I am sure you can do better than that, these machines really all work in a very similar way.
When i was in Japan i managed to figure out the parking ticket machines (that had lonng instructions printed on them) only by the color of the buttons, and when we went to restaurants in the countryside – where really most people speak zero English – we translated the menus with the Google App. Worked great!
Peter wrote:
Whoever put up that French-only text is either astonishingly dumb, or is trying to make a point. I reckon the latter is vastly more likely, and I won’t bother digging around for past threads supporting that view
The problem with the UK is that everything is written in English. No French… So it really hard for Frenchmen to understand anything there. Which makes them reluctant to go to the UK. 
Peter wrote:
Whoever put up that French-only text is either astonishingly dumb, or is trying to make a point. I reckon the latter is vastly more likely
The first is not impossible too
Ah, Peter, your photographical “argument” is a bit self-defeating. Unless of course you really think all that heavy iron does fill up at the self serve Avgas pump… .
I bet Cannes has zero need for sympathy either.
BP cards are easier to use than Total cards as you don’t have to enter a PIN number, however for a multinational company I was surprised at how difficult it was to obtain one. I had to print out 52 pages of contract, 13 pages in duplicate and then when I had posted it they told me they had changed the terms and would I send twice 13 pages of the new contract. Still they don’t require a deposit. They seem to be providing some competition to Total as several airports I know have switched.
Some kind person could print out a bi or trilingual memo at the card terminal to instruct visiting pilots. At some petrol stations in France you can choose the language like an ATM.
Interestingly at a hotel where we stayed in Pontoise, the instructions on the coffee machine were in Chinese.
Simon
Designing a multi-language user interface for something like this is such a blindingly obvious thing that (as a hardware/software developer) I cannot believe it was an oversight. It must have been intentional, but why? Pilots, of all people, are likely to be foreigners, and English is the standard language in aviation without which it is just about impossible to get around Europe but with which it becomes straightforward.
Anyway, here is the LFMD pricing from 2 days ago
I wonder what procedure one needs to follow to avoid the €60 handling, because I never asked for it and merely had previously emailed them saying I need a quick turnaround tech stop and avgas.
They then sent me a bunch of automated emails (all marked as spam by my email service, so probably would be dumped by most others especially gmail) with something about that web based “myhandling” handling/booking website which (some past threads here) has crept into many airports, but they didn’t seem to care about it when I was actually there. I am sure most bizjet pilots boycott it because they won’t have the time. A friend who is an extremely busy bizjet pilot says he refuses to touch it and “A lot of French airfields are trying to use it; I just keep emailing them until they acknowledge my request”.
In the context of avgas spend on a one-off trip the €60 is immaterial but it does matter to many people doing shorter legs.
I used the handling there a couple of times in Cannes when I needed the golf cart to take the massive pile of luggage and household items that my wife likes to bring to our place nearby….but it was always explicitly requested…. perhaps your email enquiry was interpreted as a request for handling…normally one just turns up and requests parking….they will often ask over the radio for his many days you will be staying….avoid telling them any more than a day or so because they will likely consign you to the grass….which is terrible…
Peter wrote:
I wonder what procedure one needs to follow to avoid the €60 handling
As I said above, handling is mandatory if parking on Tango.
so the only option to avoid handling is to request to park on grass (which is, apparently, not in very good shape).
The price matches the ones indicated on the price list on the website (landing fee and handling).
jeff64 wrote:
so the only option to avoid handling is to request to park on grass (which is, apparently, not in very good shape).
No, if you ask Ground nicely and if they have space you can usually get Lima….which has the added advantage of direct gate access rather than via the terminal and security….but if you tell them you’re staying for more than a day or so they will likely put you on the grass (Mike)…
jeff64 wrote:
As I said above, handling is mandatory if parking on Tango.
This is correct. I was there this summer and didn’t pay the handling fee as I parked on the grass (although I did get the golf cart!)
