About National Express
National Express is a top-tier transport company serving customers in the UK and Ireland. They accomplish this by making use of their world-class coaches which meet an industrial standard of comfort for coaches and are equipped with WiFi.
National Express is very committed to passenger security onboard. They ensure this by employing very robust onboard security systems including speed monitoring, CCTV, and Advanced Emergency Braking (AEB) to name a few.
As you can clearly see, National Express prioritises going beyond the conventional to provide the best value for customers. Combining all this with their cheap national express tickets, you should consider making National Express your go-to option for coach travel.
Why choose the National Express?
National Express is one of the leading coach and long-distance bus company in the UK that provides the cheapest bus tickets to its customer’s and making a travelling experience more comfortable and affordable. National Express prioritises customer safety and convenience. It offers a broad choice of benefits to their customers such as: -
Timetable Finder - Finding the timetable for all National Express bus routes with just one click is among the simplest and most convenient options. You just enter your travel destinations, where you want to go, and when you want to use the service. And you'll receive the greatest bus schedule and the lowest bus ticket at your fingertips.
Coach Tracker – It is an innovative feature that allows customers to track their bus routes at real-time. It tracks the information through the tracker which collects the details from satellite on real time basis and show the coach position with the help of colour coding and allows to track any delays or disruptions in the journey process.
No Booking Fees – National Express coaches offers no booking fees when customer’s use their MY ACCOUNT feature during their bus tickets reservation. It saves a lot of money for the travellers which allows them to reserve their favourite seats in advance at the cheapest price.
'Excellent' Rating – National Express always takes care of their customer’s as they always shown their love by giving 5- star ratings. With over 32,000 satisfied customers it has emerged as one of the leading and affordable bus operating company around the United Kingdom.
Guaranteed Seat – National Express offers a guaranteed and comfortable seat which make a customer’s feels more delight and relaxed. Buying a National Express coaches is a great value offer.
Coach Cards – With National Coach Cards travellers can save up to 1/3rd of their Standard and Fully Flexible coach fares. It helps the travellers to travel at the cheapest price. There are various coach cards available like young person, seniors and disable coach cards.
Go Greener - National Express always committed to go greener and is one of the greenest public transportations that allows the eco- friendly and emissions free travel.
Popular Destinations of National Express:
Where can you go with National Express coaches? Well, as part of the company's commitment to being number one in the UK, their coaches travel to almost every destination in the UK including airports! Here are some of the more popular destinations:
London:
The National Express has a host of coaches that move in, out of, and within London from various other cities. Transit time, as ever, depends on where you stay in addition to your takeoff stop and can be as little as 2 hours from Oxford or as much as 12 from Glasgow. National Express coaches to London run at various times in the day so be sure to confirm your date and time using the National Express coach timetable.
Birmingham:
If You are interested in travelling to Birmingham, look no further than National Express coaches for your transit. It's sure to be a breeze with their coaches designed for comfort, convenience, and security. If you stay in London, you can get to Birmingham in 3 hours depending on what stops you takeoff from and exit.
Bristol:
Bristol city, which is located southwest of England is a top destination for people across the UK. If you hop on a National Express coach from Birmingham, you can reach Bristol in approximately 2 hours. With extremely cheap national express tickets, you can visit Bristol easily today.
Brighton:
This is a city all the way down south of the UK, yet still within the radius of National Express coaches and it can be quite affordable to get there as well. Be sure to confirm the time it will take to go from your takeoff point to Brighton when you would like to travel.
Leeds:
Leeds is a popular destination for people travelling on National Express coaches. The main stations and stops in Leeds are the Leeds coach station, Leeds Bradford Airport, and the University of Leeds. Make sure to confirm which is closest to your final destination.
Manchester:
Manchester is quite a fascinating destination for a lot of people having the Manchester museum as well as Old Trafford and the Etihad stadium. Some of the popular stops at this destination include The Manchester Coach Station at Chorlton Street, the Manchester Airport, and New Moston.
Liverpool:
Liverpool is a famous city in the UK. National Express provides several options to travel here and lots of travellers do so every day with National Express coaches tickets. You might want to know about these popular stops in Liverpool: Liverpool One Bus Station, Canning Place, University of Liverpool, Brownlow Hill and Liverpool, Edge Lane.
Sheffield:
Another Interesting destination here amongst National Express travellers is Sheffield. If you were already considering travelling here, you might consider using a National Express coach as it is a really comfortable, secure, and affordable option.
Nottingham:
The city of Nottingham, located in England’s central Midlands region is a great choice to travel using National Express coaches. Some popular stops here are the Nottingham Broad Marsh Bus Station, University of Nottingham, Nottingham (North / Sherwood), and Nottingham Trent University, Clifton
Leicester:
Leicester can be reached by National Express coaches several times during the day and at several stops. A popular stop station here is Leicester, St Margaret’s Bus Station and another is Leicester Braunstone. Be sure to confirm which is closest to your final destination.
Oxford:
The city of Oxford is a prestigious city which is partly famous for the University of Oxford present within. It is often travelled using National Express coaches tickets and your stop here might include one of the following: Oxford Bus Station, Gloucester Green, Oxford (Sandhills) and Oxford (Thornhill Park and Ride).
Coventry:
In central England is the ancient city of Coventry. Travel here using national express coaches might take you to one of two stops. The first is the Coventry Pool Meadow Bus Station and the second is the University of Warwick. If you are indeed travelling here, be sure to confirm what stop is closest to your eventual destination.
Popular Routes of National Express:
Here are some popular routes between cities in the UK including London, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester, Southampton to name a few.
London to Liverpool:
The length of this trip will depend largely on what station in London you begin your journey and what station in Liverpool you drop off. Regardless, you can expect this to take you at least 5 hours. Be sure to book sufficiently in advance for National Express cheap tickets.
London to Manchester:
Travelling to Manchester by coach from London takes a fair bit of time. You can expect to spend perhaps around 5 or more hours on the road. With the comfort of National Express coaches, however, this can go by in a breeze.
London to Edinburgh:
Expect cheap national express tickets when you book in advance as well as a smooth ride on this journey from London to Edinburgh which lasts upwards of 10 hours at the very least. This is definitely on the longer side however it is fairly comfortable and if you enjoy the scenic landscape, it can go by fairly quickly.
Coventry to London:
There are quite a few travellers who use National Express coaches to London from the city of Coventry. It is a trip that can take up to 2 hours to complete depending on what station you stop at in London.
London to Southampton:
Another popular journey Londoners often take with National Express coaches is from London to Southampton. They often make this trip in about 2 hours and 30 minutes as always depending on the starting and drop off stations. Book sufficiently in advance for National Express cheap tickets.
London to Birmingham:
Travel easily to Birmingham from London using National Express coaches. This is fairly simple as you just need to book a coach journey and board the coach. In about 3 hours you should've reached your destination.
Glasgow to Edinburgh:
Join hundreds of others travelling to Edinburgh via National Express coaches. If travelling from Glasgow, you can expect to complete this journey in about 1 hour and 10 minutes depending on what station you might stop at. The cheapest National Express tickets for this journey are available if one books far enough in advance.
London to Nottingham:
Nottingham to the North west of London can be reached in approximately 3 hours using National Express coaches. If this is your route, be sure to book sufficiently in advance for the best national express cheap tickets.
London to Bath:
If you happen to be among those travelling to Bath from London, with National Express you can expect to make this journey between 3 to 4 hours or more. This depends largely on your pick-up and drop-off stations as well as the number of stops the coach makes in between.
Services and Onboard Experience:
Luggage allowance:
Every passenger is entitled to a luggage allowance of up to 20kg on a large suitcase (this can also be two medium-sized suitcases) and 10kg max on one soft hand luggage. It is possible to add extra luggage on your trip but this will need to be paid for and it is only available on UK journeys. This should be sorted when booking your National Express tickets.
Complementary WiFi and charging:
National Express does indeed go above and beyond to include utilities that customers can take advantage of. These include WiFi and charging stations for all coaches. For the charging stations, newer coaches come with USB A ports and where this is unavailable, there is provided a 3-pin plug socket located between the seats. With these, you can entertain yourself on the journey when you aren't enjoying the scenic landscapes.
Reclining Leather seats:
All National Express coaches are fitted with reclining leather chairs with armrests and a tray table on the rear with a cup holder and a smartphone stand. These provide optimal comfort and speak to National Express's commitment to providing a great customer experience.
Toilets:
Located at the rear of every National Express coach is a toilet which you can use whenever you feel the need. This increases convenience and prevents the need for unnecessary stops which can slow down the journey.
Safety systems:
In the department of physical safety measures employed by coaches, there truly aren’t any out there like National Express. They employ a host of robust safety systems on board to ensure as much as possible the safety of passengers. Some of these include: A system that prevents the engine from starting till the driver passes a breathalyser test called Alco-Lock, CCTV cameras, Speed monitoring which allows National Express to monitor the driver's speed and punctuality to ensure decorum of each coach, and Advanced emergency braking which is a system that uses a camera and radar to monitor what happens in front of the vehicle and gives substantial avoidance warning to the driver.
There are still more of these not mentioned that make the system as robust as possible.
Ticketing Options and Pricing:
National Express has three main options for kinds of tickets and in addition to these it also has season tickets. Furthermore, National Express sells coachards to customers to give discounted prices. Read ahead for further information.
1. Standard Tickets:
Standard National Express tickets are the basic ticket option. It is suitable for most passengers and with this, you can use a Coachcard and also, at a fee, amend your journey should you wish to travel on a different date. You cannot however cancel your journey with this. This is the standard option and more expensive than a restricted ticket but less so than a flexible National Express ticket.
2. Advance Ticket:
Generally, you are able to get the best prices on National Express tickets when you book sufficiently in advance of your trip. While it is usually possible to book National Express coaches up to 4 months in advance. according to the National Express, occasional schedule adjustments might limit booking availability for certain routes.
3. Coachcards:
This is a card that can be purchased for £18 total (£15 for the card and £3 for shipping) which gives seniors up to 1/3 off National Express coach tickets for a year. It covers hundreds of towns, cities, and airports across the UK but doesn't cover restricted National Express bus tickets (which are usually the cheapest National Express tickets). Kindly look at National Express's terms and conditions for more information.
This is a card that can be purchased for £18 total (£15 for the card and £3 for shipping) which gives young people between the ages of 16 -26 (or full-time students) up to 1/3 off National Express coach tickets for a year on all standard and flexible fares. Kindly look at the National Express's terms and conditions for more information.
4. Multiple Season Ticket:
Season National Express tickets are a very convenient way to save money on trips that you might make very often. It might be a commute such as work or school. A National Express season ticket, when purchased, gives an unlimited number of travels in either direction of your daily commute. You can choose the duration on your National Express season ticket of a month to a year. Purchase this and start travelling.
5. Flexible Fares:
Perhaps your travel plans aren't fully certain but you would still like to book a National Express ticket if you find you would like to go? Flexible fares give you the option to do this and cancel with a refund if you find that you no longer need or wish to travel. This is usually more expensive than the standard option.
National Express Coach Tracker:
The National Express Coach Tracker is a very convenient way to track the status of your journey in real-time from your mobile device. This is done from the National Express website. Once you enter the relevant details, you can see your coach's stops, the associated times as well as alerts about potential disruptions. Some of this can be viewed on a map as well. It's a really convenient way to stay up to date on your trip.
National Express Luggage Policy:
With standard booking, you are allowed to carry a large suitcase (or two medium-sized ones) of up to 20kg and a soft hand luggage of up to 10kg. There is an option to pay for extra at booking. There are restricted items however, some of which include weapons and drugs as well as items with an offensive odor. Furthermore, pushchairs can be carried free of charge in addition to the regular luggage allowance.
National Express NX Reward:
NX rewards is a National Express platform to shop from some of your favourite stores and brands. When you do so on this platform, you are guaranteed to receive a cashback which according to National Express is a minimum of 10%. Signing up gives you a 30-day period to try it out for free after which the service costs £15. There is a cashback reward when you join the platform as well as a monthly bonus cashback. Furthermore, you can potentially Save up to 20% off Gift Cards on certain brands. If you enjoy receiving cashback when you shop then you can check out this service.
How to Book Cheap National Express Tickets with Us?
- On the top ribbon of our website, navigate to Bus providers
- Select National Express on the dropdown menu
- Scroll down and click 'Get deal'
- Under Choose your Journey, select Travel from
- Enter the station you would like to travel from
- Enter the station you would like to travel to
- Select the proposed date of travel
- Select the number of passengers
- Click Find Your Journey