timed ticket vs Museum pass

Having a ticket or a pass has always conferred the same benefit i.e. you wait in the security line for those with passes or tickets. In the past this was usually a short line, sometimes no line at all. I have walked into the Orsay with a ticket with 0 line many times.

BUT now most museums require a reserved time slot WITH the museum pass. And because most people now arrive with time slots or tickets the special line for those with passes/tickets is now long and requires a wait.

Those with a museum pass do not get to go to the front of the line of ticket holders.

I'd not bother with one unless it would save me money. If you do a museum marathon over a few days it can save money. Not the way I like to travel.

One thing to keep in mind - some museums don't require a timed entry if you have the PMP (I know, for certain, Rodin & Orsay, there may be others), so that's a definite benefit.

For the Louvre and Versailles, you do book ahead but they're free, not an additional cost w the PMP.

Thanks skunklet1771, I just checked museum d'Orsay web page, I can book a time slot ticket there too. Technically, if I go on time, shall I go in by pass the line up and like a PMP holder do?

If you have an entry time and ticket in hand, use door C at Musée d´Orsay. This information should be clearly written on your ticket.

And again -- you don't get to pass the line with a PMP or ticket -- you wait in the line for people with tickets. At the Orsay now it is as usual door C but they have lines for those with reservations on the hour or half hour. With the PMP you just get in the line that goes next. At the Orsay you don't need a timed ticket if you have the PMP but with it you still wait in the line for ticket holders.

We were in Paris the third week of June, and we were happy to have the PMP. We needed a timed reservation for the Louvre and the Orangerie, but we were able to enter the d'Orsay, Rodin, Les Invalides, and Cluny museums with no problem without committing to a time ahead of time. Traveling with kids, we appreciated the flexibility of not having to have as many timed tickets reserved in advance. (We did go to the d'Orsay first thing, so I can't speak to how the lines would have been later in the day.)

One note of caution - make your timed reservation for the Louvre as soon as possible. The PMP time slots ran out more quickly than the regular slots. I would suspect this would also be an issue for Versailles.

Another note -- we ran into trouble at Les Invalides because we had to wait in a very long line to get free tickets for our children, who did not have PMPs since they are free at most places. It ended up faster to go on-line while we were in line and book free tickets for them on the museum's website. If they hadn't been with us, my husband and I would have been able to walk right in with our PMPs.

One final note -- the only place we ran into trouble with the PMP was trying to get into the Arc de Triomphe. We arrived at mid-day, and the line for visitors with passes was so very long. I suspect it would have been well over an hour to get in. We ended up skipping it. The line to enter with a purchased ticket was virtually non-existent.

The Arc then is the only place I have heard of that has a separate line for Passes and tickets -- usually anyone with a pre-purchase whether pass or tickets uses the same security line.

Thank you all for your information!