Departure Day! Tap and Pay Questions

"Will I be able to use Apple Pay in most places for things like Metro tickets and smaller meals"

Yep ... Contactless Pay is ubiquitous throughout Europe, but there are exceptions - as to how much cash ???

The Paris Metro does not use Apple Pay. You will have to buy some kind of ticket . The only tap and pay they use on a phone is for some Samsung phones so it’s pretty limited

Carol,

Thanks...I want to buy the Navajo Easy for day one and the weekly card for the rest of the week. Do I do that at a machine with card or is there a ticket window? We arrive on Thalys at Gare du Nord on Sunday afternoon.

Rob

"The Paris Metro does not use Apple Pay"

Hmmm ... not even at a ticket window - I thought the non-acceptance was at the turnstile?

I wonder about Tap & Pay just using the physical card i.e RFID vs Apple Pay NFC - shouldn't be a difference in acceptance but I don't know. If all that fails you should be able to insert your card.

I couldn’t make Apple Pay work, I was able to tap and pay to reload my weekly pass with my Chase card. However If you want to buy the weekly ticket for the first time you’re going to have to go to a ticket window. Because you have to get the whole little packet for the weekly pass. You can recharge the weekly card at any ticket machine but you have to buy the original one from a human. Most metros that I went to had at least one manned ticket booth,

Honestly, I did not use the easy at all so I don’t have any idea how you get that. I had some left over tickets from a previous visit and I used those until I could start using my weekly card

if you’re coming by train from London I know there’s a booth at Gare du Nord and there’s also live humans at Charles de Gaulle

The ticket kiosks do not use tap and pay. You will need to insert your chipped credit card for purchases.

You can download the RATP Bonjour app to any phone and charge Navigo cards, but only Samsung phones can be used as a Navigo card replacement.

All metro stations have manned service windows, some have sales windows. The typical procedure is to purchase a Navigo card at the kiosk, take the receipt to the service window, and your ticket is exchanged for the card. If you find a sales window, the transaction can be completed at the window. Gare du Nord has sales windows.

We are actually coming from Brussels to Gare du Nord. Since we arrive on Sunday, we cannot get the weekly pass for that day. I am not sure if we actually need it because our itinerary will make use of Metro once each way on Monday to Gare St. Lazare, all day Tuesday/Wednesday, then to Versailles Thursday. It seems from the RATP website that the total costs may be a wash but we wanted flexibility for the buses since my wife has some mobility issues (she can walk, just not long distances).

Rob

Tocard,

Thanks...I have a chipped card from Apple that should work at the machines, right? Once I buy the Navigo Easy (one day), I can reload it from my phone (iPhone)? I have the RATP App already and it seems to indicate that I can. Also, the one-day cards do not need photos attached, do they?

Sorry for all the questions...first trip to Paris/France. I have been studying French for six months for this trip and I feel like I'll still be lost when I get there. LOL.

Rob

Just got back from 2 weeks in the south of France. Had 100 euros but really never used it. Even in Provencal markets, it was almost all tap and pay. Don't have Apple Pay so can't answer that. With rental car on toll roads, all tap and pay. Did have some issues at small town gas stations (seemed to refuse our card for no PIN) but could get gas in bigger cities without a problem. Hope this helps.

In December I used tap and pay cards all over Paris, it's the new normal. Also surprised your cards don't have the tap symbol, it's also the new normal. When I noticed my Amex didn't have it, I had them rush me a new one with the techonology.

I was issued new cards this Spring, neither had the tap feature.
I’ve requested tap ones.
I leave in October for Sicily tour and independent travel.

I’ll have euros for everything unless I make a large purchase. Everything like air and solo travel hotel stays are already accepted by my card. Fingers crossed.

Tap and pay seemed almost ubiquitous except for the metro when I was there in June.

For Apple Pay, I did not try to use it myself, but I did have a sales associate in Paris make a mocking comment to me about Americans who try to pay with Apple Pay. I had asked if the store took AMEX and she told me no, that it was not widely accepted in France and that "some Americans even try to pay with Apple Pay" as if that was a hugely presumptuous thing to do.

Very strange - did the shop accept CCs at all. If yes, and the POS device was Contactless Pay there is zero difference between using a physical card and using an electronic wallet to pay. Very strange.

Electronic Wallets have been on the scene for quite some time now that no one should be taken aback with someone using Apple Pay.

periscope, they accepted Visa but not AMEX. I believe she swiped my card. Her comment on AMEX was weird as well. It seemed like most places accepted AMEX, although she did spook me into using my VISA for everything since VISA is accepted everywhere and it was one less thing to worry about to just go with the VISA.