The SNCF strike makes people happy.
As a result of the strike by SNCF controllers between Thursday February 15 and Monday February 19, many trains were canceled during this school holiday period.
Disruptions that certain coach companies, such as FlixBus or BlaBlaCar, perceive as a boon to cause their prices to explode.
While one train in two runs on the TGV, Ouigo and Intercités, many travelers have been forced to resort to car rental, carpooling or coaches in order not to cancel their vacations.
“In terms of reservations, we are on an increase of between 15 and 20% over this weekend compared to what we expected for this period,” assured FlixBus spokesperson Charles Billiard on Europe 1.
Also read: Abandoned without phone or money: the misadventure of Owen, passenger on a BlaBlaCar bus
On the BlaBlaCar side, we are talking about a “doubling of the demand for carpooling and buses”, confirmed on franceinfo the founder and president of BlaBlaCar Frédéric Mazzella.
Although around ten additional buses were then planned to meet demand, this tense situation did not prevent the price of certain coach tickets from considerably increasing.
To reach Nantes from Paris on Sunday February 18 by bus, BlaBlaCar only offers prices between 79 and 99 euros… compared to around 25 euros usually.
While it costs around twenty euros on average to get to Lyon from Paris, for most journeys, you will have to spend more than 100 euros to get there this weekend.
The price increase is roughly similar on the FlixBus website.
BlaBlaCar assures that its price list has not changed
If coach reservation sites are very often criticized by travelers during strike periods, because of these price increases, Charles Billard defends himself to the Actu.fr site, citing a mechanical increase linked to demand.
“Prices vary depending on demand and competition.
Yes, during this strike period, our prices are automatically increasing due to the large number of reservations and the close reservation dates,” he argued, while specifying that many destinations are not affected.
According to him, if his company is regularly criticized during strike periods, “it is mainly because our prices are extremely low the rest of the time”.
At BlaBlaCar, management assures that the bus price list has remained unchanged, but that “the low prices went away very quickly as soon as the strike was announced”.
Regarding carpooling, BlaBlaCar recommends that drivers charge a fair price, which they “are free to follow or not”.