Paying for Fuel in France

[Alan Cassidy]

Will probably have to make 3 stops in France next week on a ferry flight. Route Amiena, Dijon, Cannes, then into Italy. Anyone any recent experience buying fuel in these regions with normal credit cards, as opposed to the dreaded "Carte Total" which we tend not to carry? Thanks.
Alan

[patowalker]

Amiens:
Outside AFIS HOR, 100 LL only with TOTAL credit card.

Dijon:
Carburants / Fuel: F 34 (MIL) / 100 LL - JET A 1 (CIV)
Lubrifiants / Oil: O 135, O 150 - CIV: NIL
HOR ATS - O/R avant 1500
Paiement comptant ou carte VISA, carte ESSO, carte UVR
Possibilities to pay cash down or by VISA card, by ESSO card or by UVR card

Cannes:
Carburant / Fuel : 100 LL aux postes fixes du parking TANGO ligne 8, TR0 cf VAC HELICO TXT 03
100 LL at fixed stands of PRKG TANGO line 8, TR0 cf VAC HELICO TXT 03.
Lubrifiant / Lubricant : 80/80W - 100/100W (CIV-MIL)
Crédit TOTAL, carte bleue AMEX ou paiement comptant
Credit TOTAL, AMEX credit card or cash payment.
HOR ATS ou PPR la veille / or PPR the day before TEL : 04 93 90 40 40.

[achimha]

Either credit card or maestro debit card will work in most cases. The Totalitarian fuel stations are often self service with a Total card only and the card terminal is somewhere else so you might depend on someone available to operate it. Most pilots in France tend to not possess a Total card in my experience.

[monacam44]

I went through Troyes, Grenoble and Cannes in August and they all took credit cards. Be careful what time of day you turn up expecting fuel, they're big on their lunch 'hours' there.

It's always good to carry a 500 euros emergency fund when abroad IMHO though.

Regards,

Mona
G-RVCL

[A and C]

I tried to get a total fuel card and they were most obstructive.

[peterh337]

There has been much discussion in some "private" forums about how to get the TOTAL fuel card. From vague memory it involves getting a French bank account, which is in turn facilitated by having an account with a specific UK bank.

However, I have never had to use a fuel card on my French landings. All have been to Customs airports though. I gather that the time you come across the TOTAL-only scenario is when flying to "non international" French airfields. I obviously cannot fly to/from those to/from the UK, and also I can't speak French which is in theory a requirement at such places (international airports must have English speaking ATC).

I understand that quite often, when the TOTAL-only scenario is encountered, a "payment" to an aeroclub member enables a refuel to be done using his card, so you get the fuel and he ends up with a wad of cash in his pocket in lieu of the fuel he "has" "put" into his plane ;) Obviously this assumes you can find such a person, which can be tricky.... the last French place I went to was Poitiers which despite being international was so deserted I could not even pay the landing fee (which in turn resulted in a long drawn out admin hassle, with them applying a bank payment to the wrong invoice etc etc etc and which has been resolved only now, months later).

[Jan Olieslagers]

That gets me curious, A&C: I should think any commercial company would jump when a possible new buyer, however modest, shows up? Were they perhaps unable or unwilling to communicate in any language except their own?

[[ edit: yes, the requirement for a French bank account had been mentioned before. Total still think they must protect and support the French state, of which they were a subsidiary? ]]

[achimha]

@Jan: I even got their contract filled out and signed by Total, in French of course. They ask me to return it together with my French bank account information. Shouldn't everybody have a bank account in France?

[172driver]

That gets me curious, A&C: I should think any commercial company would jump when a possible new buyer, however modest, shows up? Were they perhaps unable or unwilling to communicate in any language except their own?

Jan, have you ever lived in France? I have.....

[A and C]

This is a general problem with French business, they all seem to think that France is the EEC rather than France being part of the EEC.

I once was flying for a German airline on a French contract from France. I got investigated by a French newspaper, the investigating reporter seemed to think that an English pilot flying for a German airline on a French contract was "irregular". there was some shock when I told him that from an employment law stance we were all living in the United States of Europe.

It is high time French business got with the EEC program.

[patowalker]

Having a French bank account is not the only requirement for an Air Total card. You also need to make a deposit in guarantee or get your bank to provide a letter of guarantee.

Au moment de la signature du contrat, un dépôt de garantie vous sera demandé

[Jan Olieslagers]

@172driver: no I've never lived there. But mind you, I live not very far off anyway, neither in distance nor in mentality. Close enough to fully agree with they all seem to think that France is the EEC rather than France being part of the EEC of course "they ALL" might be slightly exaggerated, but even so...

As for Shouldn't everybody have a bank account in France? , I have them in Liechtenstein, Monaco, Guernsey, plus a couple in the Carribeans - shouldn't that be enough?

[patowalker]

Catch up guys. The EEC hasn't been around since 1993.

[achimha]

Having a French bank account is not the only requirement for an Air Total card. You also need to make a deposit in guarantee or get your bank to provide a letter of guarantee.

Same for Air BP by the way but I have never seen them touch my bank account for such a guarantee even though I had to give them authorization.

[patowalker]

They will only come after you if there is not enough money in your account to pay Air Total, or to charge a commission for keeping the guarantee valid.

[proudprivate]

"Albert" next to Amiens used to accept credit cards in 2007
"Calais" accepts all normal credit cards
"Reims-Prunay" accepts AirBP.
"Tours", which accepts all normal credit cards.
"Valence", which takes AirBP or normal credit cards.
"Beaune" (VFR only), which takes normal credit cards
"Macon", which takes all normal credit cards.

Don't know about Cannes, but I recall seeing simply outragious landing fees and therefore ignoring it as a fuel stop.

For Italy, call in advance and get confirmation by e-mail that you will get avgas. A nice stop is Genoa. Relatively high landing fee, though.