ATMB (French Toll Com.) Spanish Tolls Tags
I hear SANEF are now issuing Toll tags for Spanish motorways, in France I've always used the ATMB tag and found them excellent value and reliable, while SANEF charge a lot, despite the Caravan Club offer. Has anyone heard if ATMB are going to issue Spanish Motorway tags or can recommend a good company that does?
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I do not think Sanef charge a lot, maybe a little more than ATBM but at a few € per moth of use its peanuts, toll charges are the same whatever company yo use. Benefits of Sanef are it is all in English and DD from a UK bank account not a CC, exchange rate is mid market rate at the time of conversion so no rip off there. I did have a toll tag from a French company before and tried to get my deposit back but many emails and letters later still not refunded so SANEF is good for that as I had to change the tag this year due to battery life and the refund was very fast once they got the tag back.
I think the Spanish tag is a different one to the French one so if you want one and ATBM do not do them it would be OK to get the Spanish one from them and still use your existing French one along side.
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I have a Sanef French tag that I have had for many years. I recently got a Spanish one from them also - it is a separate tag, but fits the same clip on the windscreen.
From memory the standing charges are €20 per annum, plus €5 per month for any month that the tag is used. Well worth it to save t he hassle at the toll booths.
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Whereas ATMB has no standing charge and a monthly charge if used of only €1.90 . But they don't do Spain.
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The SANEF tag is actually €5 per month of use plus €6 annual fee, there is a deposit of €20 but obviously you get that back when you hand the tag back. Oh and they do do a tag for Spain.
I did just read some of the T&C about exchange rates and interestingly they take the average mid market rate over the month of the invoice and give an example per the below.
The exchange rate that we use is the average for the calendar month the invoice is for. It is based on the average mid market commercial exchange rate (NOT the tourist rate) for the month that the tolls were incurred The daily historic mid market rate used to compute the average are sourced from exchangerates.org.uk.
There is a 2%+Local VAT (equivalent to circa 2.4%) foreign exchange finance charge when converting the currency but the overall exchange rate is still very competitive.
An example is provided below using the French TVA rate and is based on rates obtained on 12th December 2013.
Local VAT (French VAT) is charged at 20.0% (prior to 01/01/2014 Local VAT was charged at a rate of 19.6%)
Exchange Rate £1 = €1.19
Foreign Exchange Finance Charge: 2%+Local VAT (equivalent to 2.4%)Example invoice:
Total bill in Euros inc. Local VAT: €100
Total foreign exchange finance charge @ 2.4% inc. Local VAT: €2.4
Total bill in GBP (converted at £1 = €1.19): £86.05This is more favourable than rates provided by a leading UK trusted brand on the same day:
M&S Travel Money (0% commission, £1 = €1.14): £87.72
M&S Visa Card (2.99% commission, £1 = €1.188779): £86.630 -
With so many motorways in Spain being toll free having a tag is perhaps not as useful as it is in France.
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I have an ATMB tag for France, and as we are planning Spain for next spring, I emailed ATMB to ask if there were any plans to extend it to Spain.
They actually took the trouble to phone me back, but did say, no plans for Spain at present.
So it looks like we will manage without one, especially seeing Euros comment about toll-free motorways, or we’ll need to get an extra (Sanef) one.
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Thanks for the replies, I take the point a lot of Spanish motorways are toll free but we do use a few, on the way to Murcia and going back up to France on the East coast, Barcelona can be a pain. However, on balance we'll stay as we are for the time being but there's no doubt, when it comes to France, ATMB is a good deal and very convenient.
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Laurie, it depends what make of tag you have, some makes from some suppliers are limited only to France, but a VIA-T Bipanddrive tag will work in France, Spain and Portugal.
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