Navigo Découverte vs Navigo Easy
 

Hello!
I'm still trying to figure out which one of these makes more sense for us. Obviously saving money is good, but ease of use is also important.

We are arriving Paris on Saturday, and leave the following Saturday. We have arranged car service to/from CDG so we won't be taking the RER.

There is 2 adults, and 1 child (he turns 10 on Tuesday during the time we are there)

Navigo Decourveter
Pros: Once we get it, we don't have to think about topping up/reloading tickets for the rest of our trip. (we already have photos ready)
Cons: 28 euros pp, we will only use it for 5 days (Mon-Fri) so it comes out to almost 6 euros per day and I don't know if we will use it to the full extent. Also we cannot use it on the first Sunday we arrive

Navigo EAsy:
Pros: quite possibly cheaper as we only need to put on as many tickets as we think we will need. and my son can use the 1/2 price discount for the first few days of the trip before he turns 10
Cons: have to keep track of how many tickets we used/ have left.

A few more Qs:
1) if we get navigo Easy, we still need one card for each of us, right? Where can we reload tickets on the Navigo Easy; is it at metro stations only? Some of our trips will be on buses, so I'm wondering if we run low on tickets, we will need to go find a metro station to reload them or we can reload at a bus stop?
2) Can we use one Navigo Easy card for more than one person? Say, can my spouse and I share one, and we just tap twice when we get on a bus?
3) if we get ND cards, can we keep the cards and use them again in the future? I am imagining the navigo easy card is like the London Oyster card and we can pass them to friends if they visit pairs?

You left out other benefits of the ND weekly package. You can hop on a bus for a few blocks when your feet are tired. Or you can get on a long bus route and see various neighborhoods without having a destination. Yes, it will cost more than individual tickets if you don't do much traveling, but the total costs will be similar. Look at the possible extra cost as insurance against needing more than expected individual tickets while allowing total freedom of movement.

I think you are worrying too much about what could amount to a couple euro difference. Paris public transportation is really cheap by American terms. In short, I would do what was most convenient which would be the Decouverte.

Yes, the Navigo Easy is like London Oyster cards, so you could give them to someone else after your trip. No, two people cannot use it at the same time. At least not in the metro/RER, I know you can't, you will be fined if caught. To be honest, I don't know if a bus would allow that or not, metros/RERs have turnstiles, of course, and you aren't allowed to pass it back to someone else.

You can reload them on the RATP app, but I've never used it so don't know if it would work with your phone in Paris, if you have one. I presume it would as it is not related to a phone plan really. Also stations and some private vendors who have signs up (some tabacs are other stores). You aren't going to easily find one at the last minute probably if you are at a bus stop and need to reload. YOu can check your pass regularly to know what you have left either on the app or at a machine. There are metro stations all over Paris, so it shouldn't be hard to reload when you need to if you know your balance.

Your son cannot load both child and adult fares at the same time. A Navigo Easy pass can only hold one type of ticket at a time, child or adult.

You cannot use single "tickets" to transfer from a bus to metro/RER or vice versa, so if you do that you will need two tickets.

Sure you can use the Navigo Decouverte in the future, it doesn't expire, what you load on it does. It might stop working after some years like a decade or something, but otherwise you can. Unless it gets contaminated somehow, I suppose, I've used mine for many years with no problem, I forget how many.

I am surprised you won't ever be using the RER at all, outside central Paris, most people do for a day trip or something, but of course, you don't have to if you just stay at places accessible by a metro line. There are even day trips I've done by bus outside central Paris, like to Malmaison, so it isn't just the RER exactly, but anything in the five zones. I even visited the WWI museum in Meaux using my zone 5 pass. I'm also very interested in classical music so went to St Germain en Laye partly to see Debussy's house, but there are other things to see there, and that's in zone 4. But of course there is plenty to do just on metro lines.

Sounds like Navigo Decouverte is the way to go for us; it may cost a few more euros in the end (or may not), but certainly worth it to save us headaches when it comes to topping up.

It would have been a no-brainer if we were to take the RER to the airport or for day trips, but we have enough to see within Paris proper on my itinerary for 6 days.

Answering your specific questions:

1. Navigo Easy cards are transferrable, but everyone traveling needs one. The NE card may be recharged at any RER/métro station, any 3rd party reseller such as tabacs, or using the Ile de France Mobilité or Bonjour app.

2. No. You can share the Easy card, but only one person may use it at a time.

3. Easy cards are transferrable and should function for at least 10 years.

Newer Samsung phones using the IdF Mobility app and loaded with tickets t+ can replace the Navigo card.

Illuminated and active Android phones with the NFC function on and the IdF Mobilité app installed and loaded with a fare may also be used in lieu of a Navigo card.

Apple phones do not yet have this capability.

Have used both. ND is easier. Especially like the ability (as noted above by AJP) to hop on and off buses at whim.

yk - I was in Paris for only 3 whole days and still managed almost to use up the carnet that I loaded onto my NE card when I first got there, just travelling on the metro. So with a whole week I think that it's almost inevitable that you would need to reload it in which case there's no saving. As your week coincides with a ND week, it makes perfect sense just to load it when you arrive and then you can forget about it.

I know this is a really dumb q but I want to be sure so I don't mess up. We got our ND today (to start use tomorrow). It comes with 2 pieces and i readthe instruction but still want to make sure.

in the photo, the bottom is the actual card, correct? The top I need to affix photo and write my name. And the I'm supposed to peel it off and attach to the bottom card? That's the part I'm unclear.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1d37806a3.jpeg

Apparently, the Navigo Découverte cards now have instructions in English and Spanish. Print your name in the space provided, lift the photo protection flap and attach your photo where it says: Stick here your ID photo. The instructions seem rather clear to me.

Keep these elements all together, the card inside the folding cover, and use the protective plastic cover. The card’s control number should show through the cover cutout and match the cover number, 871 855 in this case.

it's the part that says "peel off the Instructions and fold the clear film over the card" that I'm unclear.

I got stuck back on the "arranged car service." How much did you pay for that?

Okay we figured it out. On the top, the right side you can peel off to reveal a clear plastic, which you then fold over to cover the left side in order to protect the photo and the name.

<<Okay we figured it out. On the top, the right side you can peel off to reveal a clear plastic, which you then fold over to cover the left side in order to protect the photo and the name.>> Phew. I was sure that you would but in extremis I was going to suggest that you ask at the first metro station you were going to in the morning and ask at the ticket office. I'm pleased that my NE card required no such steps - it's just a plastic card that I have put in my passport wallet until next time I go to Paris - hopefully not too much longer. Hope you have a great day tomorrow!

The ND cards have slightly evolved and are a bit different since the last time I looked at one. I use the Navigo Liberté card, which is automatically configured by the RATP and then mailed.

kerouac, you and i both have been on fodors for almost 20 years now; i appreciate all the invaluable advice you have given me and all the other travelers on this site over the years. we both know there are all sorts of travelers here on fodors. there are people who only swear by taking public transit, and there are people who will only take taxis/ubers, and there are people who like to arrange car service from the airport..

Then there are people like me, who used to scoff at people who take taxi or car service instead of public transit, but then life changes (we get older, we travel with children, or whatever the circumstances), and now i feel arranging a car pickup is the right decision for us. Sure it is costly, but we are saving money other ways by staying at an apartment and preparing some meals at home; it all works out in the end.

Thank you. Something about Paris and London seems to make certain posters extra judgmental.

FWIW, we went with the Easy and had two “books” loaded onto it. I had 5 journeys left from a previous trip. We’re not using it much… in four days we’ve taken the metro once and a bus once. Otherwise it’s a mix of walking and the occasional taxi. I expect the rest of the trip will unfold the same way.

well said, yk. As you say circumstances change and therefore so do our needs.

photo
 

Do they really expect tourists to bring 3.5 cm x 2.5 cm photos with them to affix to these Navigo Decouverte cards? I thought that was just for French residents and they'd mail them the personalized card in the mail.

<<Do they really expect tourists to bring 3.5 cm x 2.5 cm photos with them to affix to these Navigo Decouverte cards? I thought that was just for French residents and they'd mail them the personalized card in the mail.>>

if you use the navigo easy card then you don't need a photo - just buy it from the first metro station you get to and ask them to load it with a carnet. Job done.

Still have to carry physical card?
 

Hopping on the thread here. We have ND cards and I was successful in getting it recognized by the IDF Mobilités app just to see if my son would be able to add the Toutes Zone Weekly when he arrives next month. Can we assume that the card has been added to the app and no longer needs to be carried? Or does the card need to NFC to the app every time something is purchased?

I would assume nothing. Most Android phones, using either the Bonjour RATP app or the Île-de-France Mobilité app, and a linked credit card, may be used as a Navigo card replacement. Approaching the turnstiles, the phone must be on, NFC enabled, the app active having a valid fare. Some newer Samsung phones have cardlike circuitry built-in, the phone does not need be on to function as a Navigo card.

iPhones do not have card replacement capability but, properly configured, they may be used to load fares onto a Navigo card.

there are some sensitivities that I just miss when I read Fodors, I'm sorry, I guess I'm just not in the zone

What was the price for the car service please?

bilboburgler, I believe the OP is on a trip in the western US right now. She may not see your question.

Having been to France six times over the last 30 years, YES, our needs have changed. Was it all the kind French who immediately offered us their seats on the Metro at Chatelet trying to tell us something (at rush hour no less when we struggled in holding on at an exit door) ? Yes, we were amongst the oldest by decades, but at least not dragging luggage. We had fun with that ordeal while leaving Brussels two train stations whose elevators were miles away from our platforms! Now I know why people take tours, but we prefer to plan our own escapades. We used the Navigo Decouverte cards easily and yes, handy, to hop on a bus that magically appears before you headed in right direction! And tho we didnt ride it on this trip, the Route 63 that you pick up at Cluny and take all thru St. Germain over to Trocadero is so relaxing and truly a "sight-seeing" experience. I always suggest it to first-timers. Gives you the overall layout that a Metro cannot. 'Nuf said......

Just another note about the advantages of having a Navigo card - I discovered that it got me a very worthwhile €5 off the €20 cost of the one day Batobus ticket.

OTOH I found it impossible to load with a new carnet at any of the machines at the entrance to the metro; eventually my companion gently pointed out that I was using my hotel key card which in my defence was pretty similar! But even the real card got no results so I resorted to asking the assistant in the office to do it which she did very happily. Then of course I remembered that I could do it on my phone but I enjoyed the human contact [and chance to use my french] however brief.

And though I have yet to discover the delights of the No 63 bus Aliced, I can recommend the no 66 which went from almost outside our hotel to the Hotel de Ville, and the Louvre - as you say giving an overall idea of the layout that the metro can't.

People have different feelings about private car service. I have never seen the point since that's what a taxi does and you don't have to prebook and then try to find a specific person at the airport. Or worry if your plane is late, etc. To me, it sounds like more work than a taxi. I've read recently some taxis try to rip people off, I guess, at the airport. I'm not sure how given it is a flat rate and if they are at the official taxi queue there you'd think that would be that. Maybe I misunderstood and it's within the city.

IN any case, I often stay in one hotel that last time refused to order me a taxi. Then they claimed the flat rate was more than it was (I knew what it was supposed to be), when I pushed back about how their private car service cost more than a taxi would. I was tired and caved since I just didn't have the energy to try to figure out how to deal with this on my own. At least I figured if some car service had ties to that hotel, they would show up and not try to rip me off (as I prepaid). To compensate, I didn't tip at all. I know some locals say they never tip anyway, but I usually give at least 5 euro tip for that long drive to the airport if the driver was nice. I don't tip 20 pct or anything.

Long story but bottom line was that that particular service cost about 10 euro more than the official airport flat rate. I think I figured out given the booking in advance fee for a taxi, I wasn't really out all that much money versus a taxi. That was just one car service though, so who knows, maybe yk will say somewhere which one she used and what it costs. I was kind of irritated at the hotel, though, even though I"d been going there for years, although they had new owners. I mainly thought it was outrageous for local Parisian hotel staff to not know what the official taxi rate to the airport was, and of course refusing to order a taxi for a guest isn't great either. I'm pretty sure they flat out refused or were going to really give me a hassle.