If it’s your dream to travel, but you don’t have the budget to make it a reality, you’re in luck.
There’s a little-known way to save 50% on plane tickets, or potentially even get your flight completely free. But, it comes with some pretty serious responsibility.
Juurnee is a website which connects people in need of a travel companion, to those who want to travel for less money.
As a companion, the person you’re accompanying pays in the form of footing a chunk – or even all – of your ticket cost.
Those looking for help on Juurnee include anxious fliers, disabled or injured people, parents with young children, or the elderly.
Sign up to The Getaway newsletter
Fuel your wanderlust with our curated newsletter of travel deals, guides and inspiration. Sign up here.
Juurnee was created by Rachel Crampton, a Brit who lives in Australia, who was inspired to create the site after realising she needed some assistance on a long journey.
The mum wasn’t looking forward to a 23-hour flight from London to Sydney with three children under the age of five, but none of her relatives or friends were able to make the trip with her.
So she decided to post about it on social media, offering £560 as a payment for anyone willing to assist her.
Soon she was put in touch with a young Australian girl living in the UK, who was desperate to visit her family back home, but didn’t have enough money to cover the cost of a flight.
‘I couldn’t have done it without her, so I created Juurnee to help other people, like me, find and book travel companions with ease,’ Rachel explains.
How does Juurnee work?
Those in need of a companion share their upcoming journeys on the site, with specific routes and dates, as well as the assistance they are in need of.
Within this post, they’ll also reveal what they’ll be offering a companion in terms of payment. According to Juurnee, people are able to ‘choose their own fee’ but they recommend ‘between 50% and 100% of the cost of flights’.
To be able to apply for a journey, you’ll need to sign up to the website. There are currently two plans available, a free membership and a premium $30 AUD per year (around £15).
The free membership allows you to browse available journeys and get ‘basic’ support. While the premium one is where you can apply for trips, and match with those in need of help.
The team at Juurnee then work behind the scenes to match travellers with companions for their trip. As part of this, Rachel shares that they use an AI third-party verification platform, to verify the identity of those who apply to be companions.
Then, once matched, it’s up to travellers to do their own checks.
Rachel explains to Metro: ‘People requesting the help can review applications from companions (including a photo, their bio and some information about why they would like to help, such as what skills and experience they might have, and their availability). They can then decide whether or not they’d like to explore any of the applications further.’
If a traveller does decide to match with someone on Juurnee, contacts details are shared, and travellers and companions can get in touch.
‘They can get to know each other a little to make sure they are happy to go ahead and they can of course conduct their own diligence — requesting evidence of skills and experience listed if they wish to do so.
‘For example if someone only wanted to select a person with a DBS check, they would only accept someone as a match who had included in their application that this is something they held, then once matched they would be able to request sight of this document.
‘As we ensure everyone is ID verified, this makes it much easier for our customers to do if this is something they require.’
As such, many of those signed up to the site are qualified teachers, nurses, childcare workers, nannies and midwives.
Where can you travel with Juurnee?
The most popular flight routes on the website go from London to Sydney as well as London to Dubai, but there are many other places you could be travelling to and from.
Recent requests have included flights to Switzerland, Berlin, Los Angeles, New Zealand, India and Thailand.
It’s worth noting that some journeys will be for one-way flights, while others will be seeking help for return trips.
Do you have a story to share?
Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.