I undertand carnet tickets come in a book of 10 and I think for my 3 days in Paris I have decided to use them although in saying that Im not quite sure how they are used from beginning to end. Are they slotted into a machine before you get on the train, or are they handed/sighted to a "real person" on the train , or do you slot the ticket through a machine after your journeys end to let you out of the metro? any hints I should know..

Yu put your ticket in a slot on entering the metro, DO NOT THROW IT AWAY until you leave the station at your destination. You can be asked to show it to an inspector eithe on the platforms or on the train and you better darn well have the canceled one or you'll pay hefty fine.

On a bus, there will be a machine behind the driver where you put the ticket in the slot when you enter. It stamps the ticket with a time, and you can reuse the ticket for any other bus _going in a different direction_ for the next hour or two. People with bus passes just slide it past a magnetic reader, the way we do in Boston. Your machine will be behind theirs.

You don't need to have the ticket read to exit the metro (you just pass through a turnstile), but as avalon says, keep it in an easily accessible place until you've passed the exit barriers, just in case there's a control on (it does happen from time to time). You'll find refuse bins close by the exit for the used one.

As Patrick says, you don't put your ticket in a machine to exit from a metro station. However,you will have to do that to exit from a RER station.

Hi J,

>I undertand carnet tickets come in a book of 10 ....<
Not anymore.

You get a discount for buying 10 tickets at a time.

You put your money in and the machine spits out 10 individual tickets.

Enjoy your visit.

Ira said:
"You put your money in and the machine spits out 10 individual tickets."

True... but there is an 11th item and it's the receipt. It is cunningly disguised to appear just like a ticket so you look an idiot trying to get it to work in the turnstile. Ask me how I know this! LOL

And the sad thing is I've bought all kinds of carnets over the years. Must be age. ;^(

> True... but there is an 11th item and it's the receipt. It is cunningly disguised to appear just like a ticket ....

Really? Is that new ? I don't think I got a receipt when I bought from a machine. Is it may be the machine asked if you wanted a receipt and you answered yes?

More often I buy a carnet at kiosk/tabac shop on the street where they give you a neatly plastic packaged 10 tickets.

If you buy from one of the windows, which are getting scarcer and scarcer, you can ask for a metro map. It is a good size imo.

Here is a little "how-to" youtube. No offense to the narrator but the pronunciation is horrible, but if you can overlook that, the info is well shown and they cover all the little extra pointers.
http://youtu.be/Q6ACxAAzizY

If you do buy from a window, just ask for "un carnet," not "carnet tickets." A carnet is a packet.

And do throw the ticket away once you've exited the station. I've been guilty of pulling a used ticket out of my pocket and trying to re-use it, which of course doesn't work. The used ones show the date stamp.

There are different RATP maps available. The most useful one, I think, is the one titled "Grand Plan Lignes et Rues." It shows the Metro, RER and Bus routes overlaid on a street map.

Also, if you have internet access during your stay, you can easily research itineraries and find other information at www.ratp.fr . There's a very useful interactive map on that site:

http://www.ratp.fr/plan-interactif/carteidf.php

In the upper left corner of the page, you can click on the UK flag for English.

It stamps the ticket with a time, and you can reuse the ticket for any other bus _going in a different direction_ for the next hour or two?

so one ticket can be used more than once?

thanks again for your valuable responses..

There are some tips on using the metro from my recent trip to Paris in my Blog below.

Ronald
http://paris-france-holiday.blogspot.com/

I personally prefer the Paris Visite pass which you can get at any station at one of the automated machines. I find with the Metro and bus around Paris, I scorch through a carnet so quickly using Paris Visite passes saves me more money.

I would not buy a Paris Visite pass! A 5 day pass costs $50.42 (E36); E20 for 3 days. A carnet (10 tickets) costs E12.50 ($18.16 - today's exchange rate). I'm hard pressed to use a carnet in a week; I always bring tickets home with me for the next time.

If you want a pass the Navigo Decouverte is E5 for the pass and E18.85 for a week of unlimited travel zone 1 & 2. It starts on Monday and runs through Sunday. You can reuse the pass so you don't need to buy one for E5 after the initial investment. So you get a week of unlimited travel for E24 (first week) and E19 for every additional week. Much better investment than the Visite pass.

For 3 days a carnet will be more than enough. If you're staying in a central location you will probably walk to most sights.

>>It stamps the ticket with a time, and you can reuse the ticket for any other bus _going in a different direction_ for the next hour or two?

so one ticket can be used more than once?<<

You can do a bus-to-bus transfer on one ticket within an hour and a half, but not metro-to-bus or bus-to-metro.

http://www.ratp.fr/fr/ratp/c_21158/ticket-t/

Paris Viste is a rip off IMO. I use the Navigo decouverte for any trip over 3 days, You can buy the pass every day except Thus. A pass ought on Wednesday is good until the following Monday. A pass bought on Friday is good for the next week. I use the buses a lot, I have walked all over Paris for many years so don't need t look in every shop window and down every passageway. I want to get where I'm going quickly and I can cover a lot more ground on the bus or metro and fit more in. I can go thru a carnet in one day!

Patrick - your link is interesting because last year there was a very long thread on taking the bus and someone said that transfers from metro to bus were good using the same ticket but I see that that is not the case.

I found that thread but there was no link showing what transfers were possible.

You can also buy your bus/metro tickets from many tabscs and re-charge Navigos, too. That is where I re-charge my Navigo as I rarely use the Metro..bus is sooo much better!!

a bientot..

Joan

Paris Visite!! Highway robbery. Really bad advice. If you are going to use the system that much get a Navigo.
Is the MObil pass still sold--that might be a good deal for one day IF you know you are going to use the Metro/bus extensively.