Capitaine Train, the number one challenger of Voyages-SNCF.com to book train tickets in a blink of an eye has finally released its Android App. If, like me, you’ve been waiting for it ever since you first used Capitaine Train’s web version, you might think there’s a whole new world of train-tickets-opportunities. And you’re right.
Apparently I’m not the only one who was impatiently waiting for the Android app to be released: 4 823 tweets asking for it were posted – “More or Less!” specifies Emiland de Cubber, communications manager. The reason is very simple: booking train tickets using Capitaine Train is not only easier, it’s also cheaper: the interface is meticulously conceived to make your booking faster, which gives you no excuse for procrastination. In addition, Capitaine Train does not use cookies to increase the price of tickets when you go back to a page and optimizes the connexion between different distributors (like SNCF and German companies, for instance).
With the brand new Android app, you’ll be able to search, pre-order, buy and cancel train tickets using SNCF, Eurostar, Thalys, Lyria, iDTGV and iDBUS (you’ll have to wait for the next update to use German transporters and Ouigo), manage users and keep track of all your bookings. Placement choice will be added in the next update.
The specificity of the Android App is that you’ll get notified 20 min before you leave with all the important info (departure time, seat number etc). Tickets will also by synchronized using your smartphone’s account manager, so that you can access them even when the app is not active.
I’ve made the test: it takes me less than a minute to book a ticket from Paris to Amiens for the weekend using Capitaine Train, VS more than 5 with Voyages SNCF. Plus the design is stylish, clean and beautiful. The reason is that Capitaine Train puts the user’s needs on top of anything: “Every button is placed to make our users’ navigation easier. Preoccupations like branding are just secondary.” declares Emiland.
Capitain Train currently counts 200,000 users, a number that almost tripled between last October and today. Now that they finally reached the Android platform – where Voyages SNCF was previously a monopoly as a distributor – their objective is to grow this user base, in France and worldwide.