Whim Review - App For Public Transport
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Whim is a Helsinki-based company combining different public transportation methods into one app. With the Whim app, you can buy public transportation tickets, order taxis, and hire a car or city bike. Whim offers plans at different prices depending on your needs. Please read our review of Whim.
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What is Whim App?
Whim is a service that combines different public transportation methods into a single app. With the Whim app, users may buy public transport tickets, order taxis and hire a car or bike. Whim has different pricing plans: users can pay as they go, have a fixed-priced all-inclusive subscription, or something in between these models.
Whim was introduced first time in Helsinki in 2015. After which, Whim has expanded to Turku, Belgium, West Midlands, Vienna and to multiple cities in Schwitzerland. Whim has also started cooperating with transportation officials in Tokyo. Most likely, the list will get longer when the company grows.
MaaS - the Company behind Whim
Whim is operated by a Finnish company, MaaS Global. The compay is still in the growing phase.
Whim's Services
In Finland, Whim is available in the Helsinki metropolitan area and Turku. Whim has designed plans so that you can easily buy only the services you need. That makes the pricing model user-friendly.
Pricing plans in Whim cities are similar, but minor differences exist. The service catalogues are not equal and may be referred to by different names.
Traditional Public Transport
Buying traditional public transport tickets may be the most popular Whim method. You can buy single tickets, serial tickets or monthly subscriptions. Whim also supports tickets for discount groups. The exact ticket selection varies from city to city. In Helsinki, public transport subscriptions have the same prices, regardless of whether you buy them from Whim or the local public transport operator. However, with the Whim, you'll get extra perks, like discounted taxi rides.
City Bikes and Scooters
You can use the Whim App to pay for scooters or city bikes in some cities. For example, you can buy a seasonal city bike or a monthly scooter subscription in Helsinki. Paying as you go is also possible.
Taxis
Whim App can be used to order taxis. In Helsinki, Whim offers discounted taxi rides from many companies for Whim users. Rides have dynamic pricing, but you'll know the price before confirming your order. Taxis via Whim are also available in other Whim cities.
Hire Cars
Public transportation is not always a fast enough solution, but taxis may be too expensive. Luckily, Whim offers an easy way to hire a car. In Helsinki, hiring a car costs 55 euros per day, but the service is available only for those who are holding another valid Whim plan, like a monthly public transport subscription.
Hire cars via Whim are not available in all Whim cities.
Whim Unlimited
Whim also has an Unlimited Plan for heavy movers. In Helsinki, Whim Unlimited users can use public transport as much as they wish. Or they can hire a car without extra charges or have 80 costless short-distance taxi rides. There are some limits and restrictions, so it's advisable to read the terms carefully before ordering the Whim Unlimited service. This plan is also expensive, costing € 699 per month in Helsinki.
Whim changes the pricing often, so it is wise to confirm the latest information from the app.
Other Benefits
Whim may offer customers additional benefits. For example, you may get a free city bike ride, a one-time use of a co-working facility, or a discounted short-term car rental. To get extra benefits, you usually need to buy other Whim services first. These extras are related to public transport and urban life.
Whim Cities
In January 2022, Whim has the following services:
| City | Services |
|---|---|
| Helsinki | Public transport, taxis, hire cars, bikes and scooters |
| Turku | Public transport, taxis, hire cars, bikes and scooters |
| Belgium | Public transport, trains, taxis, hire cars, city bikes and scooters |
| Vienna | Public transport, taxis and scooters |
| West Midlands | Public transport, trains, taxis, hire cars, city bikes and shared cars |
| Tokyo | Information missing |
Save with Whim
With Whim's discounted extras, you may slightly reduce transportation costs. But when you're subscribed to Whim, you typically pay the standard prices for public transport. In this case, there is no difference if you pay directly to the service provider concerned or via Whim. If you are to utilise regularly different methods of public transportation, subscription to the needed services via Whim is a good choice. Taxi rides and car hires may be discounted.
The best part is that you only need one app. There is no hassle between public transport, car hiring or taxi apps, but the Whim App is enough.
Our Whim Experiences in Helsinki, Finland
To Workplace by Whim
Ceasar used to commute from home to the workplace using purely public transport. As soon as he started doing jobs at different locations, he began subscribing to Whim. At that time, Whim had a fixed price for short taxi rides. Because of his strict schedule between two shifts, a quick ride was needed to get to his next workplace on time. Thanks to the benefit of Whim, which included a cheap fixed-priced taxi ride of 10€ within a 5-kilometre radius. Paying it directly to taxi companies should have cost more than double, say about €23 for the same journey costing €10 with Whim. Unfortunately, Whim does not have this benefit in Helsinki.
Another example is that Ceasar was saved from an expensive taxi ride during a public transport strike in the Helsinki Region. While Ceasar's workmate didn't have a Whim subscription, she had to pay about 3x the cost of what was paid by Ceasar for almost the same length of a journey during the strike day. Note, in times of strikes, employers in Finland are not obliged to compensate additional unexpected transportation costs for employees.
Whim Taxi Rides
Ordering a taxi via the Whim App is as easy as with other taxi apps. You have to indicate your pickup location and your destination. Since you need to set up a payment account when registering as a new user of the Whim App, your taxi ride will be charged to your bank card, and you will receive an electronic receipt via email at the end of your journey. This feature of Whim is quite convenient, saving a little time, especially when in a hurry, skipping the last-minute hassle of taking out your card to pay the taxi driver.
Waiting time is usually 5-10 minutes, but one incident was encountered for us, where the taxi driver arrived late. Although the app appeared, the journey continued after the indicated waiting time in the app had elapsed. While Ceasar thought that the said taxi had already been taken by someone else, Ceasar had to relocate to a taxi station in the city centre. Then, while waiting for the next cab, the previous one just passed by without stopping, and the journey update in the app showed that the order had been cancelled. Fortunately, a new order was made, and the next taxi arrived quickly. By then, Ceasar told the driver of the same taxi company what had just happened, and the driver honestly said:
Because he (the previous taxi driver) sees what amount of money the passenger is paying, most probably he wants more than that.
With this one incident, if ever the statement of that driver who took Ceasar eventually to the ferry terminal is right, it would be quite disappointing that somehow some taxi drivers choose to discriminate against some Whim customers when in the first place they are partnering with Whim.
Whim App Review
The Whim App is handy; it works smoothly, and you can open your tickets and use the app only when connected to the internet. The app saves all your previous taxi trips in one place, My Trips . Be mindful that if you intend to subscribe only for a short time, such as one month, for public transportation and don't need it next month, you must customise or change it before your current subscription ends. Otherwise, your current subscription will be automatically renewed and charged without prior warning. An electronic receipt is sent by email for every ticket purchase.
The public transportation tickets in Whim are easily accessible in the Whim App. You open the app and show the ticket if it needs to be inspected. Viewing your mobile ticket in the Whip app will automatically increase the brightness of your mobile screen.
The app has a con. You can't select your region yourself, but the system chooses it on your behalf.
Traveller and Whim
As a traveller, you do not benefit much from Whim. Of course, you can use the same application in every Whim city, but your Whim plan will only be valid at your home location.
There are only a few Whim metropolises in Europe, but most likely, their number will grow. In Asia, Whim services are available in the Greater Tokyo area. We expect that there will be some cooperation between Whim cities later. After that, a traveller may benefit more from Whim.
Cons of Whim
Whim is not a perfect solution yet. The official website about the services available in different Whim locations is unclear. Also, the price lists are hard to find. We were able to find Helsinki region prices, but the app doesn't allow us to change the region manually to see services available in other regions. It could be a good idea to improve the communication.
Another thing that makes us worried is the slow development speed. We wrote the first version of this article a few years ago, but not much has changed since then. That makes us wonder if Whim is becoming a global solution, as they are marketing themselves to be.
Competing Services
ViaVan
ViaVan is a shared taxi. It combines the rides of many passengers into a single van. The journey time will be longer than with a normal taxi, but the price will accordingly be lower. ViaVan is a shared bus with dynamic routes.
ViaVan can be ordered through its app, just like a normal taxi or Uber. The app details when and where you will be picked up.
In Finland, ViaVan was piloting, but it is not operating anymore.
Car Sharing
Car-sharing services are competitors for public transportation. You reserve a car, drive to your destination, and pay, usually based on the driving time.
Unfortunately, there are major cons of car sharing. The cars are unavailable everywhere, and the nearest car may be far away. You may not be allowed to leave the car at your destination. You also need a driver's license and will be liable for the damages.
While car sharing may be a great solution for certain occasions, taxis and services like Whim are more flexible. Surprisingly, they may also become cheaper, especially when you are subscribed to one of their plans.
In the future, car-sharing and ViaVan may no longer be competitors for Whim but more like partners. A user could use the same app to order these services, too.
Common Questions
- What is Whim App?
- Whim is a service that combines different public transportation methods into a single app. You can buy public transport tickets, order a taxi, rent a car, or rent a bike with the app. There are different pricing plans.
- Where is Whim available?
- Whim is available in Helsinki, Vienna, Antwerp, the West Midlands, Switzerland, Tokyo and Singapore.
- How much does Whim cost?
- There are different pricing plans. The most expensive plans cost € 700 per month but include many complimentary services.
- What are the benefits of Whim?
- The biggest benefit is that all your public transportation options are on the same app. Some of the plans include discounted or complimentary services.
- Do you save money with Whim?
- If you are a heavy public transportation user, Whim plans may save money.
- How to get a Whim plan?
- Download the Whim App to your mobile phone.
Bottom Line
Whim is a handy service that combines different public transportation methods into one app. The app may encourage you to use public transportation, which is good for addressing the global issue of climate change. With fixed-priced plans, a Whim user who needs to utilise regularly different kinds of public transportation will get the best value for their money with a Whim plan.
So far, there are a few Whim cities in Europe. As the number of Whim destinations grows, the application will be handy, especially for travellers. Hopefully, in the future, travellers can use the same app in every European capital city and other major city destinations worldwide.
Have you tried Whim? What were your experiences?
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