National Express Group

I have no complaints about National Express! They’re a good alternative to the train into the city from Stansted, and generally cheaper, too. I arrived into the Stansted airport and bought tickets into the city from the desk. On the way back to Stansted, I bought tickets directly from the staff standing by the bus at Liverpool Street Station (even though it was like 4am). Staff and driver seemed friendly enough.

I’ve used National Express three times: Edinburgh to London; London to Paris; Luton Airport to London.
National Express promises wi-​fi access and 240 volt power plugs aboard its buses but on all three journeys neither the wi-​fi nor power outlets were functional.
On the Luton Airport to London journey, after having arrived at the stop ten minutes before departure as suggested, I waited 90 minutes in the cold and rainy weather to eventually board a bus. The customer service staff at the stop instructed us to continue wait in the line and offered no information on when we would be able to depart, nor any flexibility for us to wait inside the airport (you must wait in the line at Luton as when it is busy they do not respect the departure time listed on your ticket, only your place what was a very long line).

If you don’t value your free time very much, don’t mind developing stress induced ulcers desperately calculating whether the bus you’re swished onto can make the the «one hour 15 min» journey from central London’s Liverpool Street to Stanstead Airport in under TWO And A Half HOURS, then this penny pinching service is made for you! For everyone else– skip it and fork over the cash for the train or an über. Your beach holiday is worth the peace of mind.

I just booked a ticket online, and when I finished the booking, I realized the date was incorrect.
What I searched for was late Saturday evening, which obviously turns into Sunday morning past 11:59pm. The search results showed me departure times which I assumed were in Ascending order, and I chose a departure at 12:02am, assuming it would automatically book as a Sunday departure rather than an early Saturday morning departure, since this makes logical sense from a user point of view. Why would I search late Saturday evening, and actually want to leave early Saturday morning?
And why should the early Saturday morning result show up in a list of departure times AFTER the late Saturday night results?
I called customer service, which is not a free line, and waited about 20 minutes for a person to address me on the phone. He told me that to make the change, I’d have to pay 5 pounds. I calmly asserted that I didn’t think it was fair I should have to pay the fee due to the facts that:
1. I had clearly just completed my booking, so it’s not as if I had changed my mind about my departure time in the time since I made it
2. The UI of the website is confusing (for reasons stated above), & I always intended to book either late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, never early Saturday morning
He was immediately condescending, and told me to stop blaming the website for my mistake. He explained how he understands user error can happen, but that it doesn’t excuse me from having to pay the 5 pound fee for it happening, since it was my fault regardless.
This is horrible customer service. If a user can’t clearly understand what he or she is paying for, by definition, this is a bad user experience of the site itself. It’s not about placing blame. It’s about allowing the user to rightfully get what they intended to pay for to begin with. He then did me the courtesy of waving the fee this one time, because he’s such a nice guy, but made it abundantly clear that this was done despite it being my fault.
I’m not happy with this experience & would not book with National Express again in the future.

Always a bit variable, but currently stanstead to finchley road and nice Coach, and no problems with my open return.

I was attending an event in Edinburgh and one of the few options to get there in the early hours was by bus, I looked online to be more organised and found a service leaving Glasgow bus station for 6am, tickets booked & ticket printed off.
You would think that once you have done all of the above that you would be organised having booked a ticket online, turn up at the bus station and be soon on your way.
When the bus hadn’t turned up half an hour after it should have left l tried to find a member of staff to see how long the bus would be to meet other passengers that turned up for the same bus, they where told that there was no bus scheduled to leave at that time, until I showed them my online booking confirmation sheet.
Such a useless company that couldn’t be bothered to schedule a bus for booked passengers.
In the end I had to use city link arriving in Edinburgh half an hour later than the train.
As l had still a valid ticket l tried to use the return to get back to Glasgow, half an hour after the bus should have left we where still at the stance as the bus driver had never drives to Glasgow before & was trying to programme the address into Google maps on his phone, in the end l got of the bus and took the train.
Since that day I’ve never used or would ever recommend this bus company.
Refund for my ticket took six months.

The cheap and best option for the foreigners, to travel within UK north. Services are fast, and on time. Will recommended.

National Express is a very cheap but longer alternative to train travel and the coaches can be okay as long as you get on one run by the company and not one they have hired from another company.
National Express coaches have plug sockets, leather seats with a small table, toliets with no steep stairs, drivers who do seem willing to help you with your bags but all of this changes if you get on one from another company, this happened with me, I got on a coach and this didn’t really have a good table, did not have enough leg room, no plug sockets and it was a horrible toliet down quite a few steep stairs and no room in the toliet whatsoever. Some National Express coaches even have Wi-​fi.
Some of their coach stations are okay but the main ones like London Victoria do get really busy hence it is hard to get through crouds to your coach at peak times.
As well as the incident being on a coach from another company, I also caught sickness on a National Express journey, It was from London to Manchester and 2 babies was crying all the way their, one of them in the seat behind me and something terrible happened, one began to become sick hence a few hours later I caught a bug from that baby and became very ill myself.
My trip going to London from Manchester was okay but as the service returning was overbooked we had to be put on another coach, as I said before it was simply awful and the driver didn’t even offer to help us with our bags. We set off 20 minutes late and after a road closure the driver didn’t even know where he was going! We were stuck late at night in the middle of nowhere with a driver who didn’t know where he was going, if I could of got directions in my phone I would of done, I am thankful we even got home, when you book a coach you expect the driver to know where he is going and know in advance about road closures.
If you dont mind the possibility of babies crying all for saving alot of money and a journey which takes alot longer book with national express but also be prepared to be on a coach nothing like advertised which is run by another company. Due to this inconsistency I cant reccomened National Express but I would not tell people to avoid them at all costs either as they can be okay when getting on a coach run by the company and it is really cheap from Manchester to London with fares as little as £4.99

I traveled from Gatwick to London Victoria station. Bus costs 8 pounds. It takes 2 hours (train takes 30 minutes). When you buy a bus ticket, it is for a particular bus. Make sure you have enough time to get to the bus and make sure you know where the bus is leaving from. Otherwise, you will have to pay to change your ticket.

Absolutely horrible!
The ladies at the ticket counter were super sweet, but my do I regret purchasing a ride with National Express Group. We opted to take them for the free wifi even though there was another shuttle service slightly cheaper and quicker. The journey from Stansted into London was a nightmare.
As soon as the engine roared into life, I was slapped with a disgusting smell of urine and poo. I’m not sure how those around me were carrying on with their crosswords and conversations.
I was literally on the verge of vomiting. Unfortunately all the seats were filled so moving was not an option. We had sat towards the back with hopes that my bf would have more leg room-​but there were multiple times throughout our trip where I was tempted to jump out of the window. Seriously! I may sound like I’m being dramatic, but ugh… thinking about this trip makes me want to retch.
To top it off, the wifi was conveniently not working. With the rates that they charge, it may be worthwhile for them to clean the bathrooms once in a while and either fix the wifi or stop the false advertising!
When we finally made it to London, we were over 30 minutes past the promised arrival time. At the first stop, we were able to move closer to the front of the bus. While the smell wasn’t as strong, it was still noticeable.
Next time I find myself need a shuttle, you can bet that I won’t be bothering with National Express Group. The ride would’ve normally been quite scenic but all I could focus on was holding down my lunch. Needless to say, this ride really put a damper to my day and wasn’t an ideal introduction to London.

If I could walk from Gatwick to London, believe me, I WOULD.
I’ve had better customer service from US coach service Greyhound. Spoiler alert– Greyhound is AWFUL.
First time on a national express bus, the driver and the reservation lady were really, really rude. The driver seemed to LOATHE tourists, or anyone who did not have a familiar accent.
The second time I used National express– the driver «was late» (5 minutes before scheduled departure time is late in what world exactly?) and closed the door right on my face, then nearly ran over me! Gosh. What do you have to do to be treated like a damn human being around here?

I’ve got family in the UK, so I’ve been looking for ways to reduce the stress of international travel. Using National Express coaches for getting out of the airport and returning to Heathrow has been great.
The tickets can be purchased ahead and are rather heavily discounted the further out you book. Further discounts are available by obtaining a senior discount card.
At Heathrow, it’s a simple matter to collect your baggage and follow the clear signs directing you to the Central Bus Station. My first trip, I stopped at the desk to verify what I thought I had bought and was relieved it was correct.
From an overnight trip from Washington DC there’s usually about 40 minutes to get coffee at Nero’s, conveniently located in the Central Bus station. Flat White at 7 am? Yes, please.
I’ve taken the coaches to Coventry and Birmingham. They are generally not crowded. Wi-​fi is a bit sketchy at times; other times, it’s great.
My round trip this time from Birmingham to Heathrow was £19.
Generally if traffic is heavy, plan to be delayed.
Although these have bathrooms on them, I peeked inside once and never again have looked. Use the loos at Heathrow before you board and hold it until you debark at your destination.
Drivers have always been extremely polite, answering all questions, and assisting with luggage.
I’ve been asked why I prefer the coach to trains or taking a flight to Birmingham itself. Well, the trains are expensive and involve finding the right track, sometimes you have to switch trains. A direct flight to Brimingham always means a stopover in another US City — frequently Newark; sometimes Charlotte and changing flights. Changing flights always puts luggage at risk and means another security line.
I prefer the simplicity of staying on 1 jet into London, getting my luggage and taking the escalator to the Central Bus Station.

I have nothing bad to say about National Express except that their Wifi on my route back to Stansted was a bit shit.
I landed in Stansted on Friday and was able to book a ticket on a bus departing within 10 minutes for ten pounds, which was half the price of a single trip ticket on the train. I almost went with a cheaper option, but the wifi sold me. While it wasn’t the best (I couldn’t Google which stop I should get off but I was able to use iMessage and Facebook so friends were able to help me out), my bus was empty and comfortable. The driver was incredibly helpful.
For my return, National Express was the first bus to show up when I was waiting in Stratford. This time the internet didn’t work at all and the bus was crowded, but I ended up with one of the three empty seats on the bus next to me. All credit goes to my B.O. (kidding, I think).
I didn’t need much in the way of customer service from these guys and I enjoyed being able to book my transit last minute with no price difference. I will definitely look into using them again when I return to London.

I’m not sure what’s happened to National Express since I lived in the UK. Last week I took a coach from Heathrow to Torquay. The bus was VERY late… I ended up hovering around the coach stations waiting and waiting; thinking I had missed my reservation. Which would have been a shame because I would have had to buy a new ticket! And with my ticket costing 24 pound (one way).it would have been costly! That is the other thing. not so long ago 2006 ish I remember National Express having great prices and doing really good deals on tickets. I once went to Exeter for 8 pounds! Now that would be unheard of. The prices seem to have skyrocketed in past few years. way beyond the cost of inflation.
The drive down to Torquay was so rocky the driver didn’t actually know the way so kept asking all the patrons on the coach! Should someone who doesn’t actually know the route be doing that route? Probably not. So because he didn’t know where he was going, he took the «scenic route» along the back country lanes. It took nearly an hour to get from Dawlish to Torquay! Plus he was going far to fast for the narrow lanes and kept having to slam on the breaks. It was awful. I was getting motion sickness from all the speeding and then panicked stopping, especially on the winding lanes. And I wasn’t the only one on the coach feeling ill!

We’ve used National Express twice on our trip so far and been perfectly satisfied. Buses have been modern and clean, with working seatbelts and friendly-​enough drivers. Prices are MUCH less than the train, not to mention flying. They’re still high for those of us with US$, but not too bad. On both trips buses left and arrived right on time. My only complaint is the lack of last minute fares. I checked a fare day-​before, and it was decent, but I waited to purchase until too late in the evening and it had more than doubled! I postponed my trip a day to get the lower fare, but the bus that went the day I had wanted to went with empty seats. That, to me, is a bit silly. I would have paid a little more, but not 150% more. Otherwise, good service with lots of routes and options.

Customer Service: In terms of customer service, I would give it a 4 or even 5 stars. The drivers are really lovely, kind people and help you with your luggage onto the bus!
Pros:
~ From what I’ve seen, it doesn’t seem to attract a shady crowd, even during the nighttime.
~ Efficient transportation that comes on time!
Cons:
I’m not a huge fan of the prices… I guess it depends on the popularity of where you need to go rather than the difference, which doesn’t make too much sense to me. A trip to Wales costs the same amount as a trip to Paris? Wtf.

While searching for the easiest way to transport my overweight luggage to the airport – I stumbled upon the website on line.
It was very easy to use and was 7pnds w/​a connection at Victoria. 1^st part-​Done. You pay online ahead and print out your tix.
So it was pretty easy, they handle all of the luggage for you. The bus does get a bit packed for the trip to the airport and the quality of people around isn’t always the best but you do get there just under an hour with no worries.
I did see a sign for 15pnds return to Dublin and 25pnds return to Paris – thats a pretty good deal if you can stand the bus ride all the way there!
Anyways, it was overall a much better experience than any of my Chinatown NYC bus trips – so I would definitely use them again for any future airport excursions!

This is the first time I have used a National Express coach since running around in short pants getting somewhat aroused any time I came within a mile radius of a vibration measuring 0.1 on the richter scale. National Express is alright. The coach was clean, not full of neurotic people and on both my journeys, the timings weren’t grossly misrepresented. Best thing about it, and here comes my favourite word, it was so ‘cheap.’ I was a little distressed by the £19 charge to get the train from Stansted to London terminals, so the £10 coach ride held an attraction I couldn’t resist. When I fall back into the hectic, crazy rush that is synonymous with living in London, will I still use coaches to travel around? Probably not. Yet if I have an early morning plane to catch, I won’t get all middle-​class and outright dismiss the idea.
Well done National Express, I enjoyed my journey.

I took National Express’ bus service to get from Heathrow to LGW’s north terminal. For some reason the self service ticket kiosk didn’t work for me (perhaps because I have a US credit card) so I had to go to the ticket counter for assistance. Luckily there was no wait and the agent was able to print my ticket quickly, as the bus was scheduled to depart within the next 5 minutes. I’m also fortunate that I went to the ticket counter so the ticket agent could explain which platform my bus would be departing from, as that information was not marked on the ticket, nor did I see any signage with that information on it, only signage to indicate where the different numbered platforms are located. Once on the bus, the trip was relatively speedy, and the driver was quite friendly.

A little more reliable than Terravision and still a great deal for getting to and from the smaller airports for those ridiculously cheap Ryanair flights.
If a flight seems too good to be true make sure you check to make sure there’s actually a coach to take you away from the flight after.