French AutoRoutes - Is A Liber-T Tag Worth It?

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cosmicbike

Perhaps This One.....
Moderator
Location
Egham
Last year we drove the camper down to the Dordogne, then back up the West coast over a 15 day period. With the exception of the free sections of autoroutes, we used entirely D and N roads. I did this as I wanted to show the kids how big France is, and how the regions vary which is very noticeable on the minor roads, less so the autoroutes.
The downside was the number of hours driving, and if we do a similar route this year with the recent speed limit reductions will only be worse.
So, we have planned our routes to include the toll paying sections of autoroutes, and TBH it will save a huge amount of time. Overall cost for all the journeys is looking to be about 150 Euros.
Is it worth getting a Liber-T tag for the van? It will mean no queueing at the tollbooths, no need to worry about having cash in the van. But it will add about 65 Euros to the cost, and we are not planning to go back to France next year.
Anyone have any experience?
Thanks
 

Milkfloat

An Peanut
Location
Midlands
I have one for company trips. I would have to be a very regular user to do it personally due to the expense. A lot of the auto lanes are not big enough for larger vehicles anyway so you end up queuing. For personal trips I use my Halifax Clarity credit card because there is no loading on the exchange rate.
 

Dave7

Legendary Member
Location
Cheshire
We have "done" France quite often. Mainly south or far west. Always gone autoroutes and paid tolls at the booths. Only once did we have a problem or delay. So.... although I cant compare the 2 methods I have never had delays with the tolls and TBH they were one of the highlights for the kids (not kids now though).
 

Ming the Merciless

There is no mercy
Location
Inside my skull
Not sure where you get the 65 euros from. We have a tag from sanef and only an extra 6 euros a year plus the initial tag deposit which you get back should you ever return them. The rate for using auto routes is exactly same as cash. They defo save time at the peages, number times cars have gone past at a rate of knots only to do the same 30 mins later after we have gone through a peage.
 

Milkfloat

An Peanut
Location
Midlands
It is €10 application fee + €6 account management fee + €20 deposit + €5 per month the tag is used (capped after €10) - all plus vat. In addition you get a crappy exchange rate plus 2% fee. For me that is not value for money, plus if I have bikes on the roof I cannot use the fast lanes anyway.
 

KneesUp

Guru
I'm currently debating a 6hr journey for c. €150 or an 11 hour journey for nowt. What I really want is a route planner where I can say "Ideally I'd like to spend less than €100, and it take less than 8 hours - show me the route" ViaMichelin seems to give me a different cost and route every time at the moment!
 

Tin Pot

Guru
Couldn’t get one working a few years back, which can extremely stressful with people queuing/blocking behind you.

Returned, complained, and they kept trying to charge me for years.

No chance of a refund either.
 

bianchi1

Guru
Location
malverns
Depends when you travel. I have often driven down to the Alps skiing during school holiday times and the tag has saved me a good amount of time in the busy stations around Lyon.

In the quiet times (such as last weeks drive to the alps) it doesn't make much difference. Still nice to go through the fast lane tho.
 

slowwww

Veteran
Location
Surrey
Not sure where you get the 65 euros from. We have a tag from sanef and only an extra 6 euros a year plus the initial tag deposit which you get back should you ever return them. The rate for using auto routes is exactly same as cash. They defo save time at the peages, number times cars have gone past at a rate of knots only to do the same 30 mins later after we have gone through a peage.

+1 . We go to France most years, often blasting from North to South in a single day, and I wouldn't be without the Sanef tag. At some tolls it'll only save you a minute or two, but if you're travelling at the busy times and/or at the stretches where the major routes converge, such as Reims, Troyes, Dijon, Lyon, Tours etc, the time save can often be 20 minutes or more. If you're going through 10 or more of these, I think a time saving of 2-3 hours is well worth the meagre outlay.
 
OP
OP
cosmicbike

cosmicbike

Perhaps This One.....
Moderator
Location
Egham
I'm currently debating a 6hr journey for c. €150 or an 11 hour journey for nowt. What I really want is a route planner where I can say "Ideally I'd like to spend less than €100, and it take less than 8 hours - show me the route" ViaMichelin seems to give me a different cost and route every time at the moment!

We found the best thing to be the Michelin road atlas. Last year we used this in conjunction with Google maps and wrote our own directions.
 
OP
OP
cosmicbike

cosmicbike

Perhaps This One.....
Moderator
Location
Egham
Not sure where you get the 65 euros from. We have a tag from sanef and only an extra 6 euros a year plus the initial tag deposit which you get back should you ever return them. The rate for using auto routes is exactly same as cash. They defo save time at the peages, number times cars have gone past at a rate of knots only to do the same 30 mins later after we have gone through a peage.

I was a bit out, it's nearer 50 Euros. And that's assuming I don't keep it. Decisions decisions..
 

Mr Celine

Discordian
Currently en France after an eight hour drive from Zeebrugge last Saturday. A tag would have cost as per @Milkfloat above and would have saved about two minutes at most, which is easily offset on a trip that long by setting the cruise control a couple of mph higher.
At our final peage the exclusive tag lane was closed so if we'd had one we'd still have been stuck for five minutes behind the numpty that had lost her ticket.
 

Broadside

Guru
Location
Fleet, Hants
We have a Sanef tag and my experience is as per @YukonBoy and @slowwww

We drive the length of France once or twice a year. Sailing though the tag only lanes often saves 10-20mins per toll even if you can’t use the 30km/h lane with a van or bikes on the roof. The saving in hassle with fumbling about with change or finding a machine that refuses your Uk bank card, and allowing your passenger to stay asleep rather than reach out for a ticket or to pay through the left hand window all make it less stressful.

It is quite easy to get the application fee waived. Yes it does cost up to 16euro per year for the pleasure but the lack of hassle more than makes up for it IMO.
 
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