Russia probably isn’t the first territory that comes to mind when you think of PayPal, which is probably just why they’ve launched a promotion with Aeroexpress offering a 50% discount when buying tickets and paying with PayPal.
Travellers are able to buy return tickets to the airport for only RUB 420 so long as they purchase through aeroexpress.ru and pay using PayPal. A return ticket normally costs RUB 1,000 when bought from ticket offices. A 16% discount lowering the price to RUB 840 is offered when purchasing a ticket via the website – Pay with PayPal and this is halved.
Every year we record increasing popularity of electronic sales channels, so we try to offer our smart passengers the most beneficial conditions. Our joint campaign with PayPal offers our passengers, who are used to planning their trips in advance, the opportunity to purchase two tickets for the price of one and not worry about the security of their online payment.
– Valery Fyodorov, Chief Operating Officer of Aeroexpress
The reason PayPal are so successful is that they’ve spent years diversifying away from eBay payments to become the defacto payment in the Western world. What they now need to do is crack emerging markets like Russia and the Far East.
PayPal’s biggest competition isn’t going to come from Amazon Pay, Apple Pay or Google. PayPal’s biggest competitors will be businesses like Alipay which, whilst dominant in China, has yet to tap into the West. It’s no surprise to see PayPal running off-marketplace promotions in countries like Russia to get more consumers using their service.
