On the premises of its new headquarters in Brussels, opposite the Gare du Midi, Thalys management unveiled its new fare offer, which will be marketed from 12 September for a set up in December next. The railway company's ambition is to offer more transport choices to its different types of passengers, as well as more attractive fares and more services for overseas and business customers.
To achieve this, the company will be launching "Comforta travel offer that will come in between between the 'Standard' and 'Premium' categorieswith each status benefiting from related services. Standard will represent a journey in Comfort 2 (Thalys 2nd class) for a fare of from €29 on the Paris-Brussels route, while Comfort will enable passengers to make the journey in Comfort 1 (1st class) from €55 but without services. Finally, to take advantage of a full flex ticket in Comfort 1 with theaccess to loungesthe on-site catering, print and digital press and taxi reservations on arrivalPassengers travelling in Comfort will have to choose the Premium offer from €115. One carriage of each train (i.e. 39 seats) will be dedicated during the week to passengers opting for a Comfort journey, and two carriages at weekends. Please note that wifi will remain free in all three travel categories, but Premium passengers will benefit from an increased capacity of 500 MB (compared with 100 MB for other cars).
" With the Comfort range, Thalys is targeting business travellers who have been forced to travel in Comfort 2 and who want the space, comfort and calm of Comfort 1 to work or rest." explains Agnès Ogierthe Managing Director of Thalys. To control the cost of their travel budget, some companies switched their staff from 1st to 2nd class after the 2008 crisis.
To appeal to these companies, Thalys is announcing a reduction in fares on all its routes, with a €151 fare for a Comfort 'Semi-flex' ticket on the Paris-Brussels route and a €191 fare for a Premium ticket. The latter, which starts today at €142, will be between €115 and €145 in the future fare structure. Thalys will also develop its corporate offering with the abolition of the access threshold, with companies wishing to do so able to benefit from advantages from the 1st trip. " Thalys will have to review all its corporate agreements to adapt to this new offer" warns Bruno Dierickx, Sales and Marketing Director.
We hope that 5% to 10% of customers will switch from Comfort 2 to Comfort 1 thanks to Comfort and Premium.
" We hope that 5% to 10% of customers will switch from Comfort 2 to Comfort 1 thanks to Comfort and Premium. This will result in a 3-point increase in the Comfort 1 occupancy rate, which currently fluctuates between 70% and 75%." adds Agnès Ogier. The seats freed up in second class should enable Thalys to offer 30% of low-price tickets (compared with 25% at present) and to boost its leisure traffic. With the 7% increase in capacity on the Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam route in 2017 and the development of its Izy low-cost offer this summer, Thalys hopes to break the 7 million passenger barrier transported compared with 6.7 million in 2016 (-2%/2015). " These 1 to 2 additional points of traffic and turnover will be financially very significant for Thalys." she assures us.
These new features are the first steps in other changes to come for Thalys, with a redesigned website by the end of 2017, an innovative digital offering and a customer relations programme ThalysTheCard modified in the first half of 2018.
