Toll fees can represent a significant cost when you regularly use the motorways, especially in France where the majority of the network is tolled. However, there is a little-known tip to reduce the bill without necessarily extending your travel time. In this article, we reveal the method shared by an engineer to pay less for your motorway journeys, as well as its potential impact on the turnover of motorway concessionaires.
How does the trick to pay less work?
The trick is to divide your journey into several stages in order to benefit from the advantageous rates offered by certain sections of motorway. Concretely, this means that you have to exit and then re-enter the highway at certain strategic points rather than covering the entire distance between two points without interruption.
To illustrate this point, let’s take a concrete example:
- Journey A: Paris – Lyon (470 km) costs approximately €35.80 toll
- Journey B: Paris – Beaune (310 km) costs approximately €22.10 toll
- Journey C: Beaune – Lyon (160 km) costs approximately €11.60 toll
By making journey A in one go, you will therefore pay a total of €35.80. On the other hand, if you exit at Beaune and take the motorway to Lyon (routes B and C), the total cost will be only 22.10 + 11.60 = €33.70. You save more than 2 euros on your journey. And this must of course be multiplied by the number of journeys you make using this tip… Which will prevent you, even if the saving is less, from going through the gendarmerie box as in the video below since the The tip that we have just shared with you is perfectly legal!
How do I know toll rates?
To put this tip into practice and identify strategic points where to exit and then re-enter the motorway in order to save on toll fees, it is essential to know the rates charged by each motorway concessionaire. Several solutions are available to you :
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- Dealer websites: Each motorway management company generally has a website on which it publishes its current rates. You can therefore consult this information directly from the main players such as Vinci Autoroutes or APRR.
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- The Mappy GPS Free mobile application: This free application not only allows you to access information relating to toll charges, but also to plan your journeys taking into account the costs linked to tolls. You will then be able to easily visualize the savings made thanks to the tip presented in this article.
- The Viamichelin website: This famous site also offers a route calculator including toll charges. Simply enter your starting point and destination to get an estimate of the total cost of the trip, including tolls.
The potential impact of this tip on the turnover of motorway concessionaires
If this tip actually allows motorists to save a few euros on their motorway journeys, it is legitimate to wonder what impact it could have on the turnover of the companies managing the French motorway network. Several elements must be taken into account:
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- The limited notoriety of the trick: Although this method was shared by an engineer and relayed by certain media, it is still little known to the general public. In addition, you must be prepared to exit and then re-enter the highway several times during the same trip, which can be restrictive for some motorists.
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- The price elasticity of users: If some drivers are sensitive to the price of tolls and therefore seek to reduce their expenses in this area, others are not ready to change their driving habits to save a few euros. The impact on dealer turnover will therefore largely depend on the behavior of users regarding this tip.
- Legal constraints: It is important to clarify that this technique is not illegal and does not constitute toll fraud. Motorists who wish to use it can therefore do so legally.
It is difficult to precisely assess the potential impact of this trick on the revenues of highway management companies. However, given the limited awareness of the method and the fact that it requires some investment in terms of time and effort to implement, it seems unlikely that it poses a significant threat to these companies.
Although this tip could allow motorists keen to save money to reduce their bill without necessarily extending their travel time, its impact on dealer turnover remains uncertain. However, it may be interesting for regular users of the French motorway network to consider this solution in order to limit their toll expenses.
