If you have a story you’d like to share to help others avoid the same scam, please contact ben@parisbytrain.com.

Scam: Ticket purchase help

Where: At Metro / RER ticket vending machines, especially at Gare du Nord train station

How: Scam artist offers to help you purchase tickets using his bank card/credit card claiming that foreign cards do not work (true in some cases). After purchasing the tickets he asks you to pay him in cash for the tickets, but at an amount demanded is much higher than face value. Variations include purchasing a carnet (booklet of 10) of single use Metro or RER tickets and offering you only 1-2 tickets for the price of an entire booklet, claiming they are good for multiple use or something similar.  Scam is commonly run at Gare du Nord due to high tourist traffic coming from RER B trains from CDG Airport and Eurostar London – Paris trains, with plenty of first-time travelers to Paris.

Avoidance:

• buy tickets from a ticket window
• buy Metro/RER train tickets from ticket machines using your own bank/credit card
  • bank & credit cards with a chip, taking 4 digit PIN numbers from most countries will work fine
• politely refuse help from apparently good samaritan locals

Scam: Pick pocket teams

Where: Train car doors

How: Two-man team. One is a decoy attempting to expose your wallet.  He stays on train.  Partner picks pocket & gets off train as doors close.  I had this attempted on me on the Barcelona Metro, but the method works anywhere.  One member waits to get on train at a 45º angle in front of you (keeping you in his peripheral view).  When the train arrives and doors open, passengers exit train, then you and pickpocket move to door, he enters just ahead of you and drops something on the floor of train.  A mobile phone in pieces, coins, etc.  The point is to get your help to bend over and pick up the pieces with him, exposing your back pocket & your wallet.  His partner then picks your pocket while leaving train and walks off.  After picking up pieces, the original pickpocket stays on train and plays innocent, offering himself to be searched for your wallet.

Avoidance:

• Don’t help to pick up items dropped.
• Keep your wallet in front pants pocket.

Scam: Unregistered Taxi / Limousine Rides

Where: Near train station & airport passenger pickup stands for taxis, limousines, etc.

How: Illegal taxi or limousine offers you a ride to destination of your choice at discount or flat rate because their reserved passenger has been delayed.  After driving begins the car takes you to an unsafe neighbourhood and demands extra fee or they will eject you into the unsafe area.

Avoidance:

• Take taxis from designated taxi stand areas at train stations and airports.
• Only take taxis from reputable/recommended companies which includes:
  • Taxi G7
  • G7 Horizon
  • Alpha Taxis
  • Les Taxis Bleus
  • ABC Taxis 93

Scam: Bag Placement & Pickup

Where: Anywhere you put your hand bag down

How: When you put your handbag on floor at your feet, thief puts their bag down beside yours, stops, bends over and ties her shoes.  When done, she picks up her bag and yours and walks off.

Avoidance: when you put your purse down, put bag between your feet, not on your left or right sides of your feet.

Scam: Mobile phone theft with closing doors

Where: near train doors as they’re closing

How: As you talk or text on your mobile phone, holding it up near your face in plain view with a weak grip, the thief will wait until train is about to depart and doors are about to close.  He will grab your mobile phone from your hands and escape through the closing doors and run out of the station.

Avoidance:

• Use your mobile phone after the train doors are closed and train car is in motion (no escape route).
• Don’t text or talk on phone when the train doors are about to open or close.
• Don’t sit immediately in front of doors (minimizes distance to escape route).
• Hold onto your mobile phone like an orange (hand wrapped around it), not like a Christmas card (holding bottom edges, exposing phone, easy to grab).

Final Thoughts

Simply go about your business of arriving and leaving this station in an efficient manner and you’ll be fine.

Enjoy your trip and stay safe!

(If you have a story you’d like to share to help others avoid the same scam, please contact ben@parisbytrain.com).

First misconception: Pro tickets are first class train tickets.  This is not true.  Pro tickets can be bought for seats in either the first class or second class train cars on TGV trains

The main difference between Pro (Business) and Loisir (Leisure or Economy or other types of) tickets is their refund/exchange policy.

Exchange and Refund Conditions for TGV Pro tickets:

• TGV Pro tickets are exchangeable for another TGV ticket on any other TGV train route, without exchange fee, up until your train leaves. You must pay any differences in fares, if applicable.
• TGV Pro ticket holders, from one hour before your scheduled departure to one hour after your scheduled departure, may take trains on the same route, without exchanging your ticket.  This does not guarantee you a seat!  If you have time, you should visit a automated ticket vending/exchange machine (Yellow for any type of TGV ticket, Purple for Pro TGV tickets) to officially exchange your ticket and reserve a seat.
• TGV Pro tickets are fully refundable up until the time of departure of your scheduled train, free of cancellation fees.
• After your scheduled train departs and up until 60 days afterwards, you will lose 50% of your ticket value for any refund or exchange of the ticket.  After 60 days, an unused TGV Pro ticket is worthless.
• Exchanging/Refunding tickets using automated machines or ticket counters in any major train station is free of charge.
• You may cancel/refund a TGV Pro ticket by telephone at any time up until 60 days after scheduled departure. To speak to a SNCF travel agent by phone to exchange/refund tickets call 08 92 35 35 01 when in France (0,34€/min).

If you are unsure of your travel plans in terms of schedule, it may make sense to purchase TGV Pro train tickets. Loisir tickets are exchangeable, free of service charge, up until the night before the day of travel.  On the day of travel, Loisir TGV tickets are subject to a 10€ exchange/refund fee (plus difference in fares if applicable).  After the departure of your scheduled train, Loisir tickets are worthless.

Notes:

• Disneyland Paris 30% sale + kids free. Sale ends March 28, 2013.

Already in Paris and need to get to Disneyand Paris? See the Paris Disneyland train (RER) article.

This article explains how to:

• Purchase tickets for the CDG – Disneyland Paris train upon arrival at CDG Airport, or online in advance
• Find the TGV train station at CDG Airport Terminal 2
• Save 15% on Disneyland Paris tickets at DisneylandParis.com (official site)

The TGV train schedule from Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) to Disneyland Paris has the first train departing at 06:54 in the morning with the last train in the evening departing CDG at 21:55. The frequency of trains varies from 30 minutes to 1h20 between each departure from CDG.

Charles de Gaulle Airport has two separate train stations, one located near Terminal 3 and another located within Terminal 2. The Terminal 2 train station, known as “Aeroport Charles de Gaulle 2 – TGV“, is split into two distinct sides, one for RER suburban trains (going to Paris city center), the other TGV high speed intercity trains, one of which travels to Disneyland Paris.

If you’re arriving at CDG Terminal 1 or Terminal 3, you’ll need to first catch a CDGVAL shuttle train over to Terminal 2. The photo tour of Terminal 1 to Paris contains instructions on finding and taking the CDGVAL shuttle, but don’t get off the shuttle at Terminal 3/Roissypole, stay on the shuttle until it arrives at Terminal 2. This may seem odd, but Terminal 2 is located after Terminal 3 on the CDGVAL shuttle line.

At Terminal 2 the train station is located in between sub-terminals 2D and 2F. If you’ve taken the CDGVAL shuttle, you’ll arrive very close to the train station. See the Terminal 2 to Paris photo tour for instructions on getting to the Aeroport CDG 2 – TGV train station.

Within the photo guide for the Terminal 2 train station is a photo of the TGV (Grandes Lignes) ticket purchase office on the bottom floor (shown below). This office is split into two sides, one side sells tickets for Paris city trains (RER B) and the other side sells intercity Grandes Lignes trains tickets, which includes TGV trains to Disneyland Paris. If you’re facing the ticket office, the entrance on the right half is the one you’ll want to use to purchase or pickup your Internet bought tickets, as seen in the photo below:

TGV tickets for the CDG to Disneyland Paris train can be purchased in advance online at RailEurope.co.uk for residents of the UK, from RailEurope.com for residents of USA (beware of delivery fees) and from TGV-Europe.com from elsewhere. See the article on how to purchase TGV tickets without fees from TGV-Europe.

When buying tickets from RailEurope.co.uk, use “Paris CDG Airport” as your departure and “Marne La Vallee Ches” as your arrival location.

When using TGV-Europe.com to find tickets, be sure to use “AIRPORT CDG 2 TGV” as your departure location and “Marne La Vallee” as your arrival station.

If you’re coming from Europe and have a smart chip enabled credit card, you’ll be able to use the automated ticket machines to pick-up your TGV tickets purchased over the Internet. Only the credit card used to make the online ticket purchase can be used to collect the tickets from these machines, so keep this in mind when using these machines. The machines will appear like these below:

When you have tickets in hand, you’ll need to descend onto the TGV train platforms which are one level below the train station ticket office. Take care not to descend onto the RER B train platforms, which serve only trains going into Paris city center. The TGV trains are Grandes Lignes or Main Line trains which have their own platforms on a separate side of station visible here:

After your TGV train departs, the first stop will be Marne La Vallée–Chessy station which is the train station serving Disneyland Paris. The travel time should be roughly 10 minutes from CDG to Disneyland Paris.

Below is a photo of the Marne La Vallée–Chessy train station (on the left) within the Disney grounds.

Useful Links

Save 15% by booking online – Disneyland Paris- Simply buy your tickets for Disneyland Paris online, before you arrive, from the official Disneyland Paris website and save 15% on Disney tickets or up to 25% on package deals.

Comment trouver le moins cher prix pour un billet Eurostar (77€/59£)?

• Acheter le billet en avance, au moins un mois, sur Eurostar.com.
• Eviter les weekends qui sont le plus populaire.
• Utiliser le calendrier de disponibilité pour trouver plus facilement les billets moins chers. Sur la page d’accueil, suivre le lien pour 77€:
• 
• Et après, cliquez sur le bouton Réservez: pour avoir acces au calendrier de disponibilité:

From the UK? RailEurope.co.uk offers TGV tickets without fees with free home delivery of tickets (and is actually easier to use than TGV-Europe.com).

If you’re from the US or European countries outside UK, TGV-Europe.com offers online TGV ticket buying without fees or delivery charges, but a few tips (below) are necessary.

Let’s start by visiting TGV-Europe.com

Tips

On first visit, you’ll be asked your country of residence.

If you’re a resident of the US, do not select America here, as you’ll be redirected to RailEurope-World.com (and will pay an admin fee and a delivery fee (if you choose mail delivery) for tickets). To avoid this and to continue using TGV-Europe, select Ireland from the map shown upon first visit to tgv-europe.com.

After selecting Ireland, you’ll see the tgv-europe.com home page and ticket search form in grey on the right side entitled “BOOK YOUR TRAIN TICKET”.  Before searching, at the bottom of the form, change the Ticket Collection Country selection from Ireland to France.  By doing so, once you arrive in Paris you can collect your tickets from any TGV ticket vending machine or TGV / Grandes Lignes ticket window using your purchasing card and print-out of your purchase confirmation.

If you’re a Canadian resident, Canada is lumped into “America” and RailEurope.ca charges both a (higher hidden) admin fee (roughly $10) and if you choose mail for delivery method, a delivery fee of $18 will be added. Choose Ireland as your country instead.

If your country is not found on this list, choose Ireland to continue in English. You won’t be able to receive your tickets in the mail, but you can still collect your tickets upon arrival in France, free of charge, regardless of where you actually live.

After clicking on the Search button, the next screen (shown below) will contain a large amount of information to digest. Here we select which train we want for the outbound leg of the journey.

Prices in colours (green, fuchsia, yellow, orange) besides grey are discounted from normal full fares.

At the top, just below “Select your outward” may be a warning: “Attention, you cannot make reservations for certain journeys in this list”. This only applies to itineraries that connect with another type of (non-TGV) train or bus to complete the journey. It simply means that one or more parts of the journey are made on trains or buses where the seats are first come first served. For example, some trains will be Ter commuter trains, where the seats are not numbered.

The rest of the page contains details on several trains you can take, each with a different departure time. Here we’ll look at one train in particular, which has 3 different ticketing options. Starting at the top of the details for this train you’ll see departure time & station (15h13 Paris Gare de Lyon), arrival time & station (17h56 Avignon TGV), type of train and number (TGV 06117), 1st or 2nd class (we see only 2nd class tickets here since that was our search criteria), and journey time (02h43).

Below that are 3 different ticket choices for this train leaving Paris at 15h13 (3:13pm) and arriving in Avignon at 17h56 (5:56pm). The first and cheapest choice is a PREMs ticket at 50€ which are discounted early bird tickets. PREMs tickets are usually the least expensive, but do not allow changes nor cancellations.

Select a ticket type by clicking on the radio button circles left of the prices. Just after doing this, a new link will appear “Choose My Place“, which allows you to select a seat type: Window, Aisle, Upper deck, Lower deck (on double-decker trains), etc. When you’re happy with your choices click “choose this outward journey” to continue.

Skip forward to the delivery options or continue reading for detailed explanations on the other ticket options.

Other Ticket Options

Second choice is a LOISIR (“Leisure”) ticket, which are changeable and refundable, without fees, up until the day of travel. Changes or cancellations made on day of travel will be subject to a 10€ fee for each traveler on the ticket (it’s possible to have multiple people on a single TGV/regular train ticket). You can make ticket changes and cancellations online through a web page specifically for your ticket. The web page address is sent to you with your email confirmation of your ticket purchase, so keep that email handy.

If you’ve received a paper ticket and wish to cancel it, you can do this online, but you will only be refunded after you’ve returned your ticket to a ticket office. In France you can do this at any SNCF ticket window, found at any of the major train stations within central Paris (Gare du Nord, Gare de Lyon, etc.). Outside of France, you would return your ticket to the reseller from whom you purchased (for example: RailEurope.com). This is to prevent travelers from retaining the paper ticket and using it after receiving a refund for the purchase.

The last ticket option we see in the above image is a PRO 2NDE ticket which allows you to (without charges or fees):

• take the next train if you miss your reserved one, without having to rebook your ticket (with no guarantee of getting a seat)
• take the train before your schedule train, in case you’re early or ahead of schedule, without having to rebook your ticket (again, without guarantee you’ll have a seat on the train)
• rebook your ticket for the next scheduled train (to the same destination) up to an hour after your original train leaves, using either automated ticket exchange/vending machines or at a ticket window

If you decide to exchange or cancel your PRO 2NDE ticket more than an hour past the departure time of your reserved train, you’ll be charged 50% of the original ticket price for a change or cancellation.

From time to time there may be green colored second class seat tickets upgraded to first class train cars. These seat tickets that are non-refundable and non-exchangeable. These tickets can even be cheaper than the least expensive 2nd class tickets. 1st class seats are larger, have more legroom, and come with more seating configuration choices as shown in the photo below.

Note that some ticket choices have a leg of the journey completed on a bus (“coach”) as shown in the picture below. In this example we see that a TGV train from Paris Gare de Lyon makes the first leg to Avignon TGV station, which is then followed by a coach line bus between Avignon’s TGV train station and its central train station, Avignon Centre (Avignon has multiple large train stations, just like Paris). Since this itinerary choice uses two different types of transportation (train and bus), each ticket will have two different sets of restrictions. For example, the first choice has PREMS and REGULAR FARE. The PREMS restrictions refers to the TGV train on the first leg and the REGULAR FARE stipulations refer to the bus portion of the journey.

Some train routes are served by SNCF’s iDTGV brand of TGV high speed trains which usually offers the cheapest fares with tickets that you print yourself at home. iDTGV tickets can be purchased up to 6 months in advance, as opposed to the maximum of 60 days in advance for second class tickets and 90 days for first class tickets. Seat choices are either in the iDzen zone (quiet part of the train good for sleeping or reading) or the iDzap zone (dvd players/movies available for rent, nightclub like bar area, etc.).

Ticket Choice Confirmation

After choosing a ticket type we’re presented with a confirmation page. You’ll see the train departure/arrival details along with your seat placement (Coach 7 – Seat 88, Upper deck – Window – Dual side by side).

If you wish to change your selection, click “Back” on your browser, select your desired ticket and you’ll be returned to this confirmation page, which will now show your new ticket choice and your previously chosen ticket. Remember to delete your previous ticket choice by clicking the “Delete” button (left hand side, just below Passenger information).

When you’re happy with your ticket choice, click “Confirm” to continue.

Ticket Collection Delivery Choices

Next we decide how to receive our tickets. The choices depend on the type of ticket you’ve chosen and the country of residence you chose on the search page. PREMs and iDTGV tickets can be printed yourself, regardless of your country of residence.

The easiest way to collect your ticket is to print it out yourself at home or office.  That selection is the E-ticket service.

If your country of residence was listed on the search page (and you chose it), you can choose “receive your tickets free by post“. If you chose a country other than your actual country of residence (due to it not being on the list, or you’re from the US or Canada, wish to avoid delivery fees and you chose Great Britain), you cannot choose to receive your tickets by post (mail), as the delivery country cannot be changed from what you chose on the search page.  If your credit card has a chip and you enter your PIN # when using it, you can choose Collection from an Automatic Ticket Machine.  If your credit card is the swipe and sign type, choose “Retrieval from a French station” (the choice depicts a ticket window attendant). The reason for this: most North American credit cards do not work with the automated ticket retrieval machines.

If you choose Receive your ticket free by post, a new window will appear further down on the page, asking for your mailing address, with the country selected during search automatically specified (and unchangeable).

Ticket Personal Information

Next we specify the name and email address of the ticket purchaser. It’s important that you use a name that is shown on your travel documents such as your passport, since the tickets you’ll receive will have this name on them. From time to time you may be asked to show identification that matches the name on the ticket. The email address is also important, as a purchase confirmation will be sent to this address. This confirmation will allow you to make changes to the ticket, specify passengers names (for iDTGV tickets), and allow you to print the ticket itself (for PREMs tickets).

Remember to check the acceptance box for the General Conditions of Sale before clicking “Confirm“.

Online Payment

Finally you’ll come to the page where you can specify your payment option. Visa, Mastercard and American Express will be the most common choices. Note that if you use American Express, the automated ticket retrieval machines will not work for collecting your tickets. You’ll need to visit a ticket window with your confirmation and card.

You won’t be asked for billing address information here, simply the card number, expiry, and security code. Afterwards, your card will be billed and an email confirmation delivered to your email mailbox.

Ticket Collection

If you’ve purchased a PREMs or iDTGV ticket, you’ll be able to print your own ticket from the TGV-Europe.com website (see more information on printing your own PREMs ticket). The address of your ticket web page will be sent to you via email and is also presented to you at the end of the ticket purchase process. Remember that iDTGV tickets can be changed as long as you have not already printed the tickets, so keep the confirmation email for your tickets handy, but not actually print the tickets, if you’re unsure of your travel times. (See details on changing iDTGV tickets here).

If you’ve chosen to have your tickets sent by post, you’ll should receive your tickets within 10 working days from International locations outside of western Europe. Within France ticket delivery takes 2 or 3 days.

If you’ve chosen to Retrieve your tickets in a French station with the bank card that was used to pay for it, you can do this at any time while you’re in France, you do not have to wait till the day of travel. In fact, I recommend you do it as early as possible to avoid any lineup problems you may run into on the day of travel. Keep a print out of your email confirmation which contains the purchase reference code (usually 6 letters) handy when you visit a SNCF ticket window to pickup tickets. This will help the attendant understand what you’re after in case there is a language barrier.

If you’ve chosen to Collect your ticket from an automatic ticket machine with the bank card used for the payment, you’ll need to use yellow ticket machines at a train station in France such as those seen in the below photo:

If you have troubles using these machines with your bank card or credit card, simply visit a ticket window with a print out of your confirmation and your card and they should be able to print out your tickets for you.

Conclusion

By purchasing your TGV ticket through TGV-Europe.com, you should be able to avoid delivery fees charged by certain resellers, namely RailEurope.com, RailEurope.ca. The prices of tickets offered by TGV-Europe are no different than those available on RailEurope.co.uk or RailEurope.com.

• Cities connecting TGV / Highspeed Rail Lines

Countries included are France, Spain, England, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Italy (the

Railteam partner countries).

The high speed rail networks for each country include:

• TGV (Trains à Grande Vitesse) serving France (see Wikipedia article)
• AVE (Alta Velocidad Española) serving Spain (Wikipedia article)
• Eurostar serving England, France and Belgium (tickets, Wikipedia article, corporate site)
• Thalys serving France, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany (corporate site, Wikipedia article
• ICE (InterCityExpress) serving Germany (Wikipedia article)

Train tickets can be purchased from RailEurope.com (for US or Canadian, UK residents), from Voyages-SNCF.com (for France residents) or directly from TGV-Europe.com if you live elsewhere.

Translation:

OFFBEAT

A train ticket for the snail.

The SNCF will reimburse the 5,10€ charged to a passenger transporting live snails, without tickets, on a TGV train.  The ticket checker wanted the snails to pay their fare for the train.

(From 20 Minutes)

This is a photo of a train ticket vending machine found throughout Paris and Ile-de-France train stations (Gare de Lyon, Gare du Nord, Gare Montparnasse, Gare St. Lazare, Gare de l’Est, Gare d’Austerlitz, Gare de Bercy, plus stations through Ile-de-France) and at some Paris Metro/RER stations. These ticket machines operate with a touch screen. They accept Euro coins and European or smart-chip enabled credit/debit cards.

Tickets sold from these machines are for station to station travel, inside and outside central Paris, within the Ile-de-France region. You may also purchase tickets for the Paris Metro, Tram and Bus (Ticket t+, carnets ["booklets"] of Ticket t+) from these machines.

Tickets and change (if necessary) are dispensed into the bottom tray. Ticket printing can be somewhat slow, so be patient when completing your transaction and wait till all of your tickets are dispensed.

Passes such as Pass Navigo Decouverte, and Paris Visite Card, are not sold from these machines.  You’ll have to visit a ticket window/booth to purchase these, since they come with additional paper identification cards and/or contactless smart cards.

Above the screen is a large black bar containing a CB (Carte Bleu) debit card symbol and a “Rend La Monnaie” (“Makes Change”) note. When a ticket vending machine is not working, a red “Hors Service” (“Out of Service”) sign will be lit on this black bar. Check that this sign is not lit before attempting to use a given machine. Also, if the machine is low or out of coins and cannot make change, a red sign will be lit just below Rend La Monnaie to indicate this.

Looking closely at the payment panel we see that the ticket machine accepts Mastercard and Visa credit cards, Carte Bleu debit cards, Euro coins and Mondeo cash cards. North American and non-smart chip credit cards will most likely not work with any ticket machines nor at ticket purchase windows. Keep this in mind and have cash on hand before queuing to buy tickets at Paris train stations.

Visible in the above photo is the large purple Navigo card slot. This slot can be used to recharge a Pass Navigo or Pass Navigo Decouverte with Carte Orange week and month transit passes.

The starting screen of these ticket vending machines (“billetterie”) offer language choices at the top right hand corner. In this photo we see the choices are English and Spanish languages for this train ticket machine.

After switching to English we see that our options are either to recharge a Navigo Pass card or to buy individual tickets or carnets of tickets. To charge a Pass Navigo, start by inserting your card into the purple Navigo card reader (visible in the second photo above).

Touching the blue rectangle will start a ticket buying session.  The “season tickets” mentioned on the second choice refers not to football tickets (unfortunately), but rather ticket based fares for station to station travel which work for a set period of time.

The other useful information we can see on this initial screen:

• Coins are usable for purchases up to 30€
• Mondeo cash cards are accepted up to 30€
• Carte Bleu debit cards/credit cards are accepted for purchases greater than 1€

Before analyzing this screen, keep in mind that some of the choices shown here will differ depending on where the machine is located. Starting from the top left and moving clockwise:

• Single Ticket to Paris: This machine, being located outside of Paris, offers the most popular ticket first: a single ticket from this station to Paris. These “station to station” tickets, priced on the distance between stations, are known as a billet Ile-de-France.  The price of these tickets varies depending on where you are buying the ticket.  For example from Charles de Gaulle Airport to Paris the price of the billet Ile-de-France would be 8,40€ (July 1, 2008).  Fontainebleau-Avon to Paris Gare de Lyon is 7,60€.
• Mobilis Ticket: a day pass in the form of a multiple use, plasticized ticket coupon.  Good for unlimited voyages on trains, RER, Metro, buses and trams within Zones 1 to 6 (all zones) for a single day until end of service (not a 24 hour period).  The number of zones covered by the Ticket Mobilis depends on where the ticket machine is located. In this case, the machine is located in Zone 6 and thus to be valid for use here, the Ticket Mobilis covers zones 1 – 6.  If you purchased this ticket in Zone 4, it would be Zone 1 to 4 (with more zone choices avaiable through the “Other Options” selection).
• Cancel button: Ends this purchase session, returning to the (French) welcome screen.
• Other options: If you’re wishing to travel to another train station other than the default destination (Paris), this is where you would find that option.  You will be asked to specify the name of the destination station through an on-screen keyboard.  As you start to type the name of the destination station, the machine will offer suggestions depending on what you’ve entered.  Click on the desired station name when it appears below the on-screen keyboard to select it as your destination station.  At that point the ticket machine will price the station to station billet Ile-de-France and present you with quantity options (how many tickets you wish to buy).
• Ticket(s) to Airports: Travel to Airport Charles de Gaulle and Airport Paris-Orly are specially priced and require their own specific billet Ile-de-France.
• Book of tickets Ticket t (Metro/Bus/RER) in Paris: For convenience these billetteries offer carnets (books of 10 or 20) of single ride tickets for the Metro, Bus, RER, Tram within Paris.  These tickets, known as Ticket t or Ticket t+, are not valid for station to station travel outside of Paris (which require billets Ile-de-France). Ticket t+ are valid for voyages on the Paris Metro (subway which covers zones 1 & 2), Bus and Zone 1 for the RER.
• 1 book of 10 tickets: This selection is for buying a carnet (book of 10) of billets Ile-de-France for a particular voyage from this station to another station.  These tickets will be valid only for travel between these two stations in particular.  Don’t try to use these tickets departing from a different station other than the two you’ve specified during the purchase routine.

On this screen we choose the number of individual tickets we wish to purchase.  In this example I’m purchasing a single Ticket Mobilis 1-6 Zone day pass for a day trip into Paris from Fontainebleau.  I chose a Ticket Mobilis because I knew I’d have to make a same day round trip to Paris, with several Metro/RER rides while in central Paris.  Thus the Mobilis makes the most economic sense and is also convenient, being a single ticket I use over and over, rather than multiple separate tickets I must keep track of.  Keep in mind that Ticket Mobilis day passes are not valid for voyages to or from Airports CDG nor Paris-Orly.  Pass Navigo Decouverte, if you have purchased one, is valid for CDG Airport, granted that you have purchased the zones necessary (5 zone for CDG).

This is the payment screen for the Billetterie Ile-de-France ticket machine.  Here I must choose Cash or credit/debit card.  Although the choice reads “Cash”, these ticket machines only accept Euro coins, not Euro bills.  When paying by coins, selecting the Cash button will unlock the coin slot, otherwise, it will be blocked.

Here I’ve chosen to pay by Carte Bleu debit card.  After inserting your European smart-chip credit/debit card, wait for the reader to (slowly) read the card. (North American credit cards are not accepted, except for smart-chip cards available from a few select banks).

PIN code security is required for all credit/debit card purchases.  Three consecutive errors on entering your PIN code will block your card.

Complete the purchase by removing your card when you see the above screen and hear the chirping noise coming from the machine.

The final question is whether you’d like a receipt printed or not.  The receipt will be printed on a blank ticket.  After this, simply wait until the tickets you’ve purchased are (slowly) dispense at the bottom collection tray.  If you’ve paid with coins, collect your change (if any) from the right hand side of the collection tray, separated from the tickets.

Ï

In the above photo we see a Paris Transit Authority ticket vending machine.  You’ll often find these machines just beside manned Metro ticket windows.  At large Metro stations such as Chatelet Les Halles or Gare de Lyon you’ll find these machines placed throughout the station, usually embedded into walls.

Machine Layout

Let’s analyze the layout of the machine clockwise from the red button.

The red button is the “No” or “Cancel” button.  When you’ve taken a wrong step, made an erroneous choice, press this button to go “back” or to answer “No” to a question.

The large display screen is not a touch screen, unlike Billetterie Ile-de-France ticket machines.  To make choices on the screen, we use the rollbar located directly beneath the screen.

On the right, (mostly cut-off from my poor picture taking,) is the debit card slot, with a pinpad just beneath it.  These machines accept debit cards, but not credit cards, and also euro coins through a slot, not visible in the picture.  Further right, again, not visible (sorry), is a purple Navigo pass card slot. Pass Navigo and Pass Navigo Decouverte cards can be loaded or charged at these machines.  Remember to remove the plastic protective cover from your card (if your card has one) before trying to insert the card.

Below that we have the green “Yes” or “Accept” button used to make selections.

Below the green Validez button is a ticket delivery slot, where bought tickets and receipts will be delivered upon completion of a purchase.

To the left of the Yes button we have the infamous roll bar.  Rolling this bar moves the selection “cursor” on the video screen.  Rolling this bar up with your hand moves to the next item “up” from the current position. Rolling the bar down, scrolls the highlighted item to the next item down on the screen.  To make a selection, press the green Validez (“Validate”) button.

Start / Welcome Screen

Let’s analyze what we see on the start screen, what you’ll see when you first arrive at the machine.

At the top left corner we see the RATP logo and what station you’re currently at (Chatelet Les Halles) along with which fare zone you’re in (zone 1). At the top right we have the current date and time.  You’ll notice that there is no language choice on this starting screen, but there will be one on the next page.

The Blue rectangle is the currently selected item or “cursor”. Upon start, the item selected is “Tournez le rouleau, puis appuyez sur valider” which in English is “Turn the rollbar, then push Validate”.

The starting screen has two selections:

1. Buy tickets, coupons (“Acheter des tickets, coupons”)
2. Recharge a Pass Navigo (“Recharger un passe Navigo“)

Rolling the bar upwards will move the blue “highlight cursor” to “Acheter des tickets, coupons”. Pressing the Green “Validez” button will select that item and bring you to the next screen.

Buying Tickets

To buy a Paris Metro ticket, also good for the bus or tram, roll the bar upwards to highlight “Acheter des tickets, coupons” then press the green button.

On this next screen we have four selections, the bottommost being language choices for this machine (“English, Español, Deutsch, Italiano”).  I did not make a language selection, so the rest of the screens are still in French.

First choice (already highlighted in blue) is Ticket t+ for the Metro, Bus and Tram in Paris, Second class (“2e classe”), Full Price (“Plein Tarif”).  These tickets are always Second Class, since First Class Metro cars no longer exist.  Full Price tickets means Adult Price, which is currently (January 2013) 1,70€ per ticket, bought singly. Children’s fares or half price tickets (“Demi Tarif or Tarif Réduit”) can be purchased through the Billets Ile-de-France, RATP, SNCF Autres coupons, Aeroports selection (3rd from the top).

Second choice is a booklet (“carnet”) of ten Tickets t, again for Metro, Bus or Tram.  The total price for 10 tickets is 13,30€, making each ticket 1,33€, a discount of about 25% off the full price of 1,70€. I believe you can purchase a maximum of two booklets at once (twenty tickets total).  A booklet of 10 tickets for children 4-10 costs 6,65€.

Third choice is for reduced price tickets (for children or other discount pass holders), Billets Ile-de-France (station to station tickets, destinations outside of central Paris) such as tickets to Airport Charles de Gaulle (8,40€ one way), and day passes such as Ticket Mobilis.

Fourth choice takes you to a languages selection page where you can change the language used by the ticket machine.

On the right side of the screen we see the current station (Chatelet Les Halles), the date, payment types accepted and min./max. values (debit card is accepted for purchases totaling 1€ or more, Euro coins up to 30€ maximum) and a note saying that this machine will make change.

On the next screen above we choose the quantity of individual tickets we’re wanting to buy.  Nine individual tickets is the maximum since ten would make a carnet, which is 25% cheaper. Roll the selection bar to the desired value and press the green Validate button.

Following the quantity selection we’re asked if we would like a receipt for the purchase. Useful if your travel costs are reimbursed.

Finally we come to the payment screen which unlocks the coin slot and the card reader checks for debit cards.  As far as I know, you cannot mix and match payment types, either all coins or all debit card.  North American debit cards will most likely not work.

If paying by debit card, you’ll have to enter your PIN number via the keypad to the right of the display screen.  These machines can be slow to read debit cards, so expect upwards of ten seconds for the machine to respond after inserting your card.

Once you’ve completed the payment of your purchase, your tickets and possibly a receipt will be dropped into the ticket collection slot below the green Validez button.

I’ll attempt to get some more screen shots of ticket vending machine usage in English and for purchasing Billets Ile-de-France for Aeroport Charles de Gaulle or Airport Paris-Orly.

These tickets are purchased from SNCF/Transilien/RATP ticket windows and ticket vending machines (Billetterie Ile-de-France) at large train stations (gares such as Gare de Lyon, Gare du Nord), and at RER and Metro stations.

At train stations there may be several types of ticket windows, one selling Billets Ile-de-France, and others selling tickets for the Grandes Lignes, tickets for TGV and other types of intercity trains. Grandes Lignes ticket windows cannot sell you billets Ile-de-France, so keep this in mind before queuing up to buy train tickets.

This is a Billets Ile-de-France ticket office.

This is a Grandes Lignes (TGV, etc.) ticket office.

When buying a billet at a ticket window you can usually just say the word “billet” ["bee-yay"] and the destination such as Paris ["Par-ee"], Aeroport Charles de Gaulle ["Ere-oh-porh Sharl-duh-gall"], Versailles ["vere-sigh"].  Often ticket sellers speak English, at least enough to understand where you’re going.

A one way ticket is known as an Aller-Simple ["Al-Eh somplh"]. Round trip ticket, which are simply two one way tickets, is an Aller-Retour ["Al-Eh Ray-tour"].

A billet Ile-de-France allows connections or transfers to be made onto Metro or RER trains when arriving at Paris.  Transfers onto buses or trams however, are not allowed.  For those modes of transportation, you’ll need a new Paris Ticket T+.