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Abstract

d="74b2">If you are older than 65, you should definitely find out about getting the senior version of these cards. Most places do not require that you be a local resident to get them. In fact, when my senior MetroCard from New York City expires, they automatically mail me a new one.In my experience, you don’t even need to stay in town for a full week in order to benefit from buying a seven-day transit card. If you are moving about quite a bit, getting on and off lots of trains and buses, it’s very likely that you will save quite a bit of money by buying one, even if you are in town for only four or five days. Additionally, you will save yourself the hassle of fumbling for change to purchase a ticket for every ride, especially if there are long queues of people waiting to buy tickets.<h2 id="1ed6">Internationally</h2>Having a transport card is especially expedient in places where you have less-than-fluent (or no) understanding of the local language. Insert or swipe your card without having to ask how much the fare is. No looking for change. No need to convert currencies. You have your card. You are good to go. Most of the machines from which you can purchase these cards offer options in multiple languages, including English.<h2 id="0c3a">The Paris Navigo Découverte is one of my favorites</h2>I ❤️ Paris! I am fortunate to have visited there eleven times. My stays have always been for at least one week, and I was once there for an entire month. Early on, I had the Carte Orange, the predecessor of today’s Navigo.<figure id="920d"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*k3RmddJqBZYmlAStYxxa8w.jpeg"><figcaption>The card, on the left, is embedded with a chip on the back. The card itself has neither expiration date nor value. The cardholder adds monetary value onto the card at machines located in Metro and RER stations.</figcaption></figure>For my shorter visits, I always have a weekly Navigo Découverte (Discovery). During the longer visits, I get the monthly pass. Even for a visit of eighteen days, I have found that it was worthwhile to buy the monthly pass, principally because the all-zone monthly pass includes the trip from the Charles de Gaulle Airport to and from central Paris, serving the busy hubs of Gare du Nord and Châtelet-Les Halles, both of which offer multiple connections that can get you just about wherever you need to go in Paris.You can buy this card before you leave the airport, at an office that is located only steps away from the RER train station that will take you into Paris.It is important to know beforehand that there is a particular scheduling qu

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irk that, because of French bureaucracy, you need to adhere to in order to make these passes work for yourself: the monthly passes are issued only for specific calendar months, as opposed to, for example, a random thirty-day period that could go from, for example, the 18th of September to the 18th of October.Similarly, the validity of the weekly pass can begin only on one day of the week: Monday, as opposed to any random consecutive seven days.For these reasons, I have managed to schedule my longer visits so that I arrive at the beginning of a month and shorter visits to coincide with purchasing a weekly pass to begin on a Monday.You can shortcut your time and expense if you arrive in Paris with the photo you will need to put on the folder that contains your card. The photo on my card, pictured above, measures 1" (2.54 cm) x 1.25" (3.18 cm).<h2 id="86b8">Try the adventure I call “random bus”</h2>With a weekly or monthly pass in my pocket, and having long ago visited all the Paris 101 destinations that I wanted to see, one of my favorite transport activities in Paris, as well as in many other cities, is to take an otherwise unplanned day and head to the streets for a combination of walking and transit-riding.I begin by wandering aimlessly, marveling at architecture and the sights of typical locals going about their daily lives. When I need to sit for a bit and I see a bus coming, I get on it. While I may or may not recognize the destination of the bus, I usually don’t have any idea of its route. That’s why I call it “random bus.”I ride, I look, and I wait. What am I waiting for? A reason to get off the bus! It could be a mural, a building, a park, or an Invader mosaic that I hadn’t already seen.<figure id="06d9"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*MPQknUEuJDmtSbeJaxHi0Q.jpeg"><figcaption>Invader’s work can be seen in many places around the world, with a huge concentration of work in Paris.</figcaption></figure>One of my favorite finds while riding a random bus was a flea market I had not known existed. I continue to walk until I see yet another bus, or possibly a Metro station, and then I advance as the spirit moves me. I have no concerns about additional payments because every ride is pre-paid.Having an unlimited local transit card, such as the Carte Navigo Découverte in Paris, makes this possible and carefree, with no need to purchase additional tickets. All you need is a spirit of adventure. And if you don’t have one of those, you probably would have been better off staying at home.</article></body>

The many benefits of transit cards

They can save you time, effort, and money

The globetrotter who enjoys spending time in cities would do well to investigate options for using local transit cards to provide access to public transportation.

Some cards are only for the use of the holder; others can be shared.

In fact, in some locales, paying by cash is being phased out altogether; the only way to get around is by use of a plastic card. If you want to stay in a city for more than a few days, you can greatly enhance your visit by learning about available options.

Looking in the portfolios I maintain that hold these cards, I can see that I possess them for both domestic and international locations. In addition to the Clipper Card that I use almost daily in San Francisco and the Bay Area, I have cards for the transit systems in Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, New York City, and Washington, DC. My international cards are for Marseille, Brussels, Paris, Belgrade, Panama City, Mexico City, Tallinn, Dublin, Delhi, Stockholm, Moscow, London, and, in a notable triumph for residents and travelers alike, a card that can be used anywhere in the entire country of the Netherlands. [Hey! If it ain’t Dutch, it ain’t much.]

The most important piece of advice for all travelers is that there is absolutely no across-the-board standard for the way that these cards function. You must do your due diligence in learning the ins and outs of each system.

Domestically

I will compare an important difference between using the seven-day passes on New York City’s MetroCard and Chicago’s Ventra Card. For the sake of this example, we are assuming the purchase of a seven-day pass upon arrival at 7:45 PM on a Thursday.

When you do this in New York City, the first “day” of your seven-day pass is only four hours and fifteen minutes long! How’s that? Because at midnight, you move onward to your second day. By contrast, in Chicago, they are quite literal about the meaning of having a pass for seven days, as your pass will expire on the following Thursday at 7:44 PM. Bravo, Chicago!

An added benefit in Chicago is that there are trains that go directly to both O’Hare and Midway Airports with no surcharge of any kind, whereas in New York, you will have to pay a separate fare for the AirTrain from a few different points in Queens to JFK, and there is currently no such rail connection to LaGuardia.

If you are older than 65, you should definitely find out about getting the senior version of these cards. Most places do not require that you be a local resident to get them. In fact, when my senior MetroCard from New York City expires, they automatically mail me a new one.

In my experience, you don’t even need to stay in town for a full week in order to benefit from buying a seven-day transit card. If you are moving about quite a bit, getting on and off lots of trains and buses, it’s very likely that you will save quite a bit of money by buying one, even if you are in town for only four or five days. Additionally, you will save yourself the hassle of fumbling for change to purchase a ticket for every ride, especially if there are long queues of people waiting to buy tickets.

Internationally

Having a transport card is especially expedient in places where you have less-than-fluent (or no) understanding of the local language. Insert or swipe your card without having to ask how much the fare is. No looking for change. No need to convert currencies. You have your card. You are good to go. Most of the machines from which you can purchase these cards offer options in multiple languages, including English.

The Paris Navigo Découverte is one of my favorites

I ❤️ Paris! I am fortunate to have visited there eleven times. My stays have always been for at least one week, and I was once there for an entire month. Early on, I had the Carte Orange, the predecessor of today’s Navigo.

The card, on the left, is embedded with a chip on the back. The card itself has neither expiration date nor value. The cardholder adds monetary value onto the card at machines located in Metro and RER stations.

For my shorter visits, I always have a weekly Navigo Découverte (Discovery). During the longer visits, I get the monthly pass. Even for a visit of eighteen days, I have found that it was worthwhile to buy the monthly pass, principally because the all-zone monthly pass includes the trip from the Charles de Gaulle Airport to and from central Paris, serving the busy hubs of Gare du Nord and Châtelet-Les Halles, both of which offer multiple connections that can get you just about wherever you need to go in Paris.

You can buy this card before you leave the airport, at an office that is located only steps away from the RER train station that will take you into Paris.

It is important to know beforehand that there is a particular scheduling quirk that, because of French bureaucracy, you need to adhere to in order to make these passes work for yourself: the monthly passes are issued only for specific calendar months, as opposed to, for example, a random thirty-day period that could go from, for example, the 18th of September to the 18th of October.

Similarly, the validity of the weekly pass can begin only on one day of the week: Monday, as opposed to any random consecutive seven days.

For these reasons, I have managed to schedule my longer visits so that I arrive at the beginning of a month and shorter visits to coincide with purchasing a weekly pass to begin on a Monday.

You can shortcut your time and expense if you arrive in Paris with the photo you will need to put on the folder that contains your card. The photo on my card, pictured above, measures 1" (2.54 cm) x 1.25" (3.18 cm).

Try the adventure I call “random bus”

With a weekly or monthly pass in my pocket, and having long ago visited all the Paris 101 destinations that I wanted to see, one of my favorite transport activities in Paris, as well as in many other cities, is to take an otherwise unplanned day and head to the streets for a combination of walking and transit-riding.

I begin by wandering aimlessly, marveling at architecture and the sights of typical locals going about their daily lives. When I need to sit for a bit and I see a bus coming, I get on it. While I may or may not recognize the destination of the bus, I usually don’t have any idea of its route. That’s why I call it “random bus.”

I ride, I look, and I wait. What am I waiting for? A reason to get off the bus! It could be a mural, a building, a park, or an Invader mosaic that I hadn’t already seen.

Invader’s work can be seen in many places around the world, with a huge concentration of work in Paris.

One of my favorite finds while riding a random bus was a flea market I had not known existed. I continue to walk until I see yet another bus, or possibly a Metro station, and then I advance as the spirit moves me. I have no concerns about additional payments because every ride is pre-paid.

Having an unlimited local transit card, such as the Carte Navigo Découverte in Paris, makes this possible and carefree, with no need to purchase additional tickets. All you need is a spirit of adventure. And if you don’t have one of those, you probably would have been better off staying at home.