Finding a journey which is Coach not Bus

[Donnagreen]

Hello all,

I live near Skegness and my elderly Mother lives in Plymouth.
Last year she came up to see me in a bus.

She would prefer to use a coach this time and have an allocated seat for the entire journey.

If I search on Google for a coach from Plymouth to Skegness most of the links are for national express but I am not sure if it is a bus or coach.


Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Bungle965]

Yes they are coaches.
They use 2 main types of coaches
The Caetano Levante which has either a Volvo or Scania engine

and the Plaxton Elite which has a Volvo engine

Almost all of the fleet have power sockets and air conditioning and leather seats.

Sam

 

[Bletchleyite]

None of the coach companies offer seat allocation, it's just that they won't sell more tickets than there are seats. Selecting them is still a free-for-all.

 

[90019]

The Levante caetano which has either a Volvo or Scania engine

Just to nitpick, it's a Caetano Levante - Salvador Caetano is the manufacturer of the bodywork.

 

[Bungle965]

Just to nitpick, it's a Caetano Levante - Salvador Caetano is the manufacturer of the bodywork.

Oops two sorry edited now.
Sam

 

[Donnagreen]

Thank-you for the replies.

The pictures you posted look like lovely coaches, the bus/coach my Mother caught last July was not so nice, but it was not a National Express.

It stopped after 3 hours for 20 minutes for a comfort break.
Then the next stop was London Victoria Coach/Bus station.
From there it stopped at Boston for 25 minutes for food and drink
Then it stopped twice more to let passengers off.

I have been searching online and all I can find are ones that take 11 hours 50 minutes and stop off at lots of stations.

Ivybridge
Heathrow airport
London Earls Court
London Victoria
London Golders Green
Peterborough
Market Deeping
Spalding
Pinchbeck
Surfleet
Kirton
Boston
Wrangle
Wainfleet
Skegness.

I just want to book the fastest and most comfortable Coach for my Mother without too many stops.

 

[Segedunum]

To be fair, that's not a bad stopping pattern.

Running fast from Ivybridge, then making a couple stops in London which are necessary for onward connections, then fast to Peterborough again followed by a local service to Skegness. All those stops being necessary so you're not running multiple coaches to stop at places like Boston.

For such a distance, that may well be the fastest.

 

[telstarbox]

Also, National Express occasionally have to replace one of their 'own' high quality coaches with a spare from another operator, so the actual vehicle isn't guaranteed.

 

[carlberry]

Hello all,

I live near Skegness and my elderly Mother lives in Plymouth.
Last year she came up to see me in a bus.

She would prefer to use a coach this time and have an allocated seat for the entire journey.

If I search on Google for a coach from Plymouth to Skegness most of the links are for national express but I am not sure if it is a bus or coach.


Any advice would be appreciated.

National Express is a coach, Megabus is the only other coach network and it dosent cover Skegness. Neither have allocated seats and you'd have to change in Birmingham or London to do the journey.

 

[ValleyLines142]

11 hours by coach is incredibly long. Has she not considered the train? Maybe Plymouth to Derby then Derby to Nottingham and Nottingham to Skegness? Admirtedly it's 3 changes but it's a lot faster and you can arrange for assistance at all stations for her

 

[howittpie]

If you do decide coach arrange assistance at London Victoria through National Express. I assume they would meet her in arrivals and look after her during her change of coaches.

 

[Donnagreen]

Thank-you for the replies. My Mother would rather use a Coach than a Train.

I went into Skegness Bus Terminal office yesterday and asked about a return ticket from Plymouth to Skegness with National Express and the helpful man suggested I go to the Post Office in town as they are apparently agents for NE.

There was a huge queue at the Post Office so I will have to go back another day.

Did you know the Post Office were agents for NE?

 

[Marcus Fryer]

Thank-you for the replies. My Mother would rather use a Coach than a Train.

I went into Skegness Bus Terminal office yesterday and asked about a return ticket from Plymouth to Skegness with National Express and the helpful man suggested I go to the Post Office in town as they are apparently agents for NE.

There was a huge queue at the Post Office so I will have to go back another day.

Did you know the Post Office were agents for NE?

I didn't until now, but it says on their website:
'Via an agent - you can buy tickets at most Post Office branches, or from hundreds of high street agents nationally. View a full list of our agents here.'
It also lists 'Stagecoach in Lincolnshire' as an agent in Skegness, so I don't know why you couldn't get one there.
You can also buy a Senior Coachcard (£10) for your mother if she's over 60 and get one-third off, so if the return fare is over £30 you may want to consider that.

 

[radamfi]

Buying tickets in the post office was discussed a year or two ago on here. I tried to book a ticket there but didn't want to pay the £1 booking fee. Some agencies don't charge that fee and you don't pay that fee at a proper National Express ticket office.

 

[padbus]

Or buy your ticket online. No fee if you print your own ticket.

 

[radamfi]

Or buy your ticket online. No fee if you print your own ticket.

Actually, there is a £1 booking fee when booking online. The fee can only be avoided by using a ticket office, ticket machine or certain agencies. There is no way of avoiding the fee when buying an online only ticket.

 

[bradford758]

(the £1 fee also comes in when paying by credit card at an NX counter)

Sent from my 4009X using Tapatalk

 

[radamfi]

(the £1 fee also comes in when paying by credit card at an NX counter)

Is that new? I often buy an 80p ticket from Gatwick ticket office with American Express and only pay 80p in total.

 

[Lrd]

Is that new? I often buy an 80p ticket from Gatwick ticket office with American Express and only pay 80p in total.

I'm 90% sure there are no card fees when buying at a ticket office or machine.

 

[bradford758]

Just got told no fee with debit card but £1 with credit card on a £10 fare.

Sent from my 4009X using Tapatalk

 

[radamfi]

This morning I bought a ticket at Gatwick South ticket office and didn't pay any fee when using American Express. It is quite weird that there is no fee there but when buying the same ticket online there is a £1 booking fee, plus an extra fee should you wish to pay by credit card.