10 Carnet Pass: Is that 'ten times' on the Metro?
 

I did do a search, with not much luck! How far or how many times (and how far) on the Metro will these 10 tickets take you? There are four of us so, I assume I need to do some planning with this, huh? Are the (or any) leftovers refundable? <BR> <BR> <BR>Thank you, <BR>Mr. "C"

Each ticket is for one ride on the metro-you can, however , transfer. No refunds for unused tickets.

Frankly, my dear, I'd buy a pass. <BR> <BR>In my opinion, these are a pain. After 10 rides (my husband and I are on the Metro quite a bit during one day), you have to stand in line again and buy more. No, it isn't a huge line but why bother? Why not just stand in line once and buy a pass good for the entire week (Carte Orange - good Mon. - Sun., you need a passport photo for this one), or, get the tourist pass (Paris Visite - I think they have 1 day, 3 day, and 5 day). <BR> <BR>These are good for unlimited use. Very convenient. Even if they end up being a little more (which depends on how often you will be using the Metro), I think they are much better. <BR> <BR>:-)

A carnet is a strip of ten tickets. You can share them among the four of you. They're valid for one trip in Zones 1 & 2 (the city of Paris). If you want to go farther, to Versailles, for example, you'd need a different ticket. The tickets are valid on the RER, Metro and the buses. You must validate your ticket ahead of the ride and hang onto it! Folks in green uniforms may ask to see yours and there is an on the spot cash fine (no arguments accepted) if you can't produce a validated ticket.

Dave, <BR> Lynn has a great idea about simply buying a pass for the week instead of the 10 tickets. However, I would suggest that you do the math and figure out how many times you will be using the subway. We find that everytime we go to Paris, it is cheaper for us to buy the 10 Carnet tix instead and we only used the subway to get around. In other European cities I have found it better to use a whole week's pass for economy. But for some reason, it works better to do the 10 tix in Paris. Perhaps you can each buy 4 of the 10 Carnet tix (40) and not have to stand in line again. But again, do the math when you get there.

The Paris Visite pass sounds kind of pricey to me but, having never been to Paris, I'm not really sure how much I'll really be using the Metro. I plan on driving in from Reims, and then spending 4 days in Paris. You can get three different passes based on how many days you'll be there. There's 2, 3 or 5 consecutive day passes. The 5 consecutive day pass costs $62.00USD per person. Sounds like we'd have to do an awful lot of riding on the Metro to make it worth our while. If we're there to do mostly the touristy stuff could we possibly spend more than $124.00 for two people on the Carnet passes. <BR> <BR>Robin <BR>

I am an inveterate subway rider, and have been on the Metro somewhere around a gazillion times, so here's my experience: <BR>The pass is worth it if you are going to take the Metro a lot in one day, like 7 separate trips. Otherwise, the carnet is better. Or use a combo: maybe a 2 day pass and carnets for the rest. Most stations have ticket machines, so no need to stand in line. <BR>You'll need to do a real plan - day by day, figure out each day how many Mo trips (the transfers are free, because you stay underground) and then do the math (8ff per single ticket; carnet is 52ff; the passes are 55ff for one day; 90ff for two days - at least that's what it was last summer). <BR>The tickets aren't refundable, but hey just use 'em when you go back...

I haven't used the Carte Orange metro passes before. I do know that they start on a certain day of the week and end on a certain day, instead of running from when you when you purchase. That is why I didn't purchase one, even though I was in Paris for a week (arrived on a Thursday). I am not familiar with the Tourist passes that Lynn mentioned. They may be different. <BR> <BR>How much you use the metro depends on how you tour. We used it more than expected because our feet got tired and because we did a lot of travelling around. It certainly saves time if nothing else. We probably used up 3-4 carnets each in a week.

Dan, as noted above, the Carte Orange runs Mon-Sun. You do need a photo, though not necessarily an official size, "passport" photo. In fact, many months ago someone suggested cutting a small head shot from a snapshot. My girlfriend did this, with good results. I, on the other hand, forgot to pick out a photo to cut before the trip, and wasted money getting one at an instant photo place -- more than wiped out whatever savings the Carte offered over carnets. BTW, the space for the photo on the Carte isn't that big, so it won't look odd if you place a less-than-passport sized photo in there.

To Robin, I think -- no, don't think there's any way in the world you will use US$62 on the metro in five days. Figure it out, that's $12+ or 12 trips/day minimum, which is absurd. However, those passes don't cost that much, anyway, so if you have gotten prices through some agency, I believe they are marking them up considerably. Perhaps they have misled you to believe you need the most expensive one, which is about that price, but it covers 8 zones. No tourist needs that, there's hardly any stops even in zones 7-8, and most tourists do not need anything beyond zone 2--the only exceptions might be Versailles, St-Germain-en-Laye and Orly airport (zone 4) or CDG airport (zone 5), although I wouldn't recommend anyone take metro anyway from airports, but you even said you are arriving by train. Oh, yeah, there's some rodent-infested American theme park in zone 5, also :-) The "smallest" Paris Visite is 3 zones (already a rip off, as you only need 2) and should be about US$35 for 5 days (175F). That's not too bad, although it is true a weekly Carte Orange coupon is still cheaper, and buying carnets or other passes is probably also cheaper. For example, you could buy a 2-zone unlimited all-day pass called Mobilis EVERY DAY of your stay (all inner Paris) for less than the 3 zone Paris Visite would cost. There's nothing in zone 3 anyway most people ever use, the only thing there is St-Denis, but few tourists go there (although I just did a couple weeks ago). To those who wondered, the Carte Orange weekly passes begin on Monday and ends on Sunday, so that might not be a good idea if you cross a weekend, the only good thing about the Paris Visite is it begins any day of the week you want. However, it's still more than other methods. Anyone who really uses 40 tickets a week (which I find astounding) as Dan did, should probably just buy Mobilis one day unlimited passes on their heaviest usage days, they are only 32F per day for 2 zones with unlimited usage; that's about what you'd spend by a carnet (which is now 55F as of July). The Mobilis one-day pass is convenient and you don't need a photo for it, as you do for the Carte Orange (another thing, you don't need a photo for the Paris Visite, either). Here's an example of costs for 5 days: <BR> <BR>Paris Visite (3 zones unltd use) 175F <BR>Mobilis (2 zones unltd use) 160F (5x32F) <BR>Carte Orange-weekly(2 zones unltd) 82F <BR> (starts Mon only, need photo) <BR>Indiv tickets in carnet (2 zones) <BR> 6 "trips" per day: 165F (6x5.5Fx5da) <BR> 4 "trips" per day: 110F (4x5.5Fx5da) <BR>Indiv tickets bought separately are 8FF. <BR> <BR> For those who haven't been there, I really would not worry about the lines to buy metro tickets; I have bought them dozens if not hundreds of times and rarely have ever stood in any line at all, and when I have it's been only 1 person or so. I also wouldn't worry about getting refunds on unused metro tickets which are worth spare change (less than US$1 each). Finally, if you worry about things getting lost or stolen, you will lose a lot more if you buy a Paris Visite than a metro ticket.

Yes, believe it or not, we really did use that many metro tickets. A big chunk were used to get from our hotel on Rue Cler to other parts of Paris and during the last few days we skipped around a lot to see things that we had not managed to get to yet. Plus by the end of the first four days of sightseeing, which included the Louvre, Versailles, Chartres, the Musee d'Orsay, long walks back to the hotel, the Musee d'Armee..., and all of which was preceded by a few days of hiking in the Swiss Alps, my feet were bloody stumps. I had fun when I returned aranging all of the tickets in the scrapbook to spell Paris. I even had leftovers that I arranged in an abstract pattern on a page opposite postcards from the Pompidou Modern Art Museum. Believe me, even with that many metro rides, I did my fair share of walking.

Yes, believe it or not, we really did use that many metro tickets (may be closer to 3 books than four - can't remember for sure). A big chunk were used to get from our hotel on Rue Cler to other parts of Paris and during the last few days we skipped around a lot to see things that we had not managed to get to yet. Plus by the end of the first four days of sightseeing, which included the Louvre, Versailles, Chartres, the Musee d'Orsay, long walks back to the hotel, the Musee d'Armee..., and all of which was preceded by a few days of hiking in the Swiss Alps, my feet were bloody stumps. I had fun when I returned aranging all of the tickets in the scrapbook to spell Paris. I even had leftovers that I arranged in an abstract pattern on a page opposite postcards from the Pompidou Modern Art Museum. Believe me, even with that many metro rides, I did my fair share of walking.

For those who are interested. The Paris Visite passes offer the following: <BR> <BR>1. A choice of 3 validities, 2 consecutive days, 3 consecutive days or 5 consecutive days. <BR> <BR>2. Unlimited travel for the length of your card anywhere in Paris bus or Metro system. <BR> <BR>3. Unlimited transportation for the length of your card anywhere in the greater Paris region, Ile de France zone 1 thru zone 5 including Versaille, Disneyland Paris, Orly and Charles De Gaulle airports. <BR> <BR>4. Special travel bonuses that range from 20 to 40% off some museums, art shows, cruise on the Siene, and more. <BR> <BR>The cost in US dollars are as follows: <BR> <BR>The 2 consecutive day pass costs $37.00 per person. <BR>The 3 consecutive day pass costs $52.00 per person. <BR>The 5 consecutive day pass costs $62.00 per person. <BR> <BR>These passes are sold thru Rail Europe. They are not marked up and the reason I know this is because I am a travel agent and that is our cost. Infact, they are non commissionable to agents and yes, I agree, I think they sound overpriced but I guess that really depends on how much traveling you're doing. If anyone is interested in the specific discounts for museums, etc., I will be happy to post it. <BR> <BR>Last year I traveled to London and did get the London Visitor card for about $30.00 USD per person for a 3 day pass and I found that to be overpriced so I thought I'd check it out before making the same mistake twice. The Carnets sound like a much better deal. <BR> <BR>Robin

There's a discrepancy here that I'd like explained, please: <BR>Christina says the 5 day pass for 3 zones is 175ff; that's what the RATP website quotes. That works out to be about $30 (as she pointed out, it's one more zone than you need, but this is for the sake of argument). Robin says the pass costs $62. Hmmm...could it be that there IS a markup (hidden) in the cost, or does she sell the zone 1-8 pass (which IS a waste of money unless you're planning to go to Versailles everyday)? <BR>Through my travel agent (who used Raileurope) our three day, three zone pass was $30ish (7 of us, with a small fee for the package). As we are cramming 2 weeks of Paris into 3 days, the pass is going to make sense. <BR>Heads up about the London Pass, too: the one you buy in the U.S. is zones 1-6 or some such nonsense. All of tourist London is zone 1-2. In London, you can buy weekend passes that are very cost efficient; ditto one day passes; they now even have carnets. <BR>As always, caveat emptor (ok what's the Latin word for traveler?)

With regards the Carte Orange's passport photo requirement. On my last trip to Paris, I noticed that at the larger metro stations they had vending machines from which you could buy the weekly Carte Orange without a photo. I proceeded to buy my tickets from the machine using my credit card, and got a green metro ticket that was good from Mon-Sun. The machine did not give me the orange card onto which you stick your photo. But I believe you only need this card if you plan to use the buses, and since I only use the metro when in Paris, the green metro ticket by itself was fine for me.

Wait a minute... <BR> <BR>I did not pay $62 for the 5-day pass. I wish I had my papers handy but I think it was somewhere around $30-$35 US for each one. For the 4 of us, it was about $250US for 4 metro passes and 4 museum passes. We had planned to get the Carte Orange but by the time we got off the plane, everyone was tired, hungry, and cranky. For me, it was easier to just buy everything at the airport and GET IT OVER WITH!!!! <BR> <BR>I must say, I don't like sweating over $5 here and there. It's all a matter of convenience. And yes, as said above, it depends how much you are going to use it. <BR> <BR>Us? We probably use it much more than most. To say we hop on the Metro 10 times in a day would not be out of line. It's amazing how tiring it can be when you are walking everywhere. We like to take the metro to the area we want to see and then walk around. <BR> <BR>Let us not forget that the pass is also good for the buses. And, when you don't have to think about it, you use it much more often and end up getting your bang for the buck. <BR> <BR>If you just want to rest for a few blocks on your way somewhere, you can easily hop on the next bus that passes by and get off when you want. You get to rest and see some "city life" as you regenerate for the next part of your adventure. <BR> <BR>Don't spend so much time thinking about saving $10 that you forget to figure in how convenient things are. Sometimes, I think people under estimate the value of just dealing with something once and then moving on to the more intereseting things at hand. <BR> <BR>Bottom line is this, if you told me I had to wait 3 hours to get into the Louvre or could go in right now for a fee of $25, I'd be inside in 2 seconds flat... <BR> <BR>Time in valuable. <BR> <BR>:-)

To clear up one, minor, fuzzy point, the metro tickets, whether bought in a carnet of 10 or singly, are also good for Paris buses. The disadvantage of using them on the buses is that there are no transfers. Each time you get on a new bus, you use a new ticket. On the metro, once you go through the turnstile, you take as many rides as you want. But do hold on to that ticket until you leave the whole metro system, not just the last train you'll be riding; as a relative of mine found out, the fine for not having a valid ticket when you're in the metro system is about $35.