Driving in Italy part 6 — Gassing Up

It is difficult to find a gas station in Italy that does not accept Visa, MasterCard or AmEx. For a better exchange rate try using your ATM card as a credit card provided it bears the Visa/MC logos. Leave your gasoline cards at home, even if the same companies operate in Italy, they won’t honor them. Also ditch your Discover card and Bob’s Big Men’s Store card as they are not accepted in Italy. I prefer to gas up where a live attendant is stationed. I stay away from Fai da Te (self service) and look for Servito (full service) as I’m often in a quandary as to how, where and when to insert money or cards. Having left anonymous donations for subsequent drivers I prefer to have a human being gas me up. Say the words: il pieno per piacere (fill’er up please). If the attendant is courteous enough to clean your windshields it is not uncommon to tip them 50¢ to 1 Euro.

Fuel in Italy is sold in liters. Four liters are just over one U.S. gallon. All fuel in Italy is quite expensive by U.S. standards, figure around $7.50 a gallon. Don’t fret over the cost. Italian cars are very fuel efficient and the cost overshadows the time wasted schlepping bags through crowds sneezing and shoving on less than clean public conveyances that all too often go on strike.

Gasoline powered rental cars will require unleaded gasoline (senza piombo) or verde which simply means green. Occasionally you will get a diesel powered car. Ask for diesel or gasolio. Avoid using high octane unleaded or eco-diesel to save some cash. You can also save by figuring out the automated self service pumps: Fai da Te. Your teenager will instinctively know how. Fuggedabout trying to reserve a less expensive, more efficient diesel car ahead of time. No company will guarantee or deliver on that guarantee. It's the luck of the draw at the time of pick up. However, when you arrive at the rental counter try to request one.

To view current fuel prices in Italy go to the top of the right hand column of the site to see the national average. It's on a black background. As you scroll down, the prices for each type of gas sold by each company operating in Italy are revealed. The site is in Italian but numbers and company logos are all you need.  

Chiuso means closed. Aperto means open. Aperto 24 Ore means it’s open 24 hours but most likely automated. But wait, there’s a person there with a cap on. Wow! He takes your money or card, runs the machine, fills you up, cleans your windshield and lo and behold he does not work there at all. Give him a Euro and wish him well. He or she is likely an immigrant with the dignity to provide a service rather than panhandling.