yk

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?

AJPeabody

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.

Christina

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.

yk

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.

Sarastro

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.

Seamus

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

annhig

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.

yk

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.

Sarastro

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.

yk

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

kerouac

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

yk

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.

annhig

<<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!

Sarastro

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.

yk

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.

WeisserTee

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.

annhig

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

achien1969

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.

annhig

<<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.

icashootnstar

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?