2greens1red wrote:
Air Total’s French aviation network is here: http://www.airtotal.com/airport-search/france-airport-search.htmlTheir 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.
And here are their General Terms and Conditions
My highest bill was close to 700 €. My deposit is 400 € for 2000 l annual volume (estimated – lowball – by me). AFAIK the 2000 l is not a limit either. It is just used to determine the size of your deposit. You can choose the volume you want, but I assume that if you grossly underestimate it, they may ask you for an additional deposit – maybe at the end of the two-year validity period of the card.
You are billed by 10-day periods. At the end of a 10-day period you get 20 days credit. At the end of the 20 days your account is charged by direct debit. You do not need ANY money on your account until the day it is charged.
If you leave on a trip on the 2nd of the month and get back before the 10th all your fuel purchases will be charged on the 30th. On that date you need to have the necessary funds on your account.
I do not really understand the reason for the deposit. Maybe it is to balance the 20 day credit…
I was triggered into getting the card a few months ago….we arrived at Bernay St Martin, smart Air Total pump but no way of paying, as clubhouse deserted. Fortunately we heard a GoKart track in action nearby, and we extracted a couple of jerrycans of fuel from them (had to leave an iPhone as security).
So the deposit they take is permanently held by them until you decide you don’t want the card anymore and return it? Seems a bit excessive. If they can do live credit/debit authorisation at filling stations, why not at airport fuelling points?
zuutroy wrote:
If they can do live credit/debit authorisation at filling stations, why not at airport fuelling points?
Because 1. you fly an airplane and they know you are rich 2.In Europe anything aviation related is a hassle so you should be used to it and therefore they dont want to disappoint your expectations. 
I’ve found the Total card invaluable, namely for the 2 hour pause de midi mentioned above. Setting it up was a bit more hassle than the usual online form, but nothing too onerous. The deposit was EUR200, which I paid by cheque; I understand this is repaid when leaving the scheme; maybe this is to deter timewasters? Despite having French accounts, I have the direct debit on my UK account (Natwest, worked fine) because I’ve had trouble with both French banks in the past and was worried about the direct debit not working or going overdrawn; the Natwest exchange rate commission probably negates the card’s discount :(
€4000 deposit for AIR TOTAL card
I have finally applied for one of these fabled cards and have been asked to deposit €4000 by bank transfer in order to activate the account – only refundable upon closing it!
Are they serious? Or is this normal? Either way it won’t be happening, sadly.
Surely this is prohibitive for most GA customers? The BP card application, by comparison, is a breeze.
I might try reapplying with a low estimated fuel bill.
It wasn’t exactly huge to be honest, but I’ll give it a go 
Even a tenth of that would be quite an amount to part with for a lifetime deposit…
I only have a EUR400 deposit with them.. it is defiitely a function of what usage you request.
Ok, I’ll check the figures, but it still seems a lot when you don’t get the deposit refunded until you basically give up flying?
The BP card doesn’t require a deposit.
