Confused on purchasing Easy Pass Card

What days of the week will you be in Paris? It's possible that the Navigo Decouverte pass may be more useful than the easy pass, since you're going to Versailles.

Do you mean the Navigo Easy when you say Easy Pass card? I do not think that you can load anything but metro tickets on that card so you would still need to get tickets for the train to Versailles. Other than Versailles will you be making any other trips out of town? How much do you expect to ride the metro or buses each day within Paris? I ask about the number of trips because that, along with the days that you will be in Paris, affects how price-effective or convenient a pass will be and I also have found that people use transit less than they think they will.

All you can load on the Easy is t+ tickets, mobilis passes, or ticket jeune passes. Any trip on the RER out of town cannot be covered (unless you buy a Mobilis for sufficient zones). If you use it and plan to use ordinary tickets, I would load one carnet and then load another when you use that. We often don't use more than 2 or 3 rides in a day as walking is the best way to see Paris -- you may use transport in Paris less than you think you will.

You cannot load a ticket to Versailles on it. You would have to have. mobilis pass for 4 zones for the day you wanted to go to Versailles.

Also, will you be flying into and/or out of Charles de Gaulle airport ? The Navigo Decouverte can cover RER transportation, which is €10 each way out of a card cost of €20 for the Monday-to-Sunday period.

Thank you for your replies. I'll be in Paris Thursday through Tuesday. I'm anticipating visiting museums and taking a walking/bus tour Saturday. In addition to walking around Paris, I'll use the hop-on hop off bus to get around too. I wondered if I could use the Navigo Easy Card for transportation on the metro, bus, and RER to Versailles. Judging from the replies, I can only use the Easy Card on the metro.

You can use it on the RER, Tram and buses as well as the metro but only in Paris. Not out to Versailles or Disney or Provins or whatever.

Leslie,
My husband and I will be in Paris from a Thursday through Sunday and we are planning to go to Versaillies as well. After calculating the various types of passes/tickets you mentioned and comparing them to the Navigo Decouverte, we decided on the Decouverte even though we will not be there until Thursday (which is the last day of a week that you can purchase, I think Thursday at 11:59 p.m.
The cost seemed just as inexpensive as other choices, but in addition, we won't have to purchase any other public transportation tickets of any kind for those four days. Even if it did cost a little bit more we figure it is worth it for how hassle free it will be. We went to our local Triple A office and had some passport type pictures taken since my husband needed to do that anyway for his International Driving Permit for while we are in Provence. From what I read on the website, we will need a photo for them to make each of our Navigo Decouverte cards. You may want to do the same depending on your plans for Thursday-Sunday. The card goes from Monday through Sunday so you would still have to get individual tickets as needed on Monday and Tuesday. So it depends on what you are planning to do those last two days. If you are going to Versailles on one of those days, it might not be as good as an option.

FWIW. The photos on the ND are smaller than passport size, you might want to reduce them on a copier. They should be 25/30 mm and there isn't room on the tiny card for a big pictures. The ND is the best travel bargain in Europe. If you use it from the airport and to Versailles, it will have paid for itself.

...or you can use the photo booths at nearly all metro stations to get the proper sized photos. It's like 5 euros for 4 photos.

If you aren't going to use the heck out of the Navigo Decouvert, however, it will not be your best option. As much as I love it, to just use it to go to Versailles and back, it's not worth the 27 euros + 5 euros to buy the initial card + cost of photos. Just buy the Easy Pass you mentioned, load it up with a carnet (and reload if necessary) and pay for the RER to & from Versailles.

Have a wonderful trip!!!

The ND is 22.80 not 27 Euro. for the weekly pass. The card itself 5 -- so on a first use, about 28 Euros but after that only 22.80. We don't always get the week passes on our NDs but some weeks just get a carnet to share -- especially if we are going to be going on a side trip or don't plan a lot of touring in Paris. It is so cheap though that you won't go far wrong with an ND and if you pllan trips in the Ile de France like Provins, Auvers sur Oise, Versailles, Disney, Fontainelbeau etc then it quickly pays for itself.

Here's what I understand about the Découverte pass so far:
- you can only buy it Mon-Thu
- it's only good Mon-Sun
- it's non-transferable
- requires a photo, about 30-40% smaller than a passport photo (copy & reduce your passport photo on your printer, black & white is fine)
- initial cost includes a one-time 5 euro fee (see post above)

Things I'm unclear about:
- is the Découverte reloadable?
- if so, in what "denominations"?
- if so, is it possible to simply put a "carnet" on it, once the weekly pass runs out?
- Is it a plastic, reusable card like a credit card, or laminated cardboard
- if I want a carnet, do I have to get a different product altogether?
- if I have to get a different product for the carnet, what is that different product, and is it shareable?

Things I'm unclear about:
- is the Découverte reloadable? Yes
- if so, in what "denominations"? You reload the cost for the next week (or month)
- if so, is it possible to simply put a "carnet" on it, once the weekly pass runs out? No
- Is it a plastic, reusable card like a credit card, or laminated cardboard Laminated
- if I want a carnet, do I have to get a different product altogether? Yes
- if I have to get a different product for the carnet, what is that different product, and is it shareable? Either just buy the paper tickets or get an Easy Pass. The tickets are sharable

There is a difference between the card and the fare. Your description mixes the two.

The Navigo Découverte card:

• may be purchased anytime (5€)
• is good for 10 years
• requires a 25 mm x 30 mm photo of the bearer (making it non-transferable)
• requires the bearer´s name be clearly printed in the space provided.
• looks similar to a chipped credit card (no magnetic strip)

The weekly Navigo fare:

• may be purchased anytime but fares purchased Friday through Sunday are valid starting the following Monday.
• the zone 1-5 fare costs 22.80€. Other zone options are available but probably of little interest to tourists.
• Navigo Jour (day fare) and Navigo monthly fares may also be loaded onto the ND card.

The Navigo Easy card:

• cost is 2€
• looks similar to a chipped credit card (no magnetic strip)
• transferable but usable for only one person at time, name or photo not required
• can contain up to 30 tickets t+
• may be loaded with a Navigo Jour fare
• Day fares and tickets t+ may be loaded simultaneously, day fares are consumed before single tickets.
• at the present time, origine-destination tickets (used on the RER), cannot be loaded onto the Easy card

The ND is two cards, one with the chip and one with the picture that you sandwich together and slide into a hard plastic case. Once assembled, it need never be pulled apart again -- so not a credit card type thing, not a laminated card, but a thick plastic case.

NavigoEasy is an electronic wallet, not a pass. You store the single fare tickets in it (and some others, as pointed out). The old tickets, still used, in packs of 10 magnetized cardboard strips, were called a carnet and and so is the set of 10 stored in the new card. It is, yes, easy to use (tap the card reader at the train gate and push the turnstile). Recharge with your credit card as needed. Less prone to go astray than a small paper ticket, too. London, Montreal, Toronto, and probably others have gone electronic already. Paris is playing catch-up.

The pass is new enough that the transit website hasn't caught up, but this blog has a good guide:

https://parisbytrain.com/navigo-easy/

The official transit website will plan your routes:

https://www.ratp.fr/en