Advantages: You can pretend you're the bloke from the chewing gum advert Disadvantages: May bring on manic depression and collapse of your spinal column
...account. In the case of National Express Coaches, I am quite content to forsake my sanity, spinal column and general allround happiness in favour of a few extra quid in my pocket when I arrive at my destination. If you're reading this review then I assume you have a journey to make and are considering National Express to get you where you need to be. As a surviving veteran of numerous coach trips from hell (and a few even worse), I feel that you might ...
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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 ...
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Advantages: Cheap and can be more reliable than the train (honest) Disadvantages: It's coach travel, so it's no frills, cheap and cheerful (usually)
...have to.....
Browsing everyone's opinions of National Express I get the impression you either love 'em or hate 'em. Fair enough but I also notice some of the questions you put are things I can explain... so, as an ex employee who therefore knows how desparately anxious they are to please, I hope this will shed a bit of light on some of the odd decisions they make and why. They're not always sensible but there are a lot of instances where their ...
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Advantages: Cheaper rates at the most expensive time of year Disadvantages: Poor customer service
...on the time of year!
History
The National Express Company goes back well over a hundred years and are well known in the UK. They adopted the name 'National Express' in 1974.
Eurolines is the International Company for National Express. These are for the European journeys. Recently a new business called 'Airlinks' has been set up to look after 'on-airport' services at Heathrow and Gatwick.
See more details on their website at http://www.nationalexpress.com/home/hp.cfm
...
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Advantages: well, you get there in the end. Disadvantages: unhelpful staff, no legroom, dingy old depots
...idiot I am, to use National Express coaches to 'save any messing around'.
Big mistake.
I decided to book the tickets for me and my mom over the internet on the National Express website, gobycoach.com. Once it loaded, all was well and good, we booked the times we wanted, clhecked the 'collect tickets at station' box because we were travelling in 2 days, and were done. It all seemed fairly straightforward, we didn't even need to print off stupid ...
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Advantages: Reasonably inexpensive, mostly comfortable, on board facilities Disadvantages: Restricted leg room, slow loading website
...get me there!
I travelled with National Express Coaches as they offered the most direct and the cheapest service. Travelling by train would have meant a 6-hour journey with changes at London and would have cost considerably more!
My journey was actually only as far ‘oop narth’ as Scunthorpe; to meet a pal before we set off up to Ana’s together. I travelled from Aylesbury to Scunthorpe, along the M1, the total journey time taking ...
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Advantages: wide range of destinations; cheaper than train Disadvantages: journey times sometimes excessively long
...loan, I decided to give National Express a go, hearing that their fares were relatively cheap, and that they travelled to a wide range of destinations.
BOOKING:
Booking your coach tickets is easy. If you have Internet access, and are willing to submit your credit/debit card details online, then this is probably the easiest option. Tickets booked online are mailed to you free of charge if you book far enough in advance, but if your ticket is ...
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Advantages: Convenience; Picks-up from many destinations without train stations Disadvantages: Close proximity to other passengers; Delays caused by accidents, especially on motorways
“Take the National Express when your life’s in a mess
It’ll make you smile.
All human life is here
From the feeble old dear to the screaming child.”
‘National Express’ by The Divine Comedy
Who would have thought that someone would accurately capture the whole coach travelling experience in a song? Not I! But how true the above lyrics are.
Coach travel, and in particular, National Express (NE) has ...
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Advantages: cheaper than flying/trains at short notice Disadvantages: much slower than most other transport options
...as I know the only national coach service in the UK (although in Scotland it is run under the City Link name) and is a member of the european Eurolines coach network.
I booked my travel using the nationalexpress.com website the site is mildly confusing if you don't want to use one of the their funfare or travel from one of their more popular stops. A full list of their stops is given if you click on the red text below the drop down boxes 'Cant ...
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Advantages: Cheaper prices Disadvantages: Longer Journey times
...there were none! Coach? Yes National Express saved the day. National Express run coaches on most routes throughout the UK and has been the leader for years. So here is a little tale of my journey from London to Edinburgh.
As I said earlier it was hectic, these are the reasons why. I had a long awaited appointment with the hospital that I could not miss, or wait another 7 months! That was issue number 1. I took along my friend who had a job interview ...
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Advantages: Punctual and very cheap indeed! Disadvantages: Slower than trains (usually!), less comfortable
...at finding out about the national coach network.
My usual journey's a five-hour-long one and a return ticket costs me just £12.50 - fantastic price! That's at concessions rate, which children, students and OAPs can recieve, but the adult fares are very reasonable too - much more so than any other form of long-distance public transport! You can also save money by using the company's website and earning points (see below).
The Coaches
Every ...
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Advantages: cheap, easy interchange in London Disadvantages: slow, reserved seating, cramped when full
...currently a driver working for National Express and have been doing so for the last year. Recently National Express is starting to make lots of efforts to improve the quality of its services. I want to talk about why you should use National Express and what your travel experience will be like – at least aboard my coach.
Who uses National Express?
From observation people who use this service are unlikely to have access to a car. Students, people ...
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Advantages: Cost, Gets you where you need to get to, easy to book Disadvantages: smell, weird staff and coach drivers, seating space
So the lyrics go...
"Take the National Express, when your life's in a mess, it will make you smillleee"
Based on my experience, the last thing i do when taking the national express coach journeys is smile. I think the words that comes to mind are cry, scream, wail, shout, stress, you get the idea.
What is the National Express i hear you cry?!
Well, the national express is a coach company based in Britain. They run many a service from ...
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Advantages: Quick easy to book, Good national coverage Disadvantages: Fixed travel times
I last used National Express in April 2000. I needed to get to Gatwick airport for a trip to the States, and decided it would be less hassle to go by coach. I have to say the whole experience was relatively painless. I booked the tickets at my local travel agents and they were posted to me about two weeks before I travelled. I arrived at East Midlands airport at around 1am, and the coach left promptly at 1am. We arrived at Gatwick airport at approximately ...
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Advantages: Reasonable prices, clean coaches. Disadvantages: Time, the toilets, wierdos who might sit next to you.
As the song goes-"the national express, it's best,oh yes!" I'm being serious. Train fares these days are ridiculous, trains are often delayed or late. I have family all over the country, and now I have gone to uni, my boyfriend is far away too! Luckily for me though, I can always rely on the good old coach service.
Students can buy a student coach card for £10 which lasts for a year and entitles you to reduced fares. People over 50 and armed forces ...
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