(Speculation) Will Flixbus enter the UK domestic market at any point?

[Bletchleyite]

Must admit I have wondered...Flixbus's growth seems unstoppable, will they perhaps at some point make a move into the UK, either by purchasing either Megabus or NatEx, or on their own? Or will Brexit put them off?

 

[Quakkerillo]

They've bought Megabus' operations on mainland Europe, and Megabus worked as a contractor with their own buses for quite a while on these routes (like London - Cologne, Frankfurt - Berlin), although now it's running as a regular "815" instead of "ME04" which was used before. If you go to https://www.megabus.com the "Europe" section links you through to Flixbus. So they're already marketing it as theirs, even though it's a different operatore.

I think that unless Megabus will start to become too difficult to manage / barely making a profit anymore, stagecoach won't really see that much of a reason to sell. They mostly sold the European parts as it was much more difficult to manage being an upcoming market for them, and with so many operators starting, many of them disappearing like City2City. But I personally don't really see that happening very soon, also because the Megabus brand is quite a strong, and well-established brand on the Isles.

 

[radamfi]

Route 1920 runs from Liverpool to Bucharest, taking two days.

https://meinfernbus.de/unser-angebot/linien/1920.html

There are frequent stops in England, not all shown in the main timetable. Manchester Chorlton Street, Keele services, Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Coventry, Northampton services, Newport Pangell, Toddington services, London Gateway services, Wembley Park, Edmonton, Victoria Coach station, Barking, Maidstone, Folkestone and Dover.

But it appears not to be available for booking for domestic journeys within the UK or countries along the route. There is a very long list of connection pairs where there is no journeys bookable below the timetable. As far as I can tell, only journeys between Romania and other countries are bookable.

 

[Wirewiper]

Stagecoach is largely able to support Megabus through its extensive UK coverage, using its depots around the country. This was one of the reasons they were keen to add a Plymouth operation to Stagecoach South West, which they were able to do by purchasing First's Plymouth operations in September 2015. Prior to this there was a lot of dead-running to and from Exeter.

 

[Deerfold]

But it appears not to be available for booking for domestic journeys within the UK or countries along the route. There is a very long list of connection pairs where there is no journeys bookable below the timetable. As far as I can tell, only journeys between Romania and other countries are bookable.

It seems happy with Manchester to Lille.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Stagecoach will sell anything if the price is right. So if Flixbus come in with a silly offer I'm sure they'd get Megabus.

As for NatEx, really you'd have to buy the whole of NEG, as without the coaching division they'd have nowt left.

 

[F Great Eastern]

Flixbus are now joining forces with PolskiBus in Poland, in a move that will see Polskibus brand merged into Flixbus before disappearing totally.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Flixbus are now joining forces with PolskiBus in Poland, in a move that will see Polskibus brand merged into Flixbus before disappearing totally.

Souter cashing in his pension?

 

[Bald Rick]

Route 1920 runs from Liverpool to Bucharest, taking two days.

https://meinfernbus.de/unser-angebot/linien/1920.html

There are frequent stops in England, not all shown in the main timetable. Manchester Chorlton Street, Keele services, Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Coventry, Northampton services, Newport Pangell, Toddington services, London Gateway services, Wembley Park, Edmonton, Victoria Coach station, Barking, Maidstone, Folkestone and Dover.

But it appears not to be available for booking for domestic journeys within the UK or countries along the route. There is a very long list of connection pairs where there is no journeys bookable below the timetable. As far as I can tell, only journeys between Romania and other countries are bookable.

Do people really use that? It appears to cost £72. You can fly for £20!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Do people really use that? It appears to cost £72. You can fly for £20!

One thing I find odd about Flix is that they barely seem to do any yield management - the prices are not very (if at all) variable. The polar opposite of the Megabus model.

 

[radamfi]

Do people really use that? It appears to cost £72. You can fly for £20!

However, flying is a lot more expensive at short notice. Cheap flights also charge for taking large items of luggage. Flixbus are probably going for the last minute travellers priced off the plane.

 

[Bald Rick]

However, flying is a lot more expensive at short notice. Cheap flights also charge for taking large items of luggage. Flixbus are probably going for the last minute travellers priced off the plane.

Depends on how short notice. Obviously this is not the time of year to do short notice air bookings, but you can go with Wizz next week for £80 and in 2 weeks for £18.

And even if you are a last minute traveller, you can travel 2 days later by air and still be home quicker!

 

[padbus]

National Express have sent me an email outlining changes to their European business from next month. The message reads:

"To give our customers greater benefits and convenience, we have decided to withdraw from the Eurolines organisation. Rest assured, you will still be able to enjoy the same amazingly affordable fares to all major European destinations through National Express.
Continue to enjoy all your favourite destinations like Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and 100s more. All that is changing is when you book online, you book through the National Express website rather than the Eurolines website. Simple!
So, from 11 January 2018 all bookings for European travel will need to be made via nationalexpress.com
If you need to book return travel from Europe before then please visit ouibus.com
We have partnered with Ouibus, one of Europe's biggest coach operators. This means you can now travel to even more destinations across Europe, with many more fast and convenient connections possible than before."