The festive period is one of the busiest times of the year for travellers, with millions of people setting off to see friends and family. Because of this, you need to know when is best to travel and when is best to avoid travelling.
Many students choose to travel by coach (it is the cheapest option after all). With the help of National Express, and student favourite Megabus, we’ve put together everything you need to know about coach travel over Christmas.
We’ll make sure you know what to look out for, when to avoid travelling and details of any major works, to make sure you make it home for Christmas on time!
The basics
Unlike train travel, coach travel is largely unaffected by planned disruption or engineering works, there is not normally any major road closures that are likely to affect coach travel.
Happily, both National Express and Megabus say that they are running extensive services over the Christmas and New Year Period. Both services are even running on Christmas Day too! Whilst this may be great if you REALLY need to get somewhere or you don’t really celebrate Christmas, bear in mind that these will be limited services.
You’re likely to find that tickets either sell out or cost significantly more than they do normally. Bear this in mind and book as early as you can if you know you’ll be travelling on Christmas Day.
Planned delays and works
Whilst both operators are not reporting any delays or planned works, there are plenty of planned works on the railway network over the festive period. This means that there are likely to be more people vying for a seat on a coach service, rather than having to put up with a rail replacement bus. Again, this will likely lead to increased demand, higher ticket prices and less seat availability.
The best thing to do is to book early in order to avoid disappointment. National Express has a handy webpage detailing which of their services they think will be affected by rail disruption this festive period.
Be sure to plan ahead
Whilst we’ve listed some of the key things to bear in mind when travelling by coach, I would still recommend checking the website of the coach company you are travelling with to make sure you’re not delayed this festive period. Both National Express and Megabus’ websites are the best places to keep up to date with any last-minute delays or changes.
Above all, remember to plan ahead and keep up to date with any delays or changes to make sure you have a safe and stress-free journey this Christmas!
These are some ideas for coach travel over Christmas
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