RosieinOz

Hi all,
Hoping someone can help us before we leave for Europe next week where we will be driving through France and Italy. Here in Australia most of our motorways are cashless so a tag is necessary or you ring after your trip to pay.
Is this system used in France or Italy these days? It's a few years since we were there and the toll booths were still in action.
Thanks for any help you can offer.
Rosie

StuDudley

Bring lots of cash to France. Credit cards work about 85% of the time - and it one doesn't, you'll have a long line of people behind you honking & gesturing. More & more booths are becoming un-attended.

We encountered a booth about 5 year ago that was un-attended, didn't take cash, and our credit cards (plural) wouldn't work. I had to get out of the car and lift the arm. This was at about midnight after dinner in a different village.

Stu Dudley

vinoroma

The system is used in italy but you can buy them only at the bank and giving the licence plate of your car - won't work for rental cars. But the toll booths accept cash as well as credit cards, so it won't be a problem. Just in case, have some cash with you always.

adrienne

<< won't work for rental cars >>

Why won't it work for rental cars? Are rental car license plate numbers blocked from the system?

Sarastro

If you signed up for and purchase a toll tag, I can´t imagine why it wouldn´t work with a rental car but you probably would need a French credit card or bank account to sign up for toll tags.

Otherwise, as StuDudley say, bring lots of cash. I have seen toll booths that only accepted coins; no bills, no credit cards, no attendants.

kerouac

The Télépéage tags in France require a subscription, so they are not suitable for a Holiday.

Some autoroutes in France require periodic payments along the way by cash or card, but most of them have long sections where you take a ticket and only pay upon exiting. The tiniest exits in the middle of nowhere (but which clearly exist for some reason) are the only ones with no attendants and only an automatic machine. With an Australian payment card, you shouldn't have any problem anywhere -- the vast majority of French drivers pay by card.

mazzaschi

We've used a Telepass transponder (equivalent to Easypass in the US) on our Italian rental car for years since we are there twice a year. The funds are taken from our Italian bank account quarterly, but it can also be set up on a credit card. It is very convenient since there's no waiting at the exit. You just have to enter the license plate on your account on their website in case the transponder malfunctions....and remember to take the transponder out when you return the car. You can get one (with a codice fiscale and after a bunch of paperwork) at a 'Punto Blu' at select autostrada exits.

There are also 'Viacards' available at the rest stops in Italy for paying tolls which act as dedicated autostrada credit cards. Faster than cash, but you must keep the available balance in mind. They come in various denominations up to 100E, I think.

vinoroma

Mazzaschi seems to have it work - i was told by my bank that at the time i sign up for it i need to give a licence plate number and it can't be changed. Since i first had to sign up and then get the car (as from sign up to really having the transponder in your hands AND working take a rather long time) it was a catch 22. Must have been my bank's fault - they insisted i have to supply the number at sign up. Good to know that is not true.

mazzaschi

The Telepass system does require you to have at least one car listed at all times,which probably explains your bank's need for a license plate number. Strangely,Telepass will let you list an American car, so we keep our US car listed and add and subtract the rental cars. I think the Punto Blu can give you a bank-linked Telepass same day if you have a Bancomat card (which verifies your bank account to their satisfaction), and perhaps a credit card-linked one as well.

Information is on their website, (it's Internet 1.0 mixed with jargon and Italian officialdom, so it takes patience). Look Under Richiedi il Telepass Family at https://www.telepass.it/ecm/faces/public/telepass/

Tulips

You can get a telepeage in France without having to have a French bank account now, but for just one holiday it would be too much hassle. Using a CC is the easiest on French toll roads.

hetismij2

It would be nice if one of these centuries all the countries with tolls, and those planning them (Germany, next year!!) could get together and agree on one system, which Europeans at least could purchase and use throughout the EU. Wishful thinking I know.

It is getting so we won't be able to leave the Netherlands in any direction without paying a toll. Maybe time we introduced them too .

StuDudley

>> Using a CC is the easiest on French toll roads.<<

but the hardest if your CC does not work.

Stu Dudley

mazzaschi

European electronic toll compatibility has been in development for years. For trucks Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and Belgium are now compatible.

kerouac

For anybody who comes to France and drives at least once a year, I read on the Télépéage site that the casual use ones remain valid if they are used at least every 14 months.

I'm sure that the various systems will become compatible before long. In just a year or two, we will no longer have any international roaming charges within the EU for mobile phones. (But there will be a ceiling on use to prevent people from subscribing to the cheapest country.)

bvlenci

I don't think it's worth getting a Telepass for the Italian autostrade if you're a tourist. The amount of savings isn't very much, and we've never had a long wait at an autostrada exit. We do avoid traveling on autostrade on red alert weekends. When the autostrade are backed up, that's the time to hit the smaller roads.

HappyTrvlr

We had no problems using our US credit card in Italy's toll roads. However, most of the times we tried to use the credit card in France, it wouldn't work. Have small bills and coins with you.

RosieinOz

Thanks so much everyone what a great group of people we have on this site!!
Amazing how different the toll systems are in each country, as you said hetismij2 it would be great if everyone worked on a common system
Here is Australia our toll tags work in each state now so it's easy to move around and our major highways between say Sydney and Melbourne are free ways you just pay tolls to traverse the cities.
No Sydney toll roads are manned just tags or call a well advertised number and pay over the phone.
Maybe I should add that info into the Australian forum!
Thanks again everyone we leave in a weeks time for a 10 week trip and there has been loads of help from this forum
Cheers
Rosie