Museum Pass

Yes, paid and received our passes. Circumvented cues, saved time and money.

How did you save money paying 24€ extra for something you can pick up in CDG airport ?? (Or at any museum participating in the scheme including the small off-the-beaten-path ones)

In my opinion, that’s like setting money on fire. At the current exchange rate as I type this, that is $26.27 USD.

We don’t have a budget to do that.

You can buy a museum pass at CDG upon arrival with no long lines.

Note that there have been changes to the museum pass in the last year that make it less useful. Here's one post that mentions the issues:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/do-not-rely-on-paris-museum-pass-for-louvre-access

You do not need a museum pass to avoid queues and save time. Anyone who purchases tickets in advance can also avoid the ticket queues and use the same entrances pass holders use.

I am rather skeptical anyone saves money paying 24€ to have a pass shipped to them.

Oh, dear... yes, it was worth it for me to spend €24.00 for shipment and get out of CDG swiftly upon the arrival. I don’t judge and shame others expenses. I consider with my itinerary it was worth my time and energy.

The question was “..did anyone..” and I had the answer “yes, I did that.”
Is this some sort of financial assessment forum, an advisory board?
Hold on to your peace people. You won’t believe the hotels I chose to stay! LOL

GREAT answer Shinkansen!!!

OP- as others have indicated you can buy the pass at CGD; provided you have time.

The issue with pre- purchase mailed passes really came alive during this past summer-fall when the Louvre became saturated with visitors and pass holders were turned away (and the rush for DaVinci tickets was on). As others have indicated the Museum Pass instantly lost “value” to many (but not all).

The Louvre began a policy of requiring a timed entry reservation for ALL, including Museum Pass holders. The start up of this new program was....well a mess. Part of the process (not sure of current status) was the requirement of a Museum Pass number to make a timed entry reservation. Thus if you waited until you arrived to buy your pass and make a timed reservation you were out of luck- no spots open. I believe the situation is a lot better now....and I would not buy ahead ......unless I was going peak summer then I would consider it as an insurance policy.

But everyone’s financial posture is different (again, another concept totally not understood by some forum members). I view the Museum Pass as an item of convenience not a cost saving item. My solution to the loss of repeat entries- buy 3 2-day passes instead of the 6 day pass. Get in when I want, generally as much as I want. To each his own. It may cost a little more, so.....

I paid the 24 euros to have my Paris Visite pass mailed. I didn't want the possible hassle and lost time of picking it up in Paris. It hurt to spend that much money, so I am debating whether to do the same with my Museum Pass when I buy it. I have to wonder if it is really so easy to pick it up at CGD - no lines? Ever? I would rather pay the money and have absolutely no worries about getting passes once I reach Paris.

You can also buy the pass at one of the smaller, less visited museums on the list. I haven't been to Paris recently, but that's what we did.

I have no problem spending money, but that's alot for minor convenience.

Yes in 2014. The the past two trips I purchased them at CDG right outside of picking up my baggage and at the Paris Tourism Office behind The Louvre on Rue de l'Amiral de Coligny, since I arrived in Paris by train and the Tourism Office was closed at the train station. At CDG there was maybe 2 or 3 people ahead of me and at the Tourism Office I walk right in with no one in line.

The comments in reference to paying shipping for a pass of some type have been specific to overall cost and validity of the statement that shipping saved money. No one has specifically questioned the aspect of possible convenience or of potentially saving time by shipping.

In many cases, museum passes are not cost effective and in virtually every case, the Paris Visite is never cost effective. In a few special scenarios, purchasing a child´s Visite Pass might save a few euros when traveling during the week when the jeune weekend pass is not an option.

My clients are billed $475 an hour for my time. That is what my time is worth to me. On a net basis say $300 per hour. 15 min in line equals a $75 expense to me. So paying a small sum of money to save a larger one is a cost sayings.

Most people (experiences vary) have between 10-14 hours per day while on vacation to experience things. Every minute counts and has an opportunity cost. I tend not to waste those precious minutes in line.

fast one -- because the buying the Museum Pass for an extra 24 Euro is not likely to actually save anyone any time in line. Most people don't line up to buy one -- they pick them up at the tourist office, a museum without long lines like the Conciergerie or Cluny or Pantheon or they just pick them up at the airport.

It is worth paying double the ticket price for timed Catacombs tickets these days if that is on your agenda -- it saves a long line. It isn't worth it to have a pass shipped that you can get easily with no significant line and no extra cost.

Nope. I bought mine at the Tabac (newstand) across the street from Sainte Chapelle.

For me there are too many easy options for picking up a museum pass in Paris, no line and no extra charge, to consider paying extra to have it mailed. What if it's delivered to the wrong address or is lost in transit? I'm happier getting it there.

People who say it's a hassle to pick up the pass at CDG, shouldn't plan on doing that. It's no hassle at all to stop in the first museum you see that's on the pass list and get it there. I wouldn't plan to pick it up at the big museums like the Louvre, d'Orsay, etc., but it's easy enough to get it at a smaller less visited museum with no line at all. It's not something you need to have in advance when you arrive in Paris. If you want to spend more than you have to, that's fine. We all have our own way of traveling and we all have our own budgets. I personally don't spend money I don't have to, my budget doesn't allow that, but that doesn't mean I don't value convenience. Everyone needs to weigh convenience against cost when making these types of decisions.

If EUR 24 is too expensive, you can't afford to go to Europe.

We got the passes shipped to us. We are 7 and its the same EUR 24 whether you buy 1 or 10 passes.

The main reason we had them shipped is so we could pre-book a time at the Louvre (they require your Museum Pass numbers).

We had the (two) passes shipped to us (€24 for both) for the same reason as @darrenblois above, so we could pre-book Louvre tickets. For us, we'd have no way to pre-book, which is now apparently mandatory, once in Paris as we do not have cell phones.

I thought that this had been covered a few times already but it is not necessary to have a museum pass in hand to reserve an entrance into the Louvre. You must make the reservation but you do so using any number you like. Upon entry, you must present your pass and your reservation but the numbers are not cross-checked.