10 Reasons Why Tourists Keep Getting FINED in the Paris Metro

10 ways to avoid being fined in the Paris Metro

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[lautrufend]

Visiting London and New York, I was impressed that you can simply use your contactless payment method (credit card or Apple Pay, for example), and the system will automatically calculate the correct fare — and they even have fare capping. In other words, you don’t need to worry about buying a day pass or a week pass. If you use the same card/device each time, the system will automatically charge you the price of the unlimited day/week pass at most.

More cities are implementing these systems to take the guesswork out of zones, validation, day passes, etc. which encourages public transportation and is friendly to tourists.

[yadusolparterre]

As a Frenchman I am APPALLED at how user-unfriendly our system is. In Japan or China, if you get lost on the subway and ride too far, all you have to do is to add some money on your ticket before leaving the station.
In France, taking the wrong train will cost you 25 euros and three minutes of berating by a rude officer like you are a vulgar criminal. Hell, I've seen them give tickets to tourists for WALKING the wrong way !

[JerryWoo]

Why can't the user interface be like 1) Are you a local or foreigner/tourist 2) select a destination 3) select ticket type and quantity 4) pay the amount

[ErnestJay]

In Japan, South Korea, even Indonesia, riding metro is as easy as "buy a pre-paid ticket (you only need once and you can use it up-to 5 years unless the card is broken), top up the card balance, and tap to get in"

no "Zoning", no "special price for kids / elderly / disabled", just tap and hop, even if you get lost or stop at the wrong station, you can simply go back to another train and get to your designation, no need to worry about getting heavy finest or scolded by police officer simply because you board a wrong train.

[tatianaschoenfield]

The system is bureaucratically complicated and overwhelming. It sets tourists up to make mistakes.

[latebloomerabroad]

Another reason not to throw your ticket away as soon as you get into the train area is that at many stops, you need that ticket to get out at the destination! I keep my ticket until I arrive at my destination, then throw it in the first available trash can so that I can't get confused later.

[medschoolresources]

Save yourself the hassle and get the reloadable Navigo card with the photo and put the weekly unlimited plan. It covers all the zones (even the airports, Versailles and Disney). Even if you don't use the full value (EUR 30-35), it's great insurance against getting a fine. On my last trip, there was a lot of metro police at a particular stop. Everyone with tickets got pulled over to get checked while I just flashed my Navigo card and they allowed me to proceed. It's definitely worth the money. Just walk with a passport photo to put on it.

[DayleDiamond]

My metropolis, Los Angeles, has a prepaid card that automatically calculates everything between three dozen local agencies, including transfers and discounts. We have our share of problems, but the pricing structure is as tourist-friendly as can be.

[JustAGrl]

Thank you all for making these videos! One of your videos helped me ride the metro when I was there in December. I found it fairly easy to navigate even easier than New York. And the €60 fine for putting your feet on the seat makes sense because I noticed that Paris subways are a lot cleaner than New York too.

[willx]

This ticketing system is ridiculously complicated for these days.

[stiglet_mcg]

We found a number of gates were open that were tempting to go through as it was easy, very glad we didn't now! Thank you

[jeffreykorn]

We just finished a 5 day stay in Paris and your videos are great .. made the trip much less stressful and offers super advice. We also always purchase weekly unlimited transit passes no matter our original plans .. especially in complicated systems like Paris, Prague and Budapest.
Have seen countless Transit Police interactions with tourists trying to explain why they didn't have the proper fare .. and the cost of the fine always exceeds the weekly unlimited cost. It also allows you total flexibility when your plans change and you are covered no matter what.

On our trip to Versailles on the RER two young 20 years old girls were sitting with their feet up on the seats .. this caught the eye of a controller at the end of the car and he approached them and... yep, you guessed it .. they had the wrong ticket. I saw this coming and had our Navajo passes out and the controllers partner glanced at them and smiled. To the controllers credit, the girls were polite, embarrassed but totally lost ...and he allowed them to get off at the next stop and correct their error .. with a reminder to not put your feet on the seats!

Your guides to Paris are a must have to really enjoy all the city has to offer Thank You

[patxooo]

I’m Parisian. Never have I ever heard about getting fined for putting your feet on a seat. But I guess yes that is an unspoken rule (that is an overt one as you demonstrated). Nobody does that, in case someone comes and takes a seat. I’m guessing this is also a thing because in the Metro, you car could be empty, and in the next station there comes in a wave of people and you find yourself “serrés comme des sardines”, and therefore seats have to be used by those who need them.
Great video!!!

[JamesKanze]

With regards to making sure that you show the right ticket when controlled: when I lived in Paris, I used to keep my unused tickets in my right jacket pocket, and the used ones in the left. When I was controlled, I'd pull out a wad of used tickets, sometimes as many as 15 or 20, and tell the controller that is must be one of these. They'd always laugh a bit, and help me find the right one. I've always found the controllers to be remarkably friendly and helpful. But it might not be the same if you don't speak French.

[sharonfrede]

I was told that as a foreign senior citizen I could not buy a senior ticket. Why is that? Last year we rode the 94 bus quite a lot. At least four times the ticket checkers boarded our bus checking everyone’s ticket. Once I had given my ticket to my friend to scan for me. She had her own ticket. Before she could get it back to me they boarded the bus. I was trying to explain to a lady that my friend had my ticket. She didn’t speak English and I didn’t speak French. Luckily, one of them did speak English. Whew. It was all good when she showed him two tickets.

[thomascuvillier]

Even people from Paris forget about RER zoning sometimes, especially when the station is really close to Paris. Stade de France RER exit is gonna be fun during the Olympics xD xD

[doublasm]

I recommend everyone to get informed about tickets being demagnetised when close to a mobile phone. This will make you waste loads of time trying to access, or trying to exchange them for working ones at the ticket offices (long queues), etc. It happens much too easily and you waste several tickets until you realise what's happening. No one tells you.

[mannyreyes]

I must admit that I've never written my name on the Paris Visite ticket. The Metro ticket sellers never say anything about writing one's name on the small ticket. Thanks for pointing out this oversight in your video.

[petercomfort]

Quite frankly if it is a rare occurrence it is the tourists fault. If it is a common occurrence then it is the systems fault and should be fixed rather than fining people for booking on zone 5 and confusing it with line 5 for example.

Something like "not signing your pass" could be fixed quite easily by printing the passes with peoples name on it.

[q_branch_]

I think the Swiss have the simplest app that I’ve used in Europe. Type you destination and you get options for departures, pick the departure, pick the ticket fare, and you’re done. The ticket is automatically validated - usually it is valid for 24 hours to the destination because things happen.