Buy petrol in France or England?

[welland99]

Going to France on the chunnel at the weekend and wondered what the latest advice is about petrol prices? Cheaper in Folkstone or Calais?

Anybody been recently?

 

[gIzzE]

Depends, on the Autoroute very little in it. Off the autoroute depends....


In other words probably best to just fill up when you need to.

 

[daveenty]

Just had a quick check round and you're probably better over there with the exchange rate as it is.

It used to be the case that diesel was cheaper over there, but petrol cheaper here.

Seems that you have the potential to save up to 20p per litre at the current rate, though probably not at the Airs.

 

[GP801]

At the moment there is not much in it if you are buying on the autoroute. I usually fill up before the shuttle so that I have enough to get a good distance through france before needing to stop. They usually list the prices for the next couple of services in advance so you can see if its worth carrying on to the next one or not.

 

[Mr E]

I use this site - Prix des carburants en France, site gouvernemental - about 50% of stations joined the scheme. They have to report their prices to the government and they are published on this site.

It's all in French, but is quite straightforward to use. We use it to plan fuel stops on the way down south (or not) and to check out where is cheapest in the areas we are staying (or even where a station is - they're not always on the satnav).

 

[gIzzE]

Couple of weeks back I paid €1.29 for a litre of diesel while petrol was €1.58 at the same filling station.

That was NOT on the autoroute.
The Autoroute was around €.20 more per litre on diesel and saw some pretty scary prices for petrol.

 

[grober]

While seeking cheaper fuel is a good idea be wary of buying cheap fuel from smaller "back street " garages [I would proffer the same advice in the UK!] Fuel always best from garages with a high turnover I always think. Not fuel that's been sitting in some old tank for months!

 

[Bosco]

Couple of weeks back I paid €1.29 for a litre of diesel while petrol was €1.58 at the same filling station.

That was NOT on the autoroute.
The Autoroute was around €.20 more per litre on diesel and saw some pretty scary prices for petrol.

That pretty much how it is now. You acn save a fortune by buying your fuel at supermarkets. If you have a GPS many of them offer an option to download their locations as points of interest.

 

[gIzzE]

Doesn't even have to be a supermarket, I filled up at a Shell in Orleans at €1.30 and as soon as I pulled back on the Autoroute it was €1.52 in the big Shell around 10km down the road.
They ask it as they know they will get it.

I never bothered pulling off the autoroute to fill up, but if you know you are coming off before running out just wait.

Also remember that many filling stations are self service in the evening and during the night off the autoroute, and they don't like uk cards.

 

[Vlad]

Just got back from a trip around europe and Luxembourg is the place for fuel....just under £1.00 per litre for diesel.

 

[Mr E]

Also remember that many filling stations are self service in the evening and during the night off the autoroute, and they don't like uk cards.

I've not had that problem for many years now - we do tend to use a Caxton Euro currency card, but have had no problems with the Barclays debit card, Amex, etc.

Used to be a hassle a while back before we went chip and pin, and sometimes the instructions are not as clear as they could be.

As an example, we followed a Brit car into a Carrefour station one evening. Automatic pump, guy got out shoved his card in and then stomped off. I drove in, and he stopped to say that "it don't take British cards, mate". I said thanks, stuck the debit card in, read the instructions (how much fuel do you want, pin number, go) and filled up. I then showed him how to do it and he was much happier.

Quite a few seem to want to know how much fuel you want to put in first, and I guess that catches some out. I always bung in 100, and when it's full and I hang the pump up, check the receipt against the pump display - never had a discrepancy or problem.

 

[gIzzE]

It wouldn't take my Visa Debit the other week but was OK with my works business card. Which is a Mastercard.

 

[Mr E]

It wouldn't take my Visa Debit the other week but was OK with my works business card. Which is a Mastercard.

Strange - did you tell them you were going away and using the card abroad? I know that debit cards can be a bit odd that way and we have been caught out by that, but the bank is used to it now.

 

[BTB 500]

My Visa (credit) card provider advised for the first time this year that customers should let them know the destination and start date if they planned to use the card abroad. Fraud prevention I guess?

With regard to fuel, time/convenience is more important to me than the odd couple of pence per litre either way. Generally we brim the tank before Dover (assuming we're in good time for the crossing) so we don't have to stop for fuel the other side.

 

[gIzzE]

I travel all the time and have an account that covers me for insurance, airport lounges etc. etc. so not sure why there was a problem.

Didn't really matter, but would have done if I had not had the other card.