Skip the Line

You are skipping the line to buy a ticket. It is not really priority entrance.

But then there’s that pesky security check line at many of the major tourist sites which you cannot skip. Trouble with the skip tickets is that most tourist like yourself will buy them do that 90% of the tourists get to skip the same line that you just skipped...which kind of defeats the purpose.

Thanks this helps understand about timing. Get the ambiguity at my age n not being well travelled could be very stressful. Thanks again

Most major museums have separate shorter security lines for those who have tickets. There is no special 'skip the line ticket' except for timed entrances which are available for the Louvre (pretty much mandatory now) and Versailles. With those you get in within half an hour of your time slot. Other museums, if you have a ticket you use a different line. e.g. at the Orsay you enter via a different door which often has no or a short line while the main line is long. At the Orangerie there is a separate line for ticket holders for security.

We bought “skip the line” entry tickets to Mont St Michel abbey and they did let us breeze right in without standing in a long and slow moving line. Perhaps it depends on when, where, and time of visit. Our visit was early AM.

But it isn't a 'skip the line ticket' -- it is just a ticket. Naturally if you have a ticket you don't need to stand in the line to buy tickets. Vendors try to market these as some special dispensation only they can provide -- but they are just the ordinary tickets you buy from FNAC or on line. At. Ste Chapelle for example, the ticket doesn't let you skip the huge security line which is strict because Ste. Chapelle is within a courtroom complex; once through security you don't need to stand in the ticket line to get tickets, because you have one, so you 'skip that line.' Same at Versailles -- the killer line is the long security line and there is no special line for ticket holders, but of course you dn't have to line up to buy tickets.

Advertising Skip the Line access is typically nothing more than a marketing technique. Anyone who purchases tickets in advance, on line for example, can skip the ticket lines and everyone goes through the security lines.

Yes, skip the line does mean just skip the ticket line. In theory, you can purchase the same ticket by purchasing it online at the museum/landmark/etc.'s website. However, some of the benefit of an online ticket vendor is that, as they buy tickets in bulk, they may have more tickets available closer to the date. For example, it can be a bit difficult to purchase Eiffel Tower tickets in advance on their website if you haven't left a lot of time, but some online vendors may till have tickets available even the day before, depending on how busy a season it is.