Pune to Mumbai - an unexpected road-trip with BlaBlaCar

Of late I had been hearing a lot about BlaBlaCar and was very keen to check it out and review on the blog so that my readers can also potentially benefit from it. So last weekend I decided to use the app to plan a trip between Pune and Mumbai to experience it first hand.


Pune to Mumbai - my road-trip with BlaBlaCar

So what exactly is BlaBlaCar?
BlaBlaCar is the world's largest long-distance ridesharing platform – a global, trusted community of 20 million car owners and co-travellers in 20 countries! Recently they announced that over 1 million seats have been offered on its platform in India!

BlaBlaCar - a ridesharing platform!
To understand it simple, BlaBlaCar is a mobile app available for both and Android as well as iOS devices which connects people who are traveling with seats in their cars with potential travelers. It's a three step process after you download the ap and set up your profile - Find a ride, Get in Touch, Ride together.

So how does it work out in real life? Read my review below to learn more about BlaBlaCar.

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Exactly at seven the car stopped, Rajendra rolled down the window and asked if I was Sid. I nodded, we shook hands and my road-trip to Mumbai started. With a complete stranger. I was rather impressed with him as he came exactly as he had promised me - sharp at seven!


Review BlaBlaCar in India
With Ganehsa's blessings we started the trip :)

It was sometime the previous night that I made a plan to go to Mumbai for a day of photography and decided to try out something new. A unique concept of travel where you can share a ride with someone who is already going to a city where you want to go by sharing the cost of the trip - BlaBlaCar!

I quickly downloaded the app, set up my profile using Facebook (not something I usually like) and started looking for a fellow traveler who could offer me a ride. Since Pune and Mumbai are so closely connected, I found a few who were going early morning and pinged them. Later Rajendra replied, we had a quick call and decided to meet mid-way between our homes and that's it. I was set for trying out something new in travel, such cool new ideas always excite me. My family, on the other hand, were much less enthusiastic and wanted me to instead go by bus. Quite obviously they were not sure about the safety aspect, but I had checked out Rajendra's profile, read reviews about him and was fairly confident that my trip to Mumbai would be good.


Review BlaBlaCar in India sefie
Selfie :)


Going with a stranger in a car was different from going in a bus. I would get to meet some new people, maybe make new friends, share ideas and but importantly also have company on the journey. And that's exactly what happened - a bland trip to Mumbai became more of a road-trip where we played nice music, stopped for chai, talked through the journey, discussed travel, cars, banking, Europe and much much more!

Anyway, coming back to the morning, Raj and I started the trip and soon picked Deenbandhu (or DB as his friends call him) from Wakad bridge. Surprisingly he was already waiting for us when we reached there and I was curious as to what had suddenly happened to everyone - all three of us on time! The day had started well already.

Rajendra has been a part of the BlaBlaCar community for a while now and he has already done 7-8 rides between Mumbai and Pune. Not surprisingly, he had also started with some apprehensions but had been completely convinced with the concept just after one ride. As he goes every weekend back to his family in Mumbai, he now has a bunch of guys who join in often. He is a banker with a big multinational bank, so these rides are much less about money (though it does help to share the costs) and much more about the company he gets during the journey. He has never had a bad experience so far, and intends to continue with this on every weekend.

Review BlaBlaCar in India
Our driver for the morning - Rajendra

DB, on the other had comes from Bhilwara in Rajasthan, and uses Bla Bla for short journeys often, typically 3-4 hours long - Pune-Mumbai is perfect, and so is Delhi-Jaipur. He loved the fact that I was a travel blogger and we all discussed different travel destinations in the country for long weekends, though very soon he slept off and got up for a picture when we reached Mumbai :)

Review BlaBlaCar in India
Deenbandhu posing for me :)

It was a Sunday morning and we reached Thane in just over two hours. The ride was simply prefect, and I had completely forgotten that the people I had spent the morning chatting up with were unknown to me till last night.

In case you are wondering what I did in Mumbai, well I did loads of street-photography, like the image below from Thane. Later I traveled in the famous Mumbai local for a photostory which will be coming up soon :)

Review BlaBlaCar in India
A man check this phone in Thane...

So would I use BlaBlaCar again? Of course, I will. For a traveler like me, it makes a lot of sense as my plans are made late and I love interacting with people during journeys. However, I do feel that a single woman might not find this to be the best way of commuting. I did hear about families or couples using this from Rajendra though.

Based on my experiences, here are some of my recommendations for using the app.

Safety comes first:
It's a fairly new concept (just like Uber a while back) and one needs to be safe first. To use BlaBlaCar you need to use your Facebook profile and anyone who wants to take a ride with you can see your profile. This is the first filter and use it to pick your ride. The next filter would be to check the number of rides one has done and the references from previous rides. They will tell you a lot. And finally do a phone call before you confirm. Only if you are completely sure about the person, make a plan to travel together.

Plan a bit in advance, but not too much: Last minute seats can be available but it depends on your luck. The best strategy is to plan and look for rides a day in advance.

Do think of a backup: It is possible that someone might have to cancel the plans at the last minute, so it's a good idea to plan for a backup. The rides are offered by people like you and me, and it's not a taxi service, so such things are possible.

Call and connect:
The app allows you to call the person offering a ride once you send him/ her a message on the app. Use this facility and make a call to do fine planning. Not everyone is always online and your message might be read much later.

Be open, make friends: What I enjoyed the most about BlaBlaCar is the fact that you have new companions on your journey and it's a great idea to connect with them and make friends. Be open and have a fun ride!

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Disclaimer: I have written this post in collaboration with BlaBlaCar. Needless to mention, all the views expressed are my own and based on my own personal experiences. 

Comments

  1. I saw the interview with blabla app owner when the delhi odd-even car scheme was going to be launched and it seemed to be a good idea to me!!

    www.myunfinishedlife.com

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    1. It certainly is a good idea! Do try it out and let me know how it goes :)

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  2. Honestly, I didn't know about this Bla Bla car. :) It's good they started in India and it'll be a hit. I think it already is.

    So the pictures were clicked with ASUS Zoom? :)

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    1. I heard first about them thorough ads on radio I think and then on FB. I think they have a community which uses it very regularly and both my travel mates told me lots about it, for me it was all new. I am going to try this outside India also and add more insights...

      The pics are not from Asus, but from my new (well, sort of) DSLR :)

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  3. Nice to read about BlaBlaCar. Thanks for sharing :)

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    1. :) If you ever give it a try, do share your feedback with me...I would love to have the voices of other travellers here as well :)

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  4. reading your blog first time and the way you narrate your story with bla bla car, it was just awesome. well after reading your blog, will surely give a shot to bla bla car.

    loved your journey.

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    1. That's cool Rahul! I am glad you enjoyed my experiences :)

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  5. Very interesting Sid. I've never heard of this, but I'm now wondering if it is available in the U.S. I'm going to check it out though...

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    1. It might be available in US also Pat, though I am not completely sure. It's there in some European countries already though...

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  6. Interesting concept. I would love to try it out too sometime.

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  7. Nice work really different one will try for once

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  8. I accidentally stumbled upon your blog today while researching something . Voila! This a good platform for reviews while traveling specially in India .

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