Train tickets: these services to travel cheaper – CNET France

While the train is now considered the best alternative to overly polluting cars and planes, ticket prices have only been increasing lately: +15% between the summers of 2021 and 2022, according to INSEE. But fortunately, start-ups have taken an interest in this subject, and there are now apps and sites that will (perhaps) allow you to travel cheaper. Sometimes by slightly… indirect means.

Transport a package

First solution, both practical and eco-responsible: become a rail delivery man. Launched in late summer 2021, WePost! allows you to travel by TGV, while earning money. Concretely, the traveler carries with him objects that an individual needs urgently at the other end of the line. For example, keys, documents, clothes, or even a forgotten comforter. For such “light” deliveries (packages cannot weigh more than 6 kilos), it is possible to earn between 20 and 25 euros (it is an algorithm that calculates the rates); and thus, to reimburse part of his train ticket.

This app only works between Paris and Marseille (where the start-up is based) for the moment, but eventually it will be extended to 25 other TGV lines, including those connecting Paris to Bordeaux, Nantes, Montpellier, Nice and Lille. More than 9,000 people are already registered on the platform, which is currently only in the form of a web app, but which should soon be available on iOS and Android.

If you are afraid to carry drugs or any other illegal product, mule style, WePost! encourages you to “check the contents of the shipment with the sender” (by opening the package), to ask him for proof of identity, and if in doubt, to refuse transport.

Become a Kid-Sitter

Another solution: become a child’s guide. On the model of the service offered by the SNCF, “Junior & Cie”, except that here, it is not reserved only for educators holding the BAFA, and that all the TGV lines in France are covered. The start-up KidyGo, which has been in existence since 2015, gives individuals the opportunity to accompany children traveling alone by train, bus or plane; in return, the parents pay them a good part of their ticket. Obviously, not everyone can become “KidySitter“. If the BAFA is not requested, it is however necessary to provide an identity document and an extract of a clean criminal record (which are checked). In addition, as with any good self-respecting community service, AirBnb or BlaBlaCar way , there is a review and rating system.

If opposite, the parents (50,000 registered, currently) still have an interest in having confidence, if you are in the place of the guide, it is therefore a solution to travel almost free of charge. According to KidyGo, the minimum “compensation” offered by a parent is set at €30 / support, but they cover the entire ticket in 75% of cases. Note that to become a guide, you must also pay a monthly subscription of 9.90 euros, but it is non-binding: you pay nothing if you are not traveling, and you can deactivate it at any time. “If you accompany children on a round trip every 2 months (so only a dozen KidyGo journeys in the year), you can earn 241 euros in one year”, summarizes KidyGo.

Compare offers

SNCF Connect is not unanimous, far from it. Since its launch in February 2022, this app has suffered many criticisms: badly thought out ergonomics, repeated bugs, problems reading ticket QR codes… But there are alternative services, which allow you to compare prices… while being multimodal. Thereby, train line (ex-Captain Train), Omio, Kombo and Tictactrip We will not only offer you the best offers by train, but we will also offer you those by bus, plane, or carpooling.

Available on iOS and Android (except for Tictactrip, but it’s temporary), these apps are sleek and very intuitive. They allow you to apply SNCF discount cards, and therefore allow you to create tailor-made routes, combining several different means of transport, which can be very useful when your destination is poorly served.

Go through ticket exchange

The last solution remains the second-hand ticket market, via collaborative sites, specialized in the resale / purchase of tickets between individuals, such as zePass, Trade Trains and Kelbillet. But beware of nominative tickets (or “e-tickets”), which expose you to scams and the risk of fines on board. The tickets that are actually resalable are thus those that are hard-bound and not nominative, as well as those of the TGV-Ouigo, whose identity of the traveler can be changed free of charge within one hour after the order (the change of name is then at the expense of the seller).

Nominative tickets are not transferable, and in the event of an inspection, you thus expose yourself to a verbalization. To avoid fraud (which is not uncommon), ZePass, Trocdestrains and Kelbillet check, a priori, the validity of the train tickets submitted.

Note that Kelbillet is also a multi-modal platform: it allows you to “compare and find a cheap ticket” by train, but also by bus, carpooling or plane.