GregP60

My wife and I are heading to Paris in May. On our last trip, we were unable to use the Velib system with our American credit cards. Apparently, some people have been able to use their American Express cards for this purpose. Has anyone had recent success using an American Express card to sign up for the system? Any version of the card? Thank you, in advance for your help.

avalon

I haven't myself but several friends did

Nikki

My friend used her American Express card for the velib bikes when I was in Paris with her in November, no problems.

GregP60

Thank you very much for the reply. Is it a specific American Express Card (i.e. Blue) that can be used or any American Express card?

kerouac

The American Express green card is reputedly the one that works.

Bikeshare

I used an American Express Delta Skymiles card to sign up for a Vélib' daily rental. Worked perfectly. Remember, if you only use the bike for less than 30 minutes at a time and re-dock it for at least 3-5 minutes, there are no additional rental charges other than the daily 1€.

GregP60

I currently carry an American Express Blue card. Has anyone had success with this card? Or should I apply for the Green card now?

111op

Are there any recent updates? I am still a little confused after reading this thread and various websites.

(1) Amex is accepted, right? It seems like there are reports that it's rejected.

(2) Do you pay for the subscription at the Velib station, or must this be done in advance?

(3) Any issues with the 150 euro deposit? I assume if I use my Amex, it should be ok -- I can always dispute the charge if there's a problem?

(4) And perhaps the most important question of all -- how do I know where to find Velib bikes and drop them off? I think someone mentioned getting an L'Indispensable map somewher. Are there bike routes that are marked? I was reading somewhere about a "one-way" system but I'm not sure what that refers to.

Thanks!

kerouac

1. American Express should work -- all versions of the card.

2. You do the credit card operation on the machine where you rent the first bike.

3. It is a guarantee, not a deposit. The most important thing is to make sure that the indicator light goes from amber to green before you walk away from a bike that you have returned. If the wait is abnormally long or if the light turns red, use your code on the machine to see if the return has been registered. You can also ask for a printed receipt from the machine.

4. You will not have any trouble finding the stations, because the network is very dense. The Vélib website, but also the RATP or the Yellow Pages websites all show the Véblib stations on their maps, and they even tell you how many bike are available and how many hitching posts at any given time. However, I bought a paper Vélib map at FNAC for 2.50€ the other day for when I am disoriented.

There are plenty of bike routes, bike lanes, bike signs clearly indicated all over the city. Some intersections can be a problem for beginners, but not the huge ones -- for example if you are at Place de la Concorde or Place Charles de Gaulle, as long as you hug the outer edges near the sidewalk, no cars will bother you. Anyway, it is indeed a one way system -- this means that you can leave a bike at any other station in the city or the suburbs with no need to return to your point of departure.

111op

Hey, thanks so much for the answers. By the way, I know you live in Paris. Can I go on a tangent and ask you to suggest some activities for my visit? I think I'll be there for what I think is the 20th time this weekend.

I don't mind doing something a little out of the ordinary.

To give you some ideas, I usually have some art focus. I've been to the major museums, but I haven't been to Cluny or Quai Branly. I know about the Turner exhibition, and I'm thinking of heading to MAC/VAL.

I've noted a few other things -- one of which is checking out Velib, of course.

I was hoping to eat at L'Astrance as I'm rarely there on a weekday that works -- this time I'm there Friday and Saturday, but unfortunately L'Astrance is booked already.

I've seen most of the standard attractions. I've been to the Hammam at the Mosque, and I've done some of the standard day trips, including Chartres, Chateaux Chenonceaux, Fontainebleau, Vaux-le-Vicomte and Versailles. I've also been to Villa Savoye.

Among some of the things I've jotted down to possibly do, Canal St. Martin, Promenade Plantee, Village St. Paul. I've been to the Merci store already.

Thanks again!

kvfawcett

Well, you could take a balloon ride: I love the Segway Tours and have a favorite wine tasting place where I have never laughed so hard and learned so much.

Karen
Http://www.bonjourparis.com

111op

I still haven't done the Segway Tours. But actually maybe a walking tour of some sort is good. The balloon ride sounds a bit outlandish -- and also expensive, I bet.

Usually I cram a lot but this time I really don't have much planned because I guess there really aren't that many art shows I feel like seeing.

It's an interesting dilemma to be having. Whether to take it easy and risk thinking that I'm wasting my time. I don't think that will happen since I've always enjoyed Paris. But I also think I should have some backup activities just in case.

Surfergirl

Karen -- how are you doing?!? Can you elaborate a little more on the balloon ride as well as the wine tasting place?

111op

Hi, let me give an update on this.

So Amex worked fine. The weather in Paris the past weekend was great.

Regarding Velib, you can switch the language to English and follow the instructions. It seems a little complex at first. There's one screen on each side of a Velib "post," and you can set up a subscription and take a bike on one of the two screens.

I bought a one-day subscription, which provides a subscription ID (that can be used for subsequent rentals), and that requires a PIN. Once you set this up, for each subsequent rental, you enter the subscription ID and the PIN.

I took out a bike three times. The first two were free. First I rode from my hotel near the concept store Colette to the Chatelet Metro station. Then I rode around Canal St. Martin to the Communist HQ building (an Oscar Niemeyer building) and back to the Republique Metro station.

But the third ride ended up costing me 11 euros. I rode a bike from my hotel to the left bank to buy some chocolates at Pierre Marcolini, but unfortunately all the bike stations nearby had no empty slots for me to return my bike. I checked three of these.

Frustrated, I rode back to the right bank and I had no success either. I finally got lucky at the station on r. Rambuteau at Les Halles.

The rental lasted 2 hours and 2 minutes. And the charge worked like this. First half hour free. Second half hour 1 euro. Third half hour 2 euros. Fourth and every subsequent half hour 2 euros. So the extra 2 minutes at the end cost me another 4 euros.

While the charges were clearly posted, I didn't really understand this until I figured out the charge of my third bike ride.

So obviously the system is set up to encourage short bike rides. As you can see, you can easily check to see that the system has registered your return. Also, there's a way to figure out availability for rentals and returns for all nearby Velib stations, as some guy kindly showed me how to find this information. On the same screen where you set up your subscription and rent your bikes, there's an "information" option and you can select that and find this.

This is very useful when you run into a situation like mine, but then I guess most likely all nearby stations will show no empty slots anyway.

Last I'd say that I don't find it terribly easy to locate Velib stations. Along the right bank near the Louvre, you find them along r. St. Honore. But I think it's handy to find a map or just ask some locals, as I did when I was over on the left bank.

I discovered one of the tourist maps I picked up at the airport had the Velib stations marked, but the map is not really detailed enough, so you may have to resort to asking locals -- or if you've found one Velib station, you can use the method I mentioned above to find other stations closely.

Happy bike riding!

111op

I'd also add that the bikes aren't the easiest to ride, and I couldn't figure out how to park a bike initially (sounds stupid, I know) -- as the metal piece that parks a bike is U-shaped rather than a stick that you just kick up or down.

Also biking around Parisian cobblestone streets takes some getting used to. Not to mention among cars on narrow streets or very busy streets (like Blvd. St.-Germain -- even though there are bike/bus lanes).

But I should add that I normally don't bike.

This is a fun thing to do, but I don't think it's for everyone.

kerouac

When the station is full, if you sign into the machine, it will display a map of the nearby stations with hitching posts still available and also give you an extra 15 minutes to get there.

111op

I didn't realize that I had that option, but I guess I do vaguely remember reading this somewhere. Maybe you or someone else had mentioned this.

Anyway I guess I just had to learn by doing.

But seriously, six full stations, most of which had people waiting? I'd not have expected this!

I wonder whether you could call some number and then just dump your bike somewhere? I think I saw some abandoned bikes next to the stations. Obviously I wasn't about to run this risk of losing my deposit.

kerouac

We Parisians know which areas have parking problems depending on the time of day/week. In the evening, don't even think about trying to return a bike at Place de la Bastille, for example, if you're short on time. But if you can afford to wait a few minutes, people line up with their bikes in a very civilized manner and fill the spaces that empty out every minute or so.

Basically, 1) bikes flow from the outer areas to the center and 2) bikes flow downhill. The Vélib trailers work all day emptying out most of the bikes from the central stations and towing them back out or up.

One good thing to know if you are sufficiently athletic is that you get a 15 minute time bonus on your account each time you return a bike to a higher altitude station (marked "Vélib +" instead of just "Vélib"). I have a 45 minute bonus on my account at the moment, which means that I could ride around for 1h15 and not be charged.

zoecat

What a fasinating and well though out system. Thank you both for sharing.

GregP60

An update about the Velib system. I used my American Express Blue card to sign up for the system with no problems. I have used it now for the past 3 days. It is a great system for locals and tourists alike.