Best value unsubsidised day (bus) tickets

[railwaytrack]

I am not talking about tickets offered by a PTE or London transport, a am talking about purely commercial tickets, I wondered what is the best value.

I think the best I have come across is the Kday offered by Transdev, £5.00 for all day or £4.50 if starting after 9.30am.

this covers all Transdev services in and around Leeds, Bradford, Hebden Bridge, Haworth , Oakworth, Colne, (though only the Keighley service), Barnoldswick, (only in the Skipton direction),Skipton, Grassington, Ilkley, Otley and many other places worth a visit, I think this takes some beating, though I would be interested to know of any more exceptional value ones.

As others have said the Stagecoach North West Explorer for £12.00 which lets you go all the way from Wrexham to Dumfries and Newcastle has got to win first place.

Another very good value one is the Arriva The Shires Day Saver for £7.90 which lets you go from Chelmsford and Colchester to Reading and Northampton and Oxford so that is also very good value.

 

[Deerfold]

Another very good value one is the Arriva The Shires Day Saver for £7.90 which lets you go from Chelmsford and Colchester to Reading and Northampton and Oxford so that is also very good value.

Or for £9 you can get the Intalink Explorer, also valid on almost every bus in Hertfordshire and some outside (including Carousel).

 

[Statto]

Or for £9 you can get the Interlink Explorer, also valid on almost every bus in Hertfordshire and some outside (including Carousel).

Is that ticket subsidised by Hertfordshire County Council?

That Arriva day ticket is still better value though, allows travel on Arriva to areas not covered by the Intalink explorer.

 

[danielcanning]

Is that ticket subsidised by Hertfordshire County Council?

That Arriva day ticket is still better value though, allows travel on Arriva to areas not covered by the Intalink explorer.

The Intalink Explorer is valid everywhere where the Arriva day saver is.

 

[Deerfold]

Is that ticket subsidised by Hertfordshire County Council?

That Arriva day ticket is still better value though, allows travel on Arriva to areas not covered by the Intalink explorer.

It isn't. It is promoted by them. It started out as an Arriva ticket. Intalink acted as an intermediary to have it accepted throughout Hertfordshire. It is a contractual requirement for all Hertfordshire subsidised services to accept it. Most other services do, too. Some others companies accept and issue it outside Hertfordshire too, notably Carousel.

At some point Arriva decided they wanted a bigger share of fares and introduced their own new ticket with the same area of validity but only accepted by them.

I used the word 'also' to indicate the Explorer included all the routes the Arriva ticket did.

 

[Red Onion]

The Stagecoach East Scotland DayRider is £9 and covers the entire East Scotland network from Aberdeen all the way down to Edinburgh and Glasgow, it also includes the Stagecoach Bluebird Service 727 to Aberdeen Airport.

Can you purchase that up in Aberdeen? Seems a particularly good value ticket!

Edit - seems you can, advertised when I planned a journey. Far cheaper than anything else on offer for a journey I looked at.

 

[NorthOxonian]

Edit - seems you can, advertised when I planned a journey. Far cheaper than anything else on offer for a journey I looked at.

On quite a few journeys it's actually cheaper than the single fare! Perth to Aberdeen and Kinross to Edinburgh are both listed as costing £10 single in the Stagecoach planner.

Before last year the East Scotland dayrider was £16 - I suspect the huge price drop was partly because Stagecoach abolished a lot of their zones in the area meaning that even short journeys like Leven to St Andrews or Alloa to Dunfermline were now only covered by a network-wide ticket.

 

[Statto]

The Intalink Explorer is valid everywhere where the Arriva day saver is.

Is the Intalink Explorer valid to Oxford, High Wycombe, Reading, Milton Keynes & Southend then, like the Arriva all zones day ticket is?

 

[railwaytrack]

Is the Intalink Explorer valid to Oxford, High Wycombe, Reading, Milton Keynes & Southend then, like the Arriva all zones day ticket is?

Yes the Intalink Explorer gives unlimited travel on the entire Arriva The Shires network including, Aylesbury, Chelmsford, Colchester, Harlow, High Wycombe, Milton Keynes, Luton, Northampton, Oxford, Reading, Stansted, Watford, and many other places.

It is NOT valid on the Southend network of Arriva though so that is the only part of Arriva in Essex that you can not use it on. Also it is not valid on the 755 and 757 coaches. But you can use it on the rest of their network.

Also the All Zones Day Ticket is NOT valid on their Southend network either. As their Southend network is considered as completely separate to their Arriva The Shires network. Also their Southend network is not connected to the rest of their network.

It is also valid on the entire networks of, Go Ahead Carousel Buses, Red Eagle Buses, Red Line Buses, Red Rose Buses, Uno Bus, who all cover large areas outside of Hertfordshire so you can get quite far on it.

There are a few other bus operators that accept it too. It is a very good value ticket. There is a weekly version as well as a day ticket.

 

[Typhoon]

Is the Intalink Explorer valid to Oxford, High Wycombe, Reading, Milton Keynes & Southend then, like the Arriva all zones day ticket is?

Validity shown on https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/images.intalink.org.uk/downloads/Explorer_Zone_Map_WEB.pdf

The Intalink Explorer ticket offers a day’s unlimited travel on the Hertfordshire bus network and to certain points beyond for groups of up to four people. The range covered by an Intalink Explorer ticket is shown as the yellow shaded area on the map below. A reduced price ticket is available for one person, and discounted prices are available to holders of Concessionary Passes and Hertfordshire Savercards. Intalink Explorer tickets for one person can be bought for just one day or for a whole week.

Thank you @railwaytrack, you've saved me going into depth. This Explorer seems impressive to me.

 

[Ken H]

The Transdev day tripper is very good value for £10. Leeds, Keighley, Burnley, Blackburn, Manchester, Harrogate, Skipton.

It used to be even better when you could use it to York.

You can if you go via Ripon.

 

[railwaytrack]

Validity shown on https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/images.intalink.org.uk/downloads/Explorer_Zone_Map_WEB.pdf


Thank you @railwaytrack, you've saved me going into depth. This Explorer seems impressive to me.

No worries. Also note that map is not entirely correct. You can get further than what is shown. As it is possible to reach, Bicester, Brackley, Colchester, Northampton, Stansted, etc, using the Intalink Explorer but that map does not show that those places covered.

Also be advised that the Intalink website is not very accurate. For example Star Travel and Vale Travel are shown as issuing and accepting the Intalink Explorer but this is completely incorrect. Neither company issues or accepts these tickets. Also i do not think the 508 509 510 724 exceptions apply any more as i have successfully boarded these buses at both Heathrow Airport and Stansted Airport and purchased an Intalink Explorer from the driver within the past year.

Yes the Intalink Explorer is certainly a very impressive ticket. It covers a massive area. It is very good value for the area that it covers. I have used it many times.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Can you purchase that up in Aberdeen? Seems a particularly good value ticket!

Edit - seems you can, advertised when I planned a journey. Far cheaper than anything else on offer for a journey I looked at.

Yes, you can purchase it on the 59 and 727.

 

[Deerfold]

No worries. Also note that map is not entirely correct. You can get further than what is shown. As it is possible to reach, Bicester, Brackley, Colchester, Northampton, Stansted, etc, using the Intalink Explorer but that map does not show that those places covered.

Also be advised that the Intalink website is not very accurate. For example Star Travel and Vale Travel are shown as issuing and accepting the Intalink Explorer but this is completely incorrect. Neither company issues or accepts these tickets. Also i do not think the 508 509 510 724 exceptions apply any more as i have successfully boarded these buses at both Heathrow Airport and Stansted Airport and purchased an Intalink Explorer from the driver within the past year.

Yes the Intalink Explorer is certainly a very impressive ticket. It covers a massive area. It is very good value for the area that it covers. I have used it many times.

The 724 Intalink timetable, issued August 2021, lists the Explorer as valid between Harlow and Maple Cross.

https://passenger-line-assets.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/intalink/service/ec0597df-e2ad-429e-a5cb-047edabd9c4e-timetable-20211110-1e223ef0.pdf

Both services are excluded on the Intalink website:

Intalink Explorer and BUSnet

Intalink Explorer and BUSNet tickets now replaced by Intalink Connect

www.intalink.org.uk

Note Intalink Explorer is not valid for travel on:

...

Arriva Services 508.509.510 between Bishop’s Stortford and Stansted Airport
Green Line Service 724 between Maple Cross and Heathrow Airport

 

[PG]

Yes, you can purchase it on the 59 and 727.

Are those the only services you can buy it on, or will other Stagecoach buses sell it either within or out with the city boundary?

 

[Jordan Adam]

Are those the only services you can buy it on, or will other Stagecoach buses sell it either within or out with the city boundary?

Within Stagecoach Bluebird you can buy it on the 59, 107 and 727. Of course you can buy it on all Stagecoach East Scotland services. The ticket is also valid on the Stagecoach West Scotland X19 to QEUH.

 

[sonic2009]

No chance of beating Stagecoach's North West Explorer. £12. Valid from Newcastle or Dumfries to Carlisle, and then through Cumbria, the Lakes, Lancashire (not Greater Manchester East of Wigan/Bolton), Merseyside and Cheshire. Newcastle to Chester for twelve quid.

Is Chester to Newcastle doable in one day though?

 

[Tetchytyke]

Is Chester to Newcastle doable in one day though?

It's doable, Traveline reckons a journey time of about 14 hours.
Whether you'd want to...

 

[Statto]

It's doable, Traveline reckons a journey time of about 14 hours.
Whether you'd want to...

Best time to do such a trip is mid Summer when Stagecoach have extra 555s ( they really should be numbered X55 ) which run via the M6 from Lancaster to Kendal, & take 30 minutes off the normal journey time, as a lot of the journey times are quite long, like Preston to Lancaster on the 40, 41, takes up to 90 minutes now, & most of the routes take anything from 90 minutes to 3 hours.

 

[sonic2009]

Best time to do such a trip is mid Summer when Stagecoach have extra 555s ( they really should be numbered X55 ) which run via the M6 from Lancaster to Kendal, & take 30 minutes off the normal journey time, as a lot of the journey times are quite long, like Preston to Lancaster on the 40, 41, takes up to 90 minutes now, & most of the routes take anything from 90 minutes to 3 hours.

Does the X8 still run on Saturdays?

I thought the £5.70 Day+ ticket I used last week for Midland Classic was good value which covers the full network except routes X11 and 20.

Becomes even better from the 11th April. £5.70 covers you on Chaserider and Select bus services as far as Stafford/Walsall/Wolverhampton.

https://www.chaserider.co.uk/assets/chaserider-fares-from-11-april-2022.pdf

 

[Statto]

X8 Chorley - Keswick, has just restarted for the spring, summer period, North West explorer tickets are valid on the route, but ENCTS passes aren't valid