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How OUIGO turned OUIGOSWAP into a full marketplace: more revenue, better experience, new customers.
❝ By launching this platform with Fairlyne, OUIGO gives more freedom to its passengers while optimising train load factors. It's a win-win solution that improves the customer experience and strengthens the economic performance of our model. ❞
Jérôme Laffon
Deputy CEO, OUIGO
Context
OUIGO, SNCF’s low-cost rail operator launched in 2013, carries 28 million passengers per year across France, Spain and Belgium with over 300 trains per day. Its mission: make high-speed rail accessible to everyone, at low prices. But this model relies on non-exchangeable, non-refundable tickets — a commercial necessity that creates a major blind spot: when a passenger can no longer travel, they lose their ticket entirely. With no official alternative, many turned to unofficial resale channels, completely outside OUIGO’s control. In 2022, OUIGO decided to act by launching OUIGOSWAP with Fairlyne — the first official train ticket resale service in France. On day one: 3,000 buyers and 3,000 sellers. But the service was then limited to sold-out trains, leaving a large volume of unused tickets with no solution on trains that weren’t fully booked.
Achievements
OUIGO decided to go further by extending OUIGOSWAP into a full two-layer marketplace, integrated in 12 weeks with no impact on existing booking systems, fare structures or operations.
- SeatResale — direct recovery: on high-demand routes, the RM team recaptures the seat, compensates the passenger with a voucher, and relists it at current market value
- Marketplace — exclusive good deals: on trains that aren’t sold out, unused tickets are listed at a controlled discounted price, visible only on OUIGOSWAP — a direct acquisition channel for price-sensitive travellers who would never have booked at full fare
- Dedicated RM cockpit: OUIGO retains full control over eligibility rules, recovery thresholds and compensation levels — at route or network level
Download the full case study
Discover how OUIGO is transforming canceled train tickets into new revenue opportunities while delivering greater flexibility and a better travel experience for its customers.
Results
In 10 months, OUIGOSWAP established itself as a strategic channel for acquisition, retention and load factor optimisation:
- 800,000+ passengers served via OUIGOSWAP
- 300,000+ transactions processed across the network
- x2.5 profit ratio on recaptured seats vs. original unsold inventory
- 50% voucher retention rate — compensated passengers come back to travel with OUIGO
- +10 NPS points — passengers rewarded for declaring their no-show early
