Tip 25 - Paris RER payments

[Update: well, he might have been running a scam, since my ticket worked when I went through the RER turnstile in Gare du Nord but didn't work when I arrived at Roissy CDG 2. Two other people had a similar problem, although they may have had different reasons for their issues with the turnstile, so the guard had all three of us climb over, with bags . . . ]

Like the London Tube, the Paris RER regional trains no longer accept US Visa cards - debit or credit - unless they have the Chip + Pin (chip-pin uses a chip on the front of the card as a way to partially "dip" the card without putting the card all the way in to a machine).

In addition, the RER machines at Gare du Nord also only accept Euro coins up to 2 euros, so paper money is no help.

Since I only had a Visa debit and a fiver with Euro 3,65 in coin for a Euro 8,50 toll, I was hosed after arriving at 11:47 PM on the Eurostar for a midnight train.

So I did something I never do - took the offer of someone in the station to use their French card. Couldn't tell if it was someone who worked for the RER or SCNF, nor if he often gets a Euro 10 note and doesn't make change, but I would certainly have given him one if I had it.

Stock up on Euro coins for your next trip; even if you can't exchange them, they may come in handy, especially if you see someone like me looking desperate.

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