Landing Gear

I heard recently there have been changes to Navigo? A few months ago I posted about how the definition of "week" in the weekly pass made it difficult for anyone not arriving on a Monday. Does anyone have information on what the changes are and if they've gone into effect?

Orange County Commuter

Tamino

There have been no changes to Navigo fares, either in their structure or cost.

Outside of the Easy card which only electronically holds tickets t+ or a few day pass options, the next big change will be the Navigo Liberté coming this fall and which is not really a tourist product.

kerouac2

All of this is in preparation of the elimination of paper tickets in the next year or so.

Landing Gear

I picked up a Navigo Easy a week ago. It's a white and blue credit card sized piece of plastic with a chip in it and costs 2€. On top of that, you can add the equivalent of a carnet (10 tickets) at the same price as one, 14.90€. The card can be refilled as needed. There are machines in stations that will give you your balance.

Interestingly, Navigo is a "contactless" payment system so all you need to do is tap it on the turnstile and the gate opens. (There is no need to insert it into a slot, the same way as with the balance readers.) Every station seems to have at least one turnstile marked dedicated to Navigo.

Tamino

If you like, the Navigo Easy may be loaded with up to 30 tickets t+.

mstraveler

This is a welcome change and sounds exactly like our Clipper Cards for the San Francisco Bay area BART and MUNI.

Does anyone know if it is possible to get them online ahead of a visit? (I really hate trying to navigate an unfamiliar machine after spending time waiting behind all the other people who are trying to navigate unfamiliar machines )

Landing Gear

I have no idea. However, you don't have to use a machine. (In any case, they all offer English.) I bought my Navigo from a live ticket agent at the Alma-Marceau Métro station.

mstraveler

Thanks Landing Gear. Good option. Would still be interested in just showing up with one in hand if anyone has any info about purchasing online. Not able to find anything searching for it, so suspect that is not yet an option as it is with our Clipper Cards, but would be happy to be wrong.

Landing Gear

I just thought of another idea for you. Are you staying in a hotel with a concierge? Maybe they would be willing to do this for you. (You might have seen the messages where I joined the fans of the George V and its concierges. I am sure they would do this with no issue.)

Tamino

Navigo cards are just cards. Even if you had one in advance, and I know of no way to do that other than what Landing Gear has suggested above, you must still load a fare onto the card before you can use it. If you want a Navigo Easy loaded with tickets t+, that could be done in advance by a concierge as the Easy is not user specific and the t+ is valid until used.

However, before you can use a Navigo Découverte, it must have a 25 mm x 30 mm photo (passport like in black and white or color) attached, your name legibly printed/written in the space provided, and an appropriate fare loaded. Weekly fares are time sensitive and can only be loaded and used for the current Monday through Sunday week up to and including Thursday. Fares loaded on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday are not usable before the following Monday.

The easiest way to use the Navigo Découverte is to just purchase, configure, and load a fare when you need it.

mstraveler

We are staying in an apartment with a concierge and I will contact him. Good idea and we will not be on a tight time line in Paris thankfully! And we did stay at the George V once in the good old days, but do not know about the fans and concierges but will look.

I looked into the Navigo Decouverte and it is the timing is not right for us. I have an Carte Orange card, with a picture, folder etc, but those are obsolete now sadly. The cards like Navigo Easy and our SF Bay area Clipper Cards are great; just load money onto them and use them. No pictures or too much fussing necessary.