10 Reasons Why Tourists Keep Getting FINED in the Paris Metro

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 !

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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!!!

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.

This ticketing system is ridiculously complicated for these days.

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.

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

Thank you for all the videos. I’ve been watching them for months. We are currently in Paris having a blast!

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

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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.

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.

Bonjour ❤ Thank you for all your amazing and enjoyable videos - you two are inspiring 🎉

I'm a french fan of the Paris transport system, and I honestly still find the ticket system so confusing. It should really get simplified !

Great tips. Thank you so much. Amen

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.