Paper tickets for the Metro in Paris

You will probably be able to load the value on a new plastic card, which I believe costs 2€. That’s what we did with our leftover paper tickets in 2019.

They should still work.

Thanks Mona and Jazz + Travels. I would be happy to transfer them to a plastic card as I expect to be in Paris for a week or more. Also happy to still use them if the Metro station will still take them! To transfer them to a card would I bring the tickets plus the €2 to a ticket booth in the Metro station? Is that what you did, Mona? In any case, it's good to know that the tickets can still be used!

Kay, yes that’s what we did 2 years ago with some leftover paper tickets. We were finding that some worked and some didn’t so the person at the Metro window sold us a plastic card and added the balance of the paper tickets we had to the plastic card then he discarded the paper tickets. We added more € to the balance at the window to give us a better operating budget for the week we were there.

Good to know that these paper Metro tickets still work since that was what I had been told two years ago too, ie, no expiration, am glad Corona did not effect the use of paper tickets since I have more than a carnet.

I guess it would take the fun away from using t+ tickets. First trying to read the invisible ink after they have been through the ticket gate, then trying to not get the used ones (have to hold on until out of the system in case of checks) mixed up with the unused ones (I have some in my right pocket and I have some in my shirt pocket - now I've forgotten which is which OH MY).

Make good bookmarks though. Ooops - what's a book?

Serious question for anybody who knows though - we have the plastic holders with expired Navigo Découvert inside. Can we also add converted t+ tickets to that holder (on their own or with new weeks of Navigo Découvert) or do we need completely new holders for the electronic t+?

Découverte cards should last at least 10 years, are you sure yours are expired?

The ticket t+ is being replaced with the credit on the Navigo Easy card which costs 2€. The Easy cards are transferrable, the Découverte cards are non-transferrable. At the present time, the Découverte cards are only used for pass fares, they may, in the future, be used for RER fares.

Navigo Easy cards are the only card which can be loaded with electronic tickets t+.

no I don't mean the card, just the weekly tickets

thanks...

This discussion is definitely taking me back to my student days in 1983. Which is more economical for the rest of the month to get from Montparnasse to my Sorbonne history class about Napoleon at Clignancourt and my "Sciences Po" class on foreign relations in the 5th arrondissement, plus whatever student parties are happening, a carnet or the Carte Orange? I hope the latter still exists!

The orange card has been gone for a long, long time. It was replaced by Navigo fares of which there are many options.

@Nigel: Boy are you ever right about the disappearing ink! Two years ago my husband had to pay an on the spot fine on the bus for using an already used ticket he had lurking about in his pocket. Absolutely no way to tell which were used tickets. Except sometimes. So we took the rest of our paper tickets to the metro station and ask the nice lady there which ones were good and which ones weren’t and could she please get rid of the ones that weren’t any good. I later saw a post about how you should always tear partway through the use ticket so you wouldn’t confuse them with the good ones. Many many many years ago he asked me why we couldn’t throw out our used tickets once we were in the metro and I couldn’t remember so we threw them out. Big mistake. Had a close encounter with the French police. After I humbled myself and explained to my husband how correct the officer was and how deeply wrong we were he let us off with just using another paper ticket. BTW, with the new plastic cards how can one tell how many euros or rides are left on it?

Here's an excellent article about the "new" Navigo Easy card. https://europeforvisitors.com/paris/articles/navigo-easy.htm

you should always tear partway through the use ticket so you wouldn’t confuse them with the good ones.

I don´t think you are supposed to tear or fold the tickets t+. I just lightly bend the corner of the ticket right after passing the turnstile to indicate that it is the ticket I am currently using. After exiting the métro, I either throw it away or bend it in half to indicate they are no longer usable. The paper tickets should not be in use much longer.

how can one tell how many euros or rides are left on it?

Each time you use an Easy card, the validating machine (for bus travel) or the turnstile (when using the métro) displays how many tickets remain on the card.

Thanks everyone! I feel like I almost know what I'm doing now! Thanks, greytop, for the link. It is an excellent article and very easy to understand. And thanks, Tocard. I'll remember about bending the corner of the ticket although it sounds like we can just turn our tickets in and get credit on the plastic card. The card sounds much easier to use, at least if you're like me who can't remember if I folded/tore the ticket or which pocket I put the used ones in. One of the things I like best about this forum is that I don't have to spend a lot of time in France (or anywhere in Europe) figuring all these things out when I'd much rather just be walking around absorbing it all.