We have been quoted by our travel agent 100 euros each way for our transfer from the airport to our hotel in St Germain Des Pres. We are a family of 4 (2 children 7yrs & 5yrs) Can someone advise a company that can do it much cheaper.
Thanks.

Check with Parishuttle. Their site lists the fare at 18 euro each for you and spouse, 10 euro for each child.

From what I've read, you should be able to get a taxi for four that will be considerably cheaper, with no prebooking. But a shuttle might be cheaper still.

We just returned from Paris, and our taxi fare for four people with luggage going to and from the CDG airport to the St Germain area was approximately 50€ each way.

We had to wait at the airport for only about one or two minutes for a mini-van/ stationwagon taxi.

Going back to the airport, we walked a couple of blocks to the taxi stand at the corner of Rue du Four and Blvd St. Germain and caught a taxi there, once again only waiting a minute or two.

With small children, it might make sense to take a shuttle back to the airport so you don't have any worries about finding a taxi, but I don't see any advantage of taking a shuttle when you first arrive vs. taking a taxi from the airport to your hotel.

Mackenzie, I am afraid your travel agent looks at you and sees dollar signs. My family of 4 just returned yesterday from a week in Paris, taking a taxi from CDG in early morning rush hour traffic with lots of luggage for only 44€ to the Opéra area. We just walked out of the airport to the taxi rank, asked the first taxi in line if he could handle our load and off we went.

Oh, and from Marcy's post above, why would it make sense to hire a shuttle back when even low-ball hotels will call you a taxi to pick you up at the exact hour of your choice. Just taxi it and plan on 50€ each way. Nice and easy - nothing to get worked up about. Enjoy.

crepes, the only thing about calling a taxi from your hotel is that they start the meter from the time you call them, so it would be a little more. ( but certainly not 100€ !)

Very small meter charge since the hotel usually calls to the nearest stand. Take the taxi. The travel agent is just looking for the commission and ought to be ashamed.

The OP said "much cheaper," so here goes:

The very cheapest way, which is the commuter train called RER, is €7.85 per adult and €5.55 per child. If you are going to travel around town, take a look at the Carte Orange and Paris Visite cards, which can get you from the CDG to the city on the RER, plus unlimited travel all over the place on the Métro and buses. Several threads have explained these options.

<b>http://www.citefutee.com/orienter/aeroport_rerb.php</b>

The OP also mentioned 4 persons including 2 small children. I wouldn't recommend scrimping too much and frustrating, stressing and killing yourselves when navigating up-and-down stairs and un-cooperative turnstile gates with luggages when your take the RER and, quite possibly, the metro.

Take the parishuttle.com and have them pick you up to-and-from the airport in a nice large van. It's only Euro 18 per adult one-way.

I used Bee Shuttle about a year ago. We were three adults and two kids, with a lot of luggage, strollers, etc. so we found that a private transfer was convenient.

Bee Shuttle prices are slightly lower than Paris Shuttle's, and much lower for private transfers. However, the drivers are not English speaking, or at least, they speak only a few words in English. Other than that, both transfers, in and out, were uneventful and quite convenient.

I'll never figure out why so many people seem to have major math problems. If the shuttle costs 18 per adult and 10 for each child, that comes out to 56, doesn't it??? Most estimates for taxis are less than that. Why would anyone still suggest a shuttle that you have to call, wait for, and then hope it shows up -- several reports here have indicated that the shuttles didn't show up -- instead of just walking out and getting a taxi? How can anyone think it's easier to take a shuttle than a taxi -- and why suggest it when it probably even costs MORE than the taxi?

The others have pretty much covered all the bases (first choice - taxi, 2nd choice - shuttle, 3rd choice RER/metro -- would probably be 1st choice if you weren't schlepping little ones/extra luggage)

But my question would be where else has your TA overcharged you?? To quote &euro;100 for a (barely) &euro;50 journey would make me curious about where else I was being gouged. . . . .

janis, I wouldn't call it gouging. The days of travel agents making their money on the commissions from booking individual hotels or transportation are over. They now regularly charge clients for providing the services they provide. If someone goes to a travel agent expecting them to research and then book various individual aspects of a travel plan, then of course, most intelligent people realize that they will be paying more for those services. This is another example. If you don't have the time or energy to post here, or explore the internet and book your own transportation and find out your own answers, then of course, you probably don't mind paying the agent to take the time to do so for you.

(And lest you think I'm simply knocking travel agents, I'm not. Of course, many are still able to save you money if you are simply booking package cruises or tours. There are still large enough commissions for them to earn a living from those. But a typical little hotel in Europe will not pay them a commission, so of course, they must chage you for providing the booking service.

I must say im glad to see that Paris is still as popular as ever with fodorites - i haven't been on Fodors for a very long time.
I would agree with Patricks comments regarding Travel agents - the margins that they make on &quot;add-ons&quot; such as shuttle services is normally between 5 and 18 %.
They are not making a fortune from airport transfers.
Generally travel agents &amp; tour operators make a substantial profit from selling travel insurance.

The price quoted to Mackenzie does sound somewhat extravagant but this may be for a private vehicle .?.
I can inform you that with the ridiculously high &amp; ever rising costs of fuel in france , the majority of shuttle services are either raising their net prices with travel agents or trying very hard to re-neg their working partnerships or contracts.

I wont enter the taxi over shuttle over RER over Air France bus over horse &amp; cart etc etc debate due to an obvious bias .

I will however wish all those coming to Paris a safe journey and an enjoyable stay .

Thanks for the replies. The funny part about our transfer it was a coach (bus) - I cannot beleive that we almost booked it - each way. We will be taking a taxi.

Good for you mackenzie! I am really glad you thought to post this question here before you committed. I don't have any problem with agents being paid for their services, but this was definitely gouging.

Thanks for the replies. My travel agent was getting her information from brochures. Not happy but she was probably doing her job and getting a great commission from the companies - We are definitely catching a taxi once we land.

My wife and I took the AirFrance bus from CDG to Montparnasse on Nov. 10. The cost for 2 was 24 euros. ter being turned down by a taxi driver because the trip was too short, we walked to our hotel which for most would be a 15 minute walk, double that for my wife.

There was gridlock on the ring road that evening and the trip took nearly 1 1/2 hours, half again the usual time but the fare didn't change. What would happen with a taxi fare since it is a function of both distance and time?

Taxis can be tricky (you'll be juggling young kids, luggage, and running on empty/no sleep!) and the Parishuttle is very dependable. I arrange this for all the groups I take and for many individuals for whom I consult. With little ones, it's also very worth the money to be greeted by a private driver. Bon voyage!