filling a car with petrol...

[Guest]

Hi this may sound like a really really stupid question to you all but I was wondering what the deal is when it comes to filling a tank on a car. When I drove last time I remember you had to pay to before you got fuel so do you have to guess how much fuel you need or can you pay after filling like in the UK

[uktigg]

You prepay what you think you will need to fill the tank -

if you haven't paid enough, the pump will stop at the amount you have paid.

If you have paid too much, you go back inside and get some change if you paid cash, or they charge your card the amount you have used.

Simple :-)

[Mr Tom Morrow]

Most of the time you prepay before pumping. I tend to let it get to a quarter tank then put in $20 to see where that comes on the gauge. That gives me a feel for what I may need before returning to the airport. Plus I always return it empty

[duncanb]

Just go in say you want a full tank they know you are British as we talk properly and look pink when full go back in and pay never asked to leave card or cash never had a problem.

[georgemac]

Watch where you fill up. Went into a Shell station beside premium outlets South yesterday and put in $30, at $5.99 per gallon! Normal is $3.20 ish. Will need some more.

[84CJ]

I wanted to fill up on our recent trip, but the girl couldn't authorise that.

She asked me how much I had left and after looking to see what car I had estimted $45 to fill up. She was almost spot on!

[AntonyJ]

How does the pay at pump option work with a UK credit or debit card?

I tried it once but it asked for ZIP code to be entered, and of course UK postcode does not work, so went all red and asked them to authorise $20 cash on the pump instead!

Can you use a UK card to pay at pump?
What the zip code trick?

[georgemac]

At the pump I was at yesterday, it said non US credit cards had to be verified inside.

[Guest]

I tried to prepay at the pump but it wouldn't have anything of my UK credit card. Popped into the shop and the cashier asked how much and suggested a figure, that was pretty close to what I wanted. I then just had to pop back in after filling it to get the corrected actual payment receipt rather than the pre-authorised value.

Pretty painless.

[MarkUK]

At Walmart I just pulled up, filled up and paid inside