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Some random thoughts from our recent stay in Paris.

Our chip and signature credit card worked everywhere. It was very common to see people using credit/debit cards for very small transactions (ice cream cones!). I used our card for purchases over €10 and was never turned down by a merchant. Twice, I purchased a carnet of Metro tickets on machines with the card. At the end of the transaction, the screen said, "enter pin," or something like that. Then, without my entering any pin, the machine proceeded to disperse my tickets. Too simple and, again, no pin was needed.

When we didn't want to take a chance of (yet again) facing long delays in a Metro station, we used Uber to get from our apartment to Gare de Lyon and it worked flawlessly. I put the app on my phone at home and put a credit card with no charges for currency conversion on it.

In spite of what I keep reading on this forum, whenever I asked if we could share a meal, I was always greeted with a cheerful, "Of course." And, our portions often were individually plated. For the record, we were not eating at anything near elegant level restaurants and we were not ordering a fixed-price menu.

I purchased train tickets from Captain Train for four legs over the course of five weeks. One was a print-at-home ticket and the rest were collect-at-station tickets. The SNCF machine at our nearby St. Michel RER station didn't offer a way to retrieve then, but Gare de Lyon had numerous machines to collect your tickets. It worked like a charm. I had planned to pick them up at CDG airport, but, due to train strikes, we had arranged for a driver to pick us up, so no side trips to the ticket machines. The bottom line is that it's quite simple, but might not be available at smaller stations.

Posted by
3282 posts

Thanks for posting some extremely timely and useful info. You've answered a lot of logistics questions that come up on the forums.

Posted by
105 posts

Thanks for your experiences. We just returned from France as well and had no trouble using our chip and signature either. We did use a lot of cash, though, just for the convenience factor. The other thing we did was ride a lot of buses instead of using the metro. No stairs to walk up and down and we got to see things as we were riding. When the traffic was heavy we sought out the metro. And we didn't realize that we could buy tickets with cash when getting on the bus until we saw someone do it. That was helpful when we ran out of tickets and just needed one more ride.

We were going to take a day trip to Reims but our train was cancelled and while we could get to Reims on a later train, there was no guarantee we could get back timely so we were able to refund them via Captain Train and it was all painless. Very good company to do business with.

One thing we did NOT do is attempt our credit card at the toll booths. We just sought out the cash lanes and all worked perfectly.

Melody

Posted by
48 posts

Just got back from France 10 days ago. On toll roads, our chip and signature card worked everywhere except the toll roads. We used our card on toll roads 5 times, but not the sixth time. We had the experience of the toll machine ejecting both the credit card and the toll ticket onto the ground. We also used Captain Train for an IDTGF train from Bordeaux to Paris. Uber was a godsend for getting to the airport from Paris when the RER line went on strike.
Ed

Posted by
12315 posts

Interesting buying a carnet via ticket machine with your chip/signature card. I wouldn't have guessed that. It will be good to know when I'm there later this year. Thanks.

Posted by
682 posts

We've moved on to Lyon, where we've also been able to use our chip and signature card everywhere. Today, we bought two funicular tickets from a machine for a grand total of €5.60 and one of the options for paying was by credit card. I inserted the card and the machine didn't even ask for a pin.

We've also used Uber here in Lyon with success.

Posted by
12 posts

I will add that in Paris and elsewhere, using a chipped card has not been a problem at retail locations, or for withdrawals. Also, using Uber around Paris for short jaunts was quite easy and a nice experience (when walking becomes too much, or when carting luggage around just isn't practical on public transport). Just remember to always try simple french phrases on locals first, and they will be that much more receptive to you.

Posted by
12315 posts

Regarding Uber. Does your smart phone app from home work or did you have to use something else? Stupid question, do all the apps remain when you change the SIM card?

I finally got an unlocked smart phone (I use a blackberry from work and was determined not to carry two devices). In the past, I've just packed, or bought, the cheapest phone model for travel.

Posted by
682 posts

Brad,
I just use my app from home (although I changed the credit card to one that doesn't charge a currency conversion fee), but I have an iPhone and I'm on a T-Mobile plan, so I don't change SIM cards.

As an aside, we're in Avignon now and I see that über is available here. Chip and signature card has worked fine everywhere I've tried here, too.

Posted by
11294 posts

"Stupid question, do all the apps remain when you change the SIM card? "

Not a stupid question, and yes, the apps remain. What will disappear are any phone numbers you've stored on the SIM. Most phones are set to store numbers on the phone itself, but they can also be stored on the SIM, or other places. My Samsung phone with Android has the option to store numbers on my Google account or my Samsung account, as well as on the SIM card and the phone; I'm not sure what happens to those numbers if I change SIM Cards.

Posted by
509 posts

The following is unrelated to Nancy's very helpful post -- and picks up on the Uber and SIM card discussion:

  1. We purchased the Orange SIM card (approx. E50) on arrival and it worked great for calls and texting. However, when we tried to summon an Uber ride, the App appeared to launch (IPhone screen showed our location and [apparent] Uber cars nearby); however, after a few moments we received a message to the effect we were "not connected to server." I have only one unscientific theory: could it be that the Orange SIM prevented Uber from identifying us because it could not "see" my US cell number and access our credit card for payment? This caused us no problems; we promptly hailed a cab for a carefree ride to CDG early on a Saturday morning. Just curious for future reference and possible heads-up to others.

  2. Since returning to US, we've received a significantly increased number of robo-calls and other unwanted calls to the IPhone. Is it possible Orange shares/sells US cell phone numbers, or otherwise compromises security, when its SIM card is registered?

Posted by
48 posts

To RCA

We got back from Paris about 2 weeks ago and used Uber, with an Orange sim card, to get to the CDG airport. Uber worked perfectly for me. I noticed that Orange offered several plans, some with internet access, some without. We chose a plan WITH internet access, what I think they called "Holiday".
I can't speak for the Orange privacy policy regarding your information.
Ed

Posted by
509 posts

Ed,

Thanks. No doubt it was operator error on my part -- a common occurrence.

rca