Holiday Essentials > Bus Companies

Advantages: punctual, cheap and sometimes entertaining
Disadvantages: can get a little cramped when full

As a national representative of a charity I knew I would have to travel a lot so needed to find the most cost efficient way of doing so. I had received an NZ2 card when I opened my student account with Barclays but never thought of using it. I popped into my local office and decided to find out more about the benefits of this small card. At that particular time National Express had an offer on their journeys and suggested that I take them up on ...
...flying again and saw that National Express operated a Europe service. The staff were very understanding to my requirements but explained that as the service was weekly we may have to go out a week before the event and come back a week after. I found them very supportive in dealing with an almost impossible request. Still they spent over 30 minutes on the phone. On return she explained that they could accommodate my friend and I, but it would cost ... Read review

Advantages: Frequent
Disadvantages: Unpleasant Bus Drivers

I have to say that there are more LRT buses than First Group but I have found that the LRT drivers are the surliest and least helpful. My friend and I no longer rush to get on a bus which is already standing at the bus stop as the majority of the drivers will not let you get on. I sometimes wonder if they realise that their jobs are to pick up passengers?! We know they have a timetable to keep to, but if the bus hasn't pulled away from the bus ... Read review

Advantages: Marginally better than walking in the rain.
Disadvantages: Dirty, slow and expensive.

...local monopoly operator, Arriva. Arriva are probably the reason cars are so popular; they represent everything thats wrong with public transport in the UK. There services are overpriced, uncomfortable and nearly always late. Living on the periphery of London in Hertfordshire I regularly get to experience how things can be. They publish timetables that are complete works of fiction, neither the departure nor arrival times can be relied on. This ...
...turns up. At best in the summer this leaves you wasting endless amounts of time having to start your journey hours before you need to arrive, and at worst nearly freezing to death or arriving soaking wet in winter. The buses themselves are the work of one of lifes true sadists. The seating on these perpetually late boxes on wheels can only be designed as being suited to very small children or adults with no legs. How they expect anyone to sit in ... Read review

Advantages: Cheap, Easy to book, Good service, Don't need to print tickets
Disadvantages: Route coverage limited, Less frequency

When I found that I could go from Worthing to London for £1.5, I thought there must be some catch. I gave it a try and found the service fantastic! Megabus and National express are the two major bus operators in the UK. Although megabus is cheaper, their route is very limited and has less frequency of trips. From Worthing, megabus has only two trips the whole day! Megabus is good for any traveller looking for value for money and has enough time ...
...time match with the time schedules like a train journey. But it does save money. For instance in my journey, it costs £11.70 in National express and takes 2 and a half hours. For Megabus it's £3 (average - since you can't always book 3 week in advance) but takes a bit more than 3 hours. Considering the fact that it takes 1 and a half hours in train and costs £12, Megabus is a bargain but takes double the time(mainly due to the reason that it collects ... Read review

Advantages: Buses have seats
Disadvantages: Poor service, old buses, grumpy drivers, unreliable, costly, poor complaints procedures

We live about ten miles outside Aberdeen & although I drive my wife doesn't, so her only means of public transport is Stagecoach buses. We are all encouraged to leave the car at home & use public transport, I only wish one of those worthless politicians who keeps reminding us about it came & witnessed Stagecoach bus services in our area. My wife has used it regularly for the past three years & these are some of her experiences. There was a shortage ...
...in some drivers from the North of England. In theory it was a good idea except Stagecoach didn't inform them where to go, more often than not, the drivers had to ask the passengers for directions & when the bus was empty it was left to the drivers to guess the routes. Then Stagecoach recruited a number of drivers from Malta who were probably keen to make the generous salaries (compared to Malta) Stagecoach offered. After some training they were ... Read review