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Can you save $$/hassle by buying in advance?

Posted by (San Antonio, TX, USA) on

My friend and I are going to Paris for two weeks in Sept. Rick said the museum pass costs 20% less in Paris than ordering it online and having it sent to the U.S. Is that accurate? I saw a 6-day pass for 60 Euro on the official museum pass website.

Also, what about buying train tickets in advance? Rick's website said you can save $$ by ordering ahead for point-to-point tickets. I looked at a trip from Paris to Beaune on the TGV website for Sept. 12 (there is a jazz festival there),but the website said part of my itinerary was not available. I got confused by the information and gave up. Any tips/suggestions?

We are considering getting the Saver Pass for two people, and are also wondering if it is worth getting that ahead of time. We only plan to travel within France.

Thanks for any tips!

Veronica

Posted by
1819 posts

I just received the Mastercard bill for the two-day museum passes we bought on June 18 in Paris at St. Chapelle (no line there.) The bill was $94.00 for two 2-day passes, including the three percent charge that Bank of America tacked on for "converting" the money.

Posted by
40 posts

Thanks, Cynthia. As you indicate, this was $94 USD, vs. Euros?

Posted by
4132 posts

The 2nd Class France saverpass can be a good value if you use it enough. The drive & rail saverpass can be very handy too--you can take a train to Beaune (say), drive about for a day or two, then take a train someplace else and repeat.

If you are only going to Beaune and back to Paris, the saverpsas is probably not a good deal.

The TGV does not go all the way to Beaune, you must change in Dijon. The Dijon-Beaune trains are local, cheap, and frequent. You can get a Paris-Beaune ticket for as little as e29. (That's a special ticket that may not be available when you want it; regular tickets are e44 to e50.)

Unfortunately to check these prices (if you want to compare them to your saverpass) you must thread the bewildering labyrinth that is the web site of the French national railway, SNCF. If you tell the the web site you are from the States, you will be sent to Rail Europe, which is pretty useless (and expensive).

Good luck!

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