes area. It said it was authorised for €150 worth of fuel. I filled up with €77 worth. Logged in today into accounr and only the €77 had been charged. Thought it would take lomger to refund. Did it take out €150 or €100 to start with I wonder?


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## TR5 (Jun 6, 2007)

I would think that all card purchases, where the final amount is unknown when authorising, operate a trial purchase above the amount you are likely to need, to prove there are sufficient funds to cover.
When the final figure is known (i.e. you have finished filling with fuel), the trial purchase is processed and finalised, but at the reduced and actual figure/amount of purchase.

I have never seen a set deduction and then a credit back on a card statement, for any fuel I have ever purchased abroad, only a debit for the actual amount bought.

I have found that some fuel station card machines reject the card, and just try another machine, usually in the same filling station, with success.

I usually check with the teller first, if it is an attended fuel station.


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## ThursdaysChild (Aug 2, 2008)

Apart from hiccups trying to load the card online, we have been more than pleased with the Caxton Eurocard's performance. Now we don't bother trying online -just ring them and load over the phone. ( why are all the staff Seth Effrican, I wonder ?).
It has been accepted abroad over the counter, at the ATMs and at the auto fuel pumps.
A slight difference from Addie is that the Caxton Euro Card worked perfectly well in Switzerland this year, but the gnomes won again on Sfr conversion.
We tend to fill the tank when the needle is gasping at the bottom of the red line, so there isn't too much difference between a pump authorised amount and what we actually take. Life's too short to worry about a few euros being held in escrow for a couple of weeks.


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## shirleydeputy (Jul 31, 2009)

Hi
Halifax credit card for us every time. We have never been refused and use the 24/24 pumps regularly to avoid trying to hang out the cab doors to reach the cashier!
We find the exchange rate is consistently better than some alternatives.
The consensus amongst my holidaying pals is that MasterCard presents fewer problems than Visa but that's not scientific. 
We do let them know before we leave home, but I know that some card companies no longer require you to inform them.
Strangest one we had was in Spain when the card authorisation had to be done centrally at just one machine prior to going to fill at your pump. We had to queue for ages to complete the authorisation and then on filling got no receipt telling us precisely what we had spent. All we came away with was the ticket issued earlier showing that we were authorised to fill up to so many litres. We didn't like the system but the money taken from our card was ultimately correct.
Shirley


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## leseduts (Jun 3, 2008)

We use a LeClerc unmanned petrol station at Nonancourt which will only accept French Credit Cards, but this is the only one we have come across.


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## Wizzo (Dec 3, 2007)

Caxton for us too. I have always been charged the actual amount when using fuel pumps so no problems there.

JohnW


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## alunj (Sep 5, 2007)

With caxton depends on the garage. Carrefour at Calais pre authenticated over 130 euro for a 90 euro spend , it took a week to get the 40 euro back.
Had the same issues with Paypal Mastercard. Lloyds visa seems to work anywhere !


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## jonse (Nov 2, 2008)

*Cards*

Some times it pays to try one or more if there is more C/machines on the site, But have never had any problms with Mas/C anywhere so far,


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

I always thought that the display of 150 was to show a max limit that could be bought.

cabby


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## teensvan (May 9, 2005)

Hi.

N/Wide card works for us in Germany and France fine.

steve & ann ----- teensvan.


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