Ride-sharing: Save 30–50% on Transportation in Europe

If you are traveling in Europe on a budget and have not used Blablacar.com yet, you are missing out on a lot of saved money. 
 
 One of the biggest expenses while traveling, is transportation. Especially in Europe where trains have gotten astronomically expensive over the past 10 years.
 
 I first heard about Blabla car last year when I was in Normandy. People were crazy for Blabla in Rouen, where I was staying. 
 
 At least, the types of people I was meeting (teachers who don’t make a huge amount of money but love to travel around France) were crazy for it.
 
But… using a ride share service to get from place to place efficiently and on the dates/at the times that you need? Is it possible?
 
 I was sceptical because the idea of looking for strangers on a website to catch a ride with for God knows how many hours to another city seemed more like an inconvenience or the beginning of an uncomfortable situation to me (long car ride with a stranger who you might not be all that interested in talking or listening to?). I also was sceptical as to how reliable and/or punctual these drivers would be.
 But that was before I started traveling long term in Europe and really needing more affordable options for getting from place to place. 
 
 In short, I became less picky and started to embrace any method that could get me from point A to point B in the cheapest way, without undue inconvenience.
 
Have you driven in Europe? The cost of driving is incredibly high and unsustainable (at least if you want to travel long distances, take road trips, etc) for most regular people who don’t make huge salaries. Add a rental car fee to that and we are talking a SHIT LOAD of money. The amount it costs me to rent a car in Europe and drive somewhere a few hours away is literally more than my entire daily budget for lodging, food, and entertainment combined. You’ll never complain about gas prices again in the U.S after driving in Europe.
 
 *It cost me 70 Euros to fill a compact car in Croatia and France. And then about 20 Euros in highway tolls in France (and later in Italy) in just one day of a lot of highway driving. 
 
 This is why blah blah car has become so popular, particularly in countries like France, Italy, and Spain. Salaries aren’t high compared to the cost of living in these countries. Add this to the fact that trains have become more and more expensive and you’ll understand why so many people are using Blabla car now.
 
Six months ago I became one of those people.
 
 I was looking for a train ticket to get me from Valencia to Madrid. The cheapest ticket for my date was €60. I didnt’ want to pay that much. So, I started a profile on blah blah car, searched for drivers who would be driving my route (Valencia to Madrid) on the date I wanted to go, and who were departing at times that were convenient, and I booked a trip for €20 with a 5 star rating driver. 
 
 I had to take a short cab ride to the meeting place to meet the Blabla car driver (they typically pick a central location so if you’re not near public transportation you may have to walk a ways or take a cab there) which cost me 8 Euros. But, the driver showed up on time, and we were dropped off at the central train station in Madrid a few hours later.
 
 The ride cost me €20. I saved over €30 on the trip and honestly taking a cab with my luggage (which I could afford thanks to the price difference) to the blablacar was much easier than walking the mile to the train station with my bags, would have been. Win win!
 
More Money Saved:
 
 I used blah blah car again from Madrid to Granada. The options for me had been a five hour bus ride or 2 hour train ride, but the train schedule was really spotty and sparse on the date I needed to travel (day after Christmas). Plus expensive (40+ Euros). So, I opted for a 3 1/2 hour blabla car ride at €19. 
 We met at central train station, and I got to my destination no problem, with pleasant company along the way (not that I could participate much in the conversation with my Spanish!)
 
 I used Blabla for the third time, for a ride from Cordoba back to Madrid. Train tickets were so damn expensive both ways (around 50 Euros each way). I paid around 25 Euros for the Blabla ride. 25 Euros is a lot of money when you’ve been traveling for a long time and are on a budget. That’s like an entire’s day budget for me.
 
How Does it Work?
 
Drivers on blah blah car pretty much just charge what they need to make back in petrol and highway tolls as well as sometimes a little bit extra for their time (or due to fact that they didn’t know how many passengers they’d have). 
 
 Some charge more than others but the rates are incredibly fair/low when compared with trains and other options.
 
 While buses are also often much cheaper than trains and driving, they take a lot of time and normally a ride in a regular car will be much quicker.
 
Drivers collect reviews from past passengers, that you can look at before booking a trip.
 
Your payment is secure, and the driver doesn’t get paid unless you take the trip, and confirm you took the trip, by sending him/her your trip code (which Blabla emails you when you book your trip). This avoids potential issues with paying for a trip that never happens, and then proving that they never picked you up, as well as provides motivation for the driver to make it easy for you to meet up with him/her to depart (if you can’t find him/her they won’t get paid!).
 
 You can plug in your route (what departure city to what arrival city) and your departure date to search for trips happening that fit your specific needs. Sometimes you won’t find a route (this is common with smaller towns or less common destinations for locals) but when looking to get from city to city there are usually options.
 
A Summary:
 
 Regardless of how you feel about taking a ride with strangers, the fact is that in today’s social and sharing economy services like blah blah car, airbnb, Lyft, etc. are much safer than most people think upon first hearing about them. These sites are full of reviews for the people purveying the services, and if you unsure about your first time, you can simply choose someone with a lot of very high reviews, so that you feel safe.
 Reviews from real people mean at the very least, that other human beings have taken rides or stayed with this person and rated them well enough that it’s most likely they are not a serial murderer(otherwise there would be no reviews….!). 
 
 Be smart, be safe, but don’t be too scared of taking rides with strangers. Especially if those strangers have photos, tons of reviews, and can save you a lot of money!