José M. Malo

"Marie Lewis" escribió en el mensaje
news:[email protected]...
    > I know nowhere in Europe where one pays first.

In Madrid (and in general, in Spain AFAIK) is very common that, during
nighttime, one has to go to the cashier first and pay in advance, to prevent
delinquency.

Tim

    > > Not in Germany. There's some legal reason, which is very annoying
    > > because
    > Every time you see a sign "Raststätte" (roadhouse) you can safely assume
    > that there will also be a gas station. Although you are right, the brand
    > is never advertised. But that isn't a problem - fuel in Germany is
    > always of high quality.
    > As for credit cards: not sure if VISA debit card would be accepted.

VISA is normally more widely accepted than Mastercard, American Excuse or
DC. IME
If you have an ATM card that works in a European bank, it'll most likely
(but not 100%) work in the petrol station as well.

Tim.

Tim

    > >Or do I fuel first then walk into the gas station and
    > >pay whatever I pumped?
Yes.


    > Shouldn't be too hard to figure out. But be sure you know what kind
    > of fuel your rental car uses, and what kind of fuel comes out of each
    > pump (a large percentage of cars in Europe use diesel fuel). Otherwise
    > you could be like those television show contestants who filled their
    > diesel trucks with petrol despite the "diesel" labels on the trucks'
    > fuel caps.

As a rule of thumb, petrol nozzles are coloured green, with the octane
rating on the top (91, 95 or 98, usually), and diesel are black.
You'll be unlikely to find leadded petrol anywhere now, but it does happen.
You can't put leaded fuel in a car that uses unleaded, as the nozzle for the
unleaded is narrower, and the leaded nozzle won't fit into the filler hole
properly.

Forrest

"Marie Lewis" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > I know nowhere in Europe where one pays first.

Theer are quite a few stations, especially in France and especially at
night, which are unmanned. As far as I remember you have to put the card in
to start the pump so in effect you have to pay (or at least commit to pay)
in advance.

Michael Forrest

Forrest

"Martin Stock" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
.
    > Paying in advance is only common for unstuffed gas stations (with Euro
notes
    > [or cards - but not credit cards]).

(sic)

Michael Forrest

Alec

"Tim" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > > > Not in Germany. There's some legal reason, which is very annoying
    > > > because
    > >
    > > Every time you see a sign "Raststätte" (roadhouse) you can safely assume
    > > that there will also be a gas station. Although you are right, the brand
    > > is never advertised. But that isn't a problem - fuel in Germany is
    > > always of high quality.
    > >
    > > As for credit cards: not sure if VISA debit card would be accepted.
    > VISA is normally more widely accepted than Mastercard, American Excuse or
    > DC. IME
    > If you have an ATM card that works in a European bank, it'll most likely
    > (but not 100%) work in the petrol station as well.
Except at unmanned stations at fuel pumps in France. The only time you can
use non-French ATM or credit card is when there is a human operator who
physically swipes your card. French cards are smart cards, but are
incompatible with most smart cards now being issued elsewhere (different
technology). So you cannot insert your non-French card at the pump as it
will not be recognised. This can be a problem in rural areas at night where
there are very few manned 24-hour stations. Either make your way to the
nearest autoroutes, pay toll and find a fuel station (always manned), or
wait until a French driver pulls up and offer him/her cash to buy fuel on
his/her card.

Alec

Jim Preedy

Alec wrote:

    > "Tim" wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > > > Not in Germany. There's some legal reason, which is very annoying
    > > > > because
    > > >
    > > > Every time you see a sign "Raststätte" (roadhouse) you can safely assume
    > > > that there will also be a gas station. Although you are right, the brand
    > > > is never advertised. But that isn't a problem - fuel in Germany is
    > > > always of high quality.
    > > >
    > > > As for credit cards: not sure if VISA debit card would be accepted.
    > >
    > > VISA is normally more widely accepted than Mastercard, American Excuse or
    > > DC. IME
    > > If you have an ATM card that works in a European bank, it'll most likely
    > > (but not 100%) work in the petrol station as well.
    > >
    > >
    > Except at unmanned stations at fuel pumps in France. The only time you can
    > use non-French ATM or credit card is when there is a human operator who
    > physically swipes your card. French cards are smart cards, but are
    > incompatible with most smart cards now being issued elsewhere (different
    > technology). So you cannot insert your non-French card at the pump as it
    > will not be recognised. This can be a problem in rural areas at night where
    > there are very few manned 24-hour stations. Either make your way to the
    > nearest autoroutes, pay toll and find a fuel station (always manned),

Not always manned - Calais to Boulogne has an auto station, so don't rely
totally on that.

    > or
    > wait until a French driver pulls up and offer him/her cash to buy fuel on
    > his/her card.
    > Alec

At each stop, there is *usually* a sign showing how far to the next stop as
well, so you can judge whether to stop now or later.

Jim
--
Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician.
------------
This post represents the views of the author and does not necessarily
accurately represent the views of my employer.

Steve Gallagher

Marie Lewis wrote in message news:...


Many thanks to all the helpful replies.

Many would say that an American couple, with a small smattering of
French and an even smaller smattering of German, on their first visit
to Europe, might be considered Quite Mad to be setting off on a road
trip instead of sticking to something more predictable and "touristy",
but we are actually incredibly excited about our "Euro Road Trip". :-)

nightjar

"Marie Lewis" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > In article ,
    > nightjar@?.?.invalid writes
    > >owever, be careful of relying on 24 hour petrol stations off the
    > >Autoroute in France. They are usually unmanned at night and then only
accept
    > >a credit card with a PIN. From previous posts on this group, it seems
that
    > >not all US card PINs work in Europe.
    > I think it is the chip that is different in France.

UK and other chips that comply with the newer international standards don't
work with the pioneering French system. However, I'm not sure whether the
USA uses intelligent cards yet.

From what I understand, US cards can have either four or five digit PINs,
one of which works and the other of which does not. However, that is drawn
from memory of previous posts on this group and, as it is quite irrelevant
to my needs, may not be correct.

Colin Bignell

nightjar

"Gernot Egger" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
...
    > IMO you should not get leaded petrol within the EU anymore.

It is more usually lead replacement petrol. Some older cars still need to
use that, to avoid damage to the engine from the hotter-running unleaded
petrol. It still tends to get called four star in the UK and I would guess
it is still called super in France, both names previously given to leaded
petrol.

Colin Bignell

nightjar

"Marie Lewis" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
...
    > I know nowhere in Europe where one pays first.

I have come across note accepting pumps, which take the money before
releasing the pre-paid amount of petrol. They tend to be used on unmanned
stations at night, but they are rare.

Colin Bignell

Marie Lewis

In article , Steve
Gallagher writes
    >Marie Lewis wrote in message
    >news:...

I did not write what follows.

Marie
    >Many thanks to all the helpful replies.
    >Many would say that an American couple, with a small smattering of
    >French and an even smaller smattering of German, on their first visit
    >to Europe, might be considered Quite Mad to be setting off on a road
    >trip instead of sticking to something more predictable and "touristy",
    >but we are actually incredibly excited about our "Euro Road Trip". :-)

--
Marie Lewis