You can travel in different ways: by plane, train or bus. And also in your own car - this is the very method of movement that unties your hands. Well, if your car is not there, and tickets are expensive? Then modern search engines and applications, such as BlaBlaCar, may come to your aid. What is a blah blah car? This is an online platform that allows drivers to save on gasoline, and passengers can find the most profitable travel options on their chosen route. There are a lot of such services, but Bla-bla-car is the largest of them. Its activities officially cover 22 countries of the world. It unites about forty million consumers.
History
What is “Blah-blah-car” and how did this service come about? The idea first occurred to Frederick Mazzell, the Frenchman. When he first registered it (in 2004), it was called Covoiturage.fr (that is, traveling together by car). The idea was that such a site helped drivers and passengers who wanted to share the cost of the trip over medium and long distances find each other. It works as follows. Drivers publish their routes, and passengers choose them, and after the trip they share the cost equally. On average, the distance of such a trip is about three hundred and fifty kilometers. Frederick Mazzella heads the company Komuto, which is the owner of the service.
How did the name appear
In 2009, the site launched the Spanish version. It was called Comuto.es, like the enterprise itself. But what is “Blah-blah-car” and how did this name come about? The fact is that since 2011, a startup has begun to operate in the UK. And when it was advertised, we decided to name the search engine for travel companions in exactly this way - from the English words “blah blah”, that is, chatter, and “car” - a car. The site in the English version looked like BlaBlaCar.com. And as early as next year, they began to call the system that was being opened at the international level.
Activities in different countries
In 2012, Europe already knew what Blah Blah Car was. The success of the online system began to develop by leaps and bounds. Venues appeared in Italy, Portugal, Poland, Benelux countries. And in 2013, when the startup’s activities swept Germany as well, the number of states in which it operated increased to ten. Then it was decided to standardize all sites, because they all had different names. The most popular name was "Blah-blah-car." Travel and passenger numbers were increasing. From April 29, 2013, even the basic, French service was renamed into English. In 2014, the service is launched in Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, in 2015 - in India and Mexico. The last European countries to join the project were the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Services
This service has made a very popular way of travel, such as "ride sharing". He created a whole category of travelers for whom they came up with the appropriate name - “blah blah fellow travelers”. These are people who are ready to drive in someone else's car in order to save time and money on trips. After all, let’s say, you can spend only about five hundred rubles on a trip from Moscow to St. Petersburg if you are lucky. Now it is not only a site, but also an application that can be downloaded to iPhone or Android. If you need "blah blah fellow travelers", you should register, write about which route you are interested in, and look for a suitable price. There are many different options in the interface - whether the driver likes music, smokes, what kind of car he has, whether it is possible to carry large luggage, take a dog or a cat with him ... The reviews describe previous trips and reflect the reputation of both drivers and passengers. Currently, the service has about fifty prizes from various organizations and publications, including from the Figaro newspaper for the best place for work, entertainment and adventure.
"Blah blah trips": reviews and tips
Of course, in every country, a startup works differently. No exception were Russian users. Many say that there is a certain risk - to entrust yourself and your property to a stranger. They are reasonably answered that we don’t do the same when getting on a train or a minibus? Experienced users are advised to take a closer look at the brand of the car - if it is already used or small, you may be uncomfortable. It is also worth paying attention to how many passengers will be in the back. If three people are sitting there, then your comfort will depend on their size. “Blah blah rides” is always a lottery, but the choice is yours. After all, in the end, this service is not a taxi. He simply reduces the cost of your trip, but the driver goes where he needs it first and carries you on the transport he has.
Be sure to look at the rating of a fellow traveler or driver, as well as pay attention to the ratings of previous users. So you will have an idea of ​​with whom and in what society you have to hit the road. But in general, those who had the opportunity to try out this service speak of it as a convenient, profitable and often giving positive and pleasant emotions.