Flix Bus in the UK - what to expect

[WesternLancer]

Hi all - pretty confident I can rely on the knowledge of people here for some reliable views on the following!

Family friend of mine is coming to the UK for a 6 month student study exchange with a British University - and tells me they have booked a ticket for a Flixbus from London Victoria Coach station to Bristol.

Being a committed rail user I have to say I've never used a long distance coach service in the UK (which is fairly remarkable now I think about it...)

So it occurs to me to ask for some basic info

eg
- what to expect ref the coach / comfort / facilities etc
- what to expect ref standard of service
- what to expect ref scheduled timekeeping
- what to expect ref reliability (i.e. do they get cancelled / not run, if so what do you do as a passenger expecting to be able to make your journey, do they have replacement coaches for that scenario etc

It's just the basics I was thinking of, but of course any other insights from people in here worth bearing in mind would be great to know.

Many thanks in advance

 

[lnerazuma]

It does the job in a tiny fraction of the train price, for off peak hour when there is less traffic heading out to M4 the journey time is quite competitive given that it could drop you off directly at UWE. Seating for NX coach would be comfier than the iron board, not much idea for flix one though.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It does the job in a tiny fraction of the train price, for off peak hour when there is less traffic heading out to M4 the journey time is quite competitive given that it could drop you off directly at UWE. Seating for NX coach would be comfier than the iron board, not much idea for flix one though.

Flix varies massively on comfort, it is operated by small coach company contractors who use the coaches they choose (within constraints, but these appear looser than those Nat Ex applies). There is a recommended spec for new coach companies joining the fold, I believe, but it isn't overall that consistent.

Someone here may well be a regular on that route and be able to comment on who operates it and what they use.

 

[WesternLancer]

Many thanks to both @Bletchleyite and @lnerazuma for those helpful bits of info - much appreciated

 

[route101]

I have had no big problems with Flixbus, one cancelled service with warning and transfer to another service and change. In terms of comfort the Volvos have the best seats but the Yutongs seem to have less legroom.

 

[WesternLancer]

I have had no big problems with Flixbus, one cancelled service with warning and transfer to another service and change. In terms of comfort the Volvos have the best seats but the Yutongs seem to have less legroom.

Thanks for that! - when you say transfer to another service do you mean they just told you to get a coach to another destination and change coach en route to get to your intended destination? (sorry for a daft question - I have no clue on how coach travel works beyond how I imagine it might work!)

 

[route101]

Thanks for that! - when you say transfer to another service do you mean they just told you to get a coach to another destination and change coach en route to get to your intended destination? (sorry for a daft question - I have no clue on how coach travel works beyond how I imagine it might work!)

I was in Inverness and my service to Glasgow was cancelled. I received a message to book onto the service to Edinburgh and change at Perth to another service to Glasgow.

 

[WesternLancer]

I was in Inverness and my service to Glasgow was cancelled. I received a message to book onto the service to Edinburgh and change at Perth to another service to Glasgow.

Thanks. Kind of what I guessed. Appreciate the info.

 

[londonteacher]

I travel with FlixBus all of the time (at least four times a month) on both international and domestic journeys. Hit and miss in terms of comfort but time keeping on the UK routes from my experience is quite good - no more than the usual delays to NX. Reliability on the Bristol route is quite good as this is one of their core routes.

 

[WesternLancer]

I travel with FlixBus all of the time (at least four times a month) on both international and domestic journeys. Hit and miss in terms of comfort but time keeping on the UK routes from my experience is quite good - no more than the usual delays to NX. Reliability on the Bristol route is quite good as this is one of their core routes.

Thanks. V helpful info.