First Uber, now FlixBus. Great for consumers, bad for Croatian companies. Or is it?
We’ve written countless articles on Uber and its effect on Croatian taxi drivers, Jadrolinija is already shaking because the moratorium on foreign ferry operators is ending on January 1, 2017, and on May 2, 2016, it was announced that a low-cost bus operator FlixBus is entering the Croatian market.
And before we start saying how this will ruin Croatian bus operators, let’s consider a few things. Prices of bus tickets to major Croatian cities can vary up to 70 kn for the exact same route, age of used buses is often very questionable (though I was tempted to use a slightly stronger word), most drivers think that talking Croatian very slowly will make the foreign passengers understand them (some companies are an exception though and my hat goes off to them), you cannot reserve your seat and expect it to actually be free once you board, and last but not least, only a few of them offer tickets on line. So, is it time to open the doors to foreign companies? Yes. Because it will make the current operators stand up and think how they can improve their own service.
So, what is FlixBus?
It is a low-cost bus service currently offering over 45,000 daily connections to over 550 destinations in over 16 European countries and as of May 16, 2016, it will offer its first route which will include a Croatian city Zagreb – Ljubljana – Milano – Torino. FlixBus offers many additional perks such as your own personalised music playlist, free 4G Wi-Fi and up to 3 pieces of luggage included in the price, snacks and drinks on board as well as plugs and sockets
Online reservation and purchase system is already available through their web shop and free app, and purchase can be made as late as 15 minutes before the scheduled departure.
FlixBus has announced that it will start expanding its offer in Croatia as early as the end of May, and according to Dubrovnik digest and Dubrovacki dnevnik, Dubrovnik will most likely be the next destination on their itinerary with daily routes to various European cities with a stop in Zagreb. Considering that FlixBus often offers its new routes at special prices, it is expected that the Dubrovnik – Zagreb line could be sold for only 1€ in the first week. Announced Zagreb – Ljubljana – Milano- Torino route will set you back 69 kn one way (approximately €9). With Ultra Europe approaching, it’s safe to say it won’t take long for routes connecting European cities to Split to be announced, but we will keep you posted as soon as new cities are added to FlixBus’ roster.
All photos are taken from FlixBus media centre.
