Middlesbrough to London by coach

pennine · 19 Nov 2013

Hi there travelling down on Friday 29th November from Middlesbrough to London returning the following day. To keep cost down I will be using the coach, but can't decide between National Express or Megabus?

Curious to know other peoples preferences

RailUK Forums

1E05 · 19 Nov 2013

I feel I get more value for money with Mega Bus but they can sometimes be much later than NatEx. With NatEx they seem to not be bothered with customer service, i feel they would just rather have every bodies money.

starrymarkb · 19 Nov 2013

I've had lateness with both. Personally I prefer Panthers/Elites over Levantes but the local NatEx contractor is all Plaxton so not much difference in vehicles.

pennine · 19 Nov 2013

I've used National Express a few times and they are ok. Megabus, I used when it was launched, but lack of rest stop made me irritable. I did book megabus last year, but it was an old shabby Compass Royston coach with no toilet, so I couldn't really make a fair comparison.

anthony263 · 19 Nov 2013

With National Express they may serve a few other stops in London as well as Victoria coach station where you can get off earlier if you dont want to travel through the heart of London on the coach.

Megabus on the other hand dont seem to offer this, those who have travelled on megabus from Cardiff/Bristol to London will know this although the coaches do pass the stops near Earls Court & Hammersmith which are served by National Express.

These days both tend to use high standard coaches most of which have free wi-fi although other operators vehicles can be hired in or heavn forbids a standard bus/coach can be used if a coach has broken down and a replacement is available at short notice.

I have see a case of a Volvo B10m (Alexander Ps) be used on Megabus services (photos on Flickr) and even an Optare solo has been used to work from Bristol to Cardiff

overthewater · 19 Nov 2013

Plus the E400 used on the Newcastle - London.

notadriver · 19 Nov 2013

I would go for the cheapest fare that you can find for the time you want to travel. That is coach travels strength. Whilst things like wifi and plug charging points are nice, they are not guaranteed.

alwaystouchout · 19 Nov 2013

I've used both and haven't spotted much of a difference.

Megabus is 'no frills' but when you travel by coach you can't really expect much more than a reasonably comfortable seat anyway, although I don't remember the Megabus coach having a toilet which is probably the only palpable difference between them and National Express.

61653 HTAFC · 20 Nov 2013

alwaystouchout said:
I've used both and haven't spotted much of a difference.

Megabus is 'no frills' but when you travel by coach you can't really expect much more than a reasonably comfortable seat anyway, although I don't remember the Megabus coach having a toilet which is probably the only palpable difference between them and National Express.

These days, I'm not sure I'd describe Megabus as any more 'no-frills' than NatEx. I used MegaBus in July from Huddersfield to London and back, and the outward journey (Megabus all the way) had a far nicer coach than I've ever had on National Express. I'm not really up on coach types but it was a double decker with a fairly spacious toilet and free wifi, tables on the lower deck. Coming back was on MegabusPlus (EMT HST from St. Pancras to East Mids Parkway, then change to a coach) and the coaches for this service are generally older and less luxurious- but still with a toilet.

Essentially, as some other posters have pointed out, the main thing with coach travel is getting the cheapest fare- so I'd go with whichever has the best deal. Even use one one way, and the other coming back if that works out cheaper.

notadriver · 20 Nov 2013

Megabus has some very nice newer vehicles only a year old. I'm not sure if the extra length translates into extra legroom I suspect not. By comparison an HST is 30+ years lol

cdonnigan · 20 Nov 2013

Can I further suggest pricing Grand Central form Eaglescliffe to London may work out cheaper depending on times you want to travel.

pennine · 20 Nov 2013

Cheers for you comments guys! I think there is a split opinion when it comes to coach operators.

rwilson said:
Can I further suggest pricing Grand Central form Eaglescliffe to London may work out cheaper depending on times you want to travel.

I did have a look at Grand Central from Eaglescliffe but the outward has no Advance available, and the AP on the return is £26.05, which is good by railway standards, so would have to get the Off Peak Return at £60.40.

As I have to keep cost to a minimum, I have booked with National Express as the times were suitable, and there are more departures spread out throughout the day from Middlesbrough compared to Megabus. Not a bad deal considering my outward is next Friday (29th) returning Saturday evening (on the overnight coach), total cost £27.00 return with insurance!

I just need to make sure I pop to the Pound shop and get a travel pillow lol!

starrymarkb · 21 Nov 2013

Megabus have made a short comfort stop when I've used them, it depends on if the coach is running early.

Deerfold · 21 Nov 2013

pennine said:
Not a bad deal considering my outward is next Friday (29th) returning Saturday evening (on the overnight coach), total cost £27.00 return with insurance!

Any particular reason for getting the insurance?

I've only ever bought it once my accident as they include it automatically until you deselect it.

pennine · 21 Nov 2013

Deerfold said:
Any particular reason for getting the insurance?

I've only ever bought it once my accident as they include it automatically until you deselect it.

For a quid its better to have it than not to have it in my opinion

orpine · 21 Nov 2013

My trips in the last 18 months on NX and Megabus have leaned toward NX for better journey quality. They have announcements saying where you are etc, they have the obligatory safety announcement too, and I like their buses more. Also feels like you get more leg room on the NX. NX also run more buses in general and have a more "integrated" network.

Looks like maybe Megabus have new buses though based on this thread, so I'll consider them for my next journey. The downside with Megabus is they start and end their journeys at absurd times; if you're not in the start/end city as part of your journey, you're stranded for hours. I.e. Birmingham to Glasgow leaves at 2am. The return journeys get you into Birmingham at 3am!
(though there does now seem to be a daytime journey too).
Megabus Gold seems new and shiny, but I'm not keen on leather seats.

Megabus have better customer service; NX fobs you off and seem very corporate, but Megabus have been willing to offer refunds without my even asking for them for things I've brought up.

pennine said:
For a quid its better to have it than not to have it in my opinion

I think that's what they're counting on.

Deerfold · 22 Nov 2013

pennine said:
For a quid its better to have it than not to have it in my opinion

It's a large percentage of travel costs and what I don't understand is what you get from it?

NX will have liability insurance in case of a crash.

Does it cover missing a coach? Even if it does, it's a high premium.

orpine · 23 Nov 2013

Deerfold said:
It's a large percentage of travel costs and what I don't understand is what you get from it?

NX will have liability insurance in case of a crash.

Does it cover missing a coach? Even if it does, it's a high premium.

After reading his post, I went and looked into it - it covers pretty much nothing - http://railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=92889

Middlesbrough to London by coach

pennine

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1E05

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starrymarkb

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pennine

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anthony263

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overthewater

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notadriver

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61653 HTAFC

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