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TOTAL fuel card for France

Incidentally, and assuming the airfield in question has some human presence, can’t one just pay in cash?

At the bigger airfields, yes. Either the AFISO or the fire crew will have a card to get it going and will usually except cash or credit card (this varies). However, the price will the often be higher. Also, it can mean delays, whereas, with an own card, you just do self-service and are done in 5 minutes. Almost 80 percent of all TOTAL airfields now have a self-service machine.

Is it possible for a local pilot to use his card, and you give him the cash, plus a bit on top if required?

Generally yes, if you find one who is willing to help you. When you do self-service, then of course nobody will care if the aircraft that the fuel goes into is not the same as the one written on the card.

Last Edited by boscomantico at 20 Oct 16:42
Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany

The bank does not risk anything because the direct deposit is only accepted if there are funds available.

That however means you have to stick a few k into a bank account which you aren’t likely to be using.

I wonder if some pilots run a credit or debit card off that account (to avoid currency conversion fees against a UK (or any other non-Euro) account) to make better use of it?

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

For the past 8 years or more I have had a Total card. It makes life so much easier. Rather than fighting the system I opened a Euro account with https://www.ca-normandie.fr/ they actively encourage UK subscribers. As Peter suggests I have a credit card attached to the Credit Agricole account. Transfer a lump sum from the UK using your favourite foreign exchange company. You then have access to Avgas at Total stations normally 24 hrs a day through the fuel pump terminal. The euro credit card is a bonus. There is a deposit to pay to Total. The card is invaluable if you regularly travel in France.

EGBP Kemble, United Kingdom

Air Total require a small deposit, depending on estimated usage, at least, for new accounts.

One advantage, whether a French airfield has on-duty staff or not, is that one can obtain fuel during the ubiquitous 2-hour lunch break….

Last Edited by 2greens1red at 20 Oct 21:47
Swanborough Farm (UK), Shoreham EGKA, Soysambu (Kenya), Kenya

Air Total’s French aviation network is here: http://www.airtotal.com/airport-search/france-airport-search.html

Their GA card application is here: http://www.airtotal.com/general-aviation/french-card/subscribe.html

My deposit was €300 for estimated annual billing of €1,500.

Swanborough Farm (UK), Shoreham EGKA, Soysambu (Kenya), Kenya

Can someone explain how the payment process works? You need the €300 deposit to get things going but clearly in the longer run you cannot buy more than €300’s worth of fuel. Do you have to manually top up the bank account, or does the bank account offer an automatic topup from the UK (or other foreign) account?

Normally, when a fuel card is direct-debited to a bank account, you obviously need to ensure that the bank account has enough funds to last the whole trip. In this case you have your own bank account (say the UK one), the other bank account (which the TOTAL card is direct-debited to), and the fuel card itself. How does it all work, for say a trip on which you spend €1000 on avgas?

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

I guess most of us use their personal bank account for the TOTAL card. And if you going to fly across Europe, I guess you better have some money on your account, not only for fuel. Anyway, most bank accounts have a dispo credit, so even if you go into the minus, the direct debit will not fail.

Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany

It’s direct debit, just like utilities. This is the form you sign

OK; many thanks.

So, and also based on an earlier post, it looks like the €300 is just a deposit to TOTAL itself, which doesn’t get spent and just sits there.

And you need to have sufficient funds for the trip in the referenced bank account, obviously. That bank account can now be a UK one (in the case of a UK pilot), so that is not an issue because it would be the pilot’s personal account.

I guess the problem I referred to in post #30 is the historical one: the pilot would have to deposit sufficient funds for the whole trip in the (as it then was) a French bank account, which would just be tied up in there… unless e.g. one ran a credit card off it, etc.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

The don’t direct debit immediately so you don’t even need to pre fund

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