-I will be visiting Paris with a group of 38 high school students for 3 days in February, arriving at Gare du Nord on a Monday and flying out of CDG on a Thursday.
-Ideally, we would purchase Navigo weekly passes upon arrival at Gare du Nord. We have purchased the physical passes the last two years, but it is time consuming and two years ago they actually ran out of physical passes. Since one cannot set up an IDFM account until arrival in France, it will be complicated (though not impossible) to do so in lieu of buying the physical pass. The IDFM app has not been cooperative in account setup, however!
-An alternative I am considering: It is possible on iphones to buy Transit tickets (NOT the Navigo weekly, unfortunately) in advance from the USA--options include single Metro fares, groups of 10, and airport transport. Among these options, both standard and reduced fares are offered.
-It appears that reduced fares are offered for school groups through the final year of high school (according to the language of the RATP website). Group leaders must print and sign an "honor declaration" signed by the school, and present it if they are asked to do so.
-Does anyone know if I am reading this accurately? To my understanding, a) students can buy reduced fare Metro tickets on their iphones before arrival in France. b) If the group leader travels with an honor declaration, this is qualifying proof should they be asked to present it.
Sorry for the long post. This is far, far more complex than it needs to be! Appreciate any insight.
Posted by
3126 posts
You should be able to establish an account on either the Bonjour RATP app or the Ile de France Mobilités app from outside the EU, allowing you to purchase tickets. Any smartphone should be able to do this. As all fares are electronic, each passenger/student will need either his own smart phone or Navigo Easy card (2€). Métro/RER/train (MRT) tickets cost 2.55€ no matter how many you purchase (no group of 10 discount). Bus/tramway tickets (BT) are 2.05€ and are not interchangeable with MRT tickets. Airport tickets are 14€, but these will not load on any Navigo card/app containing unused MRT tickets.
What you cannot do is setup an account from outside the EU to purchase nontransferable passes, such as the Navigo Weekly or Navigo Monthly.
Reduced fare tickets are for children 4-9 or for families specially recognized as "in need". I have never heard of their being offered to school groups as French students have their own Navigo cards called ImagineR. Can you post the link (the original version untranslated) where you found this information about reduced fare for school groups?
However, this will not be a simple solution. You have 38 kids, attempting to purchase and to use MRT tickets on their phones and, when you go to the airport on Thursday, all of these tickets must be consumed for at least 4 hours before you can add and use airport tickets. If you discover on Thursday morning that someone has an unused MRT ticket on his phone, he will need to purchase a Navigo Easy card (2€), just to load the airport ticket. I do not see this as a good solution.
When working with groups, I have found the key to success is simplicity. I would stay with the original plan to purchase Navigo Découverte cards upon arrival at Gare du Nord and to load a Navigo weekly pass (32.40€). If Gare du Nord runs out of cards, walk next door to Gare de l'Est and purchase additional cards. If you do this every year, consider purchasing a few extra cards for next year.
Remember that Navigo Découverte cards are nontransferable and require user name and photo. The fine is 70€ if found to be using an ND without this information.
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Thank you so much for the thorough reply, it is much appreciated!
Here is the link (dated Nov 18 2025, so fairly recent) indicating that secondary school pupils (including final year pupils) traveling in groups of 10 are eligible for reduced fare.
There is an "honor declaration" that must be printed, signed, and brought with the group while traveling. Again, the language here is "school trip organized by a school, middle school, or high school."
Both of the above seem unambiguous and clearly permit reduced fares for school groups up to final year of high school.
One of the benefits of buying tickets directly through the Apple wallet (again, a fairly recent improvement) is that it is not necessary to purchase them through the IDFM app. I have already purchased a single metro ticket and added it to my wallet with no issues. Since it is stored in the Apple wallet, I would think it will also be easy to just delete any existing passes in the wallet before purchasing an airport transfer on the day of use when flying out.
Thank you again--I am not ruling out just buying the Navigo weekly (either the physical card or through the app) upon arrival, but I waited two hours in line at Gare du Nord one one occasion to purchase them, and after they ran out of passes (!) I had to go to Gare de L'Est to buy the remainder. It was a debacle to run into on arrival with 40 students and one I hope to avoid in the future.
The main inconvenience to using the Navigo weekly is, of course, that it cannot be purchased until one arrives in France. Again, with a group of 44 students it is possible but would be complicated and time consuming. I have another question: Do you know if it is possible to connect to the IDFM app and purchase tickets on a train while heading into Paris? We will be arriving from London so will have time on the train before arrival at Gare du Nord.
Again, thank you for assisting with this extremely complex problem!
Posted by
3126 posts
As I read the link, the offer is made to high school students in groups of 10, each group of 10 requiring a dedicated teacher supervisor. I would next confirm that the offer is valid for students from outside the EU.
I do not use Apple products, but can confirm that the system requires that all MTR tickets be removed from your Naivigo card/app at least 4 hours before you can add an airport ticket.
I can best answer that last question by referring you to the detailed, IDF Mobilités instructions outlining the steps required to establish a Navigo Connect account, allowing you to purchase and to download the Navigo Weekly pass.
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Thanks again for the helpful information. One of the challenges in planning is that various tickets and methods of buying/using them has evolved quickly over the past couple of years! Much appreciated.