Carte Orange
 

WE will be arriving in Paris this Saturday night, May 3. Does it make sense to buy a Carte Orange, how much does it cost compared to buying carnets. Any opinions?
Tdiddy

P.S. forgot to mention that we will be there through the following Saturday, also any suggestions for getting the passport size picture that you need?

I think you will be better of buying carnets, CO goes from Monday to Sunday.

Even though you won't be able to use your Carte Orange until Monday, since you'll be in Paris most of the days the pass is valid (Monday-Sunday), buying one should definitely save you money compared to buying carnets. Do a word search on "Carte Orange" (without the quotation marks) on this page and you'll find several recent threads with helpful information, including how to get passport-sized pictures.

Footnote to my previous post. I just checked the RATP Web site. The current price for a single ticket is 1.30 euros, for a ten-ticket carnet it is 9.60 euros, and for a Carte Orange good for zones 1-2 it is 13.75 euros. If you ride the metro and/or bus only a few times a day, you should still come out ahead buying a Carte Orange.

Tom is right; a CO does save money. Plus it is great just to hop on and ride a stop if you want to. It costs 13.75 euro, as opposed to 9.60 for a carnet of 10 tickets. To break even over 5 days, you would have to ride a bus or metro 3 times each day.

We are doing the same thing as you and intend to buy a carnet to see us through Sat and Sun. We'll buy the CO on Sat also (not good till the following Monday, but you beat the work crowd). You don't need a passport size photo, any 1 1/8 x 1 1/8 will do, even one cut out of a bigger photo. (Those photo machines are all over Paris.) I saved the little folder, so all I will have to buy is the replacement coupon. Don't forget, don't put the coupon/ticket in the bus machine (which will punch holes in it), just show the ID folder w/coupon to the driver. In the metro you do put it through the machine.

Hi tiddy, Sorry .if I gave you the wrong inf.
I always use CO but I didn't remember they have such a good comparative price.
TimS did his homework and he is right. I was under the impression that to be worth it, 6 days would be the minimum.

Definitely get it and use it for the buses. They are wonderful and more fun than being underground. The picture is actually a bit smaller than a passport picture--you could just cut out your faces from a snapshot.

If you don't have an extra photo with you, they have those photo booths in many of the larger metro/RER stations. However, if you have to do that, it might not be cost effective and I'd probably just buy carnets myself. The photo booths used to cost about 5 euro, not sure now, but I have wasted too much money in them when they were broken.

Before I went on my last trip to London and Paris, I made my own photos to take with me. I simply took a photo of me I liked and printed out (on photo paper)several small photos to take with me. I put them in a tiny ziploc (left over from something or the other) and stuck them in my wallet. I didn't end up getting a Carte Orange but I did get my London photocard for use with the travelcard. Worked great.

We used a Carte Orange last year and found it to be not only economical but extremely handy; having already paid for it it was like using a credit card for free (if you get my drift!).
I would suggest you bring any photo of you that you can cut out your head shot so you can attach it to the card. The machines were a bit confusing and time consuming when all you want to do is get on the train. So don't be particular about your photo just cut out a photo of yourself ahead of time and use it!

We bought the Orange pass at the suggestion of our guide. He wanted us to take advantage of the buses in the city-which we did. I don't know if we would have done this otherwise. We didn't have photos which you need for the card. We just went and took them at one of the photo booths at a metro stations. It was all very fun and easy. Now I keep thinking we have such a nice souvenir from our trip. It was fun having and using the card. It made us feel like Parisians.

We plan to buy the Carte Orange and will also buy three-day museum passes at the same time.

Will they accept my VISA card at the Metro stations for these purchases?

Thanks,
Blue

Yes, VISA and MasterCard (and probably some other cards also) are accepted for buying museum passes and any form of metro/bus tickets and passes.

Can you purchase the Carte Orange at the airport when you arrive? - we are taking the subway into Paris.

I'm pretty sure you can buy one at the metro station, but buy a separate ticket for the fare from the airport into the city
otherwise you will be paying for all those extra zones every day

Thanks - I'm adding this to my notes.