French autoroute costs - HOW MUCH???

French autoroute costs - HOW MUCH???

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Ken Figenus

Original Poster:

5,715 posts

118 months

Wednesday 14th September 2016
quotequote all
Just got another invoice from SANEF making my total almost £150 for 4 days in France - Calais to Monaco via Reims and Lyon, then Como. No France at all for the return trip. They also charge 5E per month for having an account to pay them!

To my mind that is excessively high. What is the deal here? I know the motorways are a private business - are they run by Sepp Blatter types and their cronies?

This was an interesting read :

http://www.drive-france.com/blog/toll-roads-rip-fr...

Also the pricing seems inconsistent - the below example cited was coming off the motorway 50 miles before destination to save 36E:

If driving from Paris to Bordeaux and southwest France, do not follow the A 10 motorway all the way. Leave the A10 at Orleans, following A71 > A20 Toulouse. At Limoges, follow N141 > Angoulême. At Angoulême, follow the N10 for Bordeaux. All but about 60 km. of this alternative route to Bordeaux is on autoroutes or dual carriageway, but after Vierzon, it's all free. Saving: about 36 €uros less in tolls, for a distance of about 15 miles extra.... and cheaper off-motorway petrol if you need it.


Ken Figenus

Original Poster:

5,715 posts

118 months

Wednesday 14th September 2016
quotequote all
I think Abertis that owns Sanef are making over 50% profit before tax. Surprised the French haven't got a bit of goût to tackle this. Makes my £515pa 'road fund licence' (traditional term...) look good value!

Key figures 2015 :
Total revenues : €4,378Mn
Net profit of : €1,880Mn
EBITDA : €2,692Mn
Web site :
www.abertis.com

Ken Figenus

Original Poster:

5,715 posts

118 months

Wednesday 14th September 2016
quotequote all
We had a couple of detours and cost includes 'finance charges' and 'active service fee' and tag 20E refundable deposit fee. And I drove over a catseye once giving a 1E surcharge!

To be honest we had quite a few tailbacks and queues, and given the land mass of France v UK (esp densely populated South East) I don't see it remotely as value. But I am quite tight wink

Ken Figenus

Original Poster:

5,715 posts

118 months

Friday 16th September 2016
quotequote all
I never imagined paying more than the missus' 12m road tax for 4 days of driving! Champagne prices! Dont get me wrong I'm not losing my house over this biggrin but I consider it extremely expensive and someone somewhere is having a ball... Hopefully my positing will flag this us to similarly poor Euro route planners!

Ken Figenus

Original Poster:

5,715 posts

118 months

Friday 16th September 2016
quotequote all
That 'big picture' isn't really the point (not that fuel at the Aires was much if any cheaper than UK). If you think over 10p per mile or so is good value - fine. I dont.

Ken Figenus

Original Poster:

5,715 posts

118 months

Friday 16th September 2016
quotequote all
Cost per mile is about half the cost of the actual fuel in a 6.0L V12 at 22mpg.

1000 mile toll = £120 ish
1000 miles at 22mpg = 45 gallons at £4 = £180 ish

When I put it like that? Are my maths correct?

Its their country but we should all beware as big business will be after a big slice of that if they can 'provide solutions' for government...

Ken Figenus

Original Poster:

5,715 posts

118 months

Saturday 17th September 2016
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Zulu 10 said:
A few minutes prior to departure to identify those right beside motorway junctions (e.g. the Auchan on the St Omer Road at Boulogne, the Carrefour at Tinqueax (Reims) etc) and I think you could probably have saved tens of pounds.
Top tips mate - close to a tight@rse like me's heart smile. I actually used that Carrefour by Reims which meant a few more quid in the 'really nice hotel' fund - http://www.lechateauderilly.com/ was amazing :-) biggrin Far better appropriation of funds!

Ken Figenus

Original Poster:

5,715 posts

118 months

Wednesday 26th October 2016
quotequote all
I think they are charging for the extra convenience - probably way too much though in my opinion.

I had a TAG for the Severn toll and the cost was just £30 for the tag device - and this cost was refundable on return (French company too - Vinci)! These French big business toll operators are making a killing not only on the HUGE tolls themselves but also on the means of giving them auto money!

Its a little like Fast Track at Heathrow - convenience over rip-off value... Our call I guess...

Ken Figenus

Original Poster:

5,715 posts

118 months

Thursday 27th October 2016
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Fatt McMissile said:
...TROP VITE. Not seen that before, bit of a shock. Won't be long before it has our names on it.....and pehaps charge the tag account with the fine......
Steve
I did check the small print for stuff like that but they say they keep your personal info private...for now...idea