Reply To: Touring in Europe

[Richard MooreParticipant]

Couple of points I’d add based on my recent experience of driving here (I live near Libourne/Bordeaux now). The acceptance of UK bank cards by the supermarkets seems to vary a bit. We have had UK debit cards randomly rejected. We have also had our Wise forex card rejected too and that is registered in France and pays out in Euros. But it’s so random (and rare) that I can only think it’s a bank security check that’s bouncing them rather than the specific pump. In general the Wise card which has a french IBAN and where I’m paying in Euros is generally accepted everywhere. And of course paying for gas in France means they take a bigger amount of cash from your account than you’re actually paying at the pump (it gets refunded a few hours later) so avoid straying too close to your limits on debit cards.

Oh and we’ve also had the Wise card rejected on a few occasions by the peage…

So I guess my top tip would be don’t rely on one form of payment. Case in point- we’re currently renting a car from LeClerc. Last month we used my Wise card for the rental and they took the deposit (1500E) of the card. This month it bounced so I had to use a credit card. Go figure.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by Richard Moore.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by Richard Moore.