Missing return coach

[mbarr]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone had experience of this. I have booked a 9am national express coach back from the site to Manchester on the Monday. Got the coach back most years so far and never missed it, but just wondering if anyone knew what happens if you miss your return coach? Are they usually able to fit you in later? Do you need to pay for a new ticket?

It usually seems like a bit of a free for all getting on the coaches and obviously national express are under no obligation to honour anything if I miss my coach. No intentions of missing it but just wondered if anyone knew what usually happen?

[dixietheduck]

I have the same question, but about the See coaches

[fur_q]

Don't know about Manchester but the London NE just run on a fist come first served basis, you get in a queue and get on a coach when it's your turn no matter what time coach you've booked.

[dixietheduck]

Don't know about Manchester but the London NE just run on a fist come first served basis, you get in a queue and get on a coach when it's your turn no matter what time coach you've booked.

[SKYY]

I've taken NX six times to Heathrow and did they do check tickets ...

Whether they only 'look' at the ticket and see a ticket

or see a Glasto to Heathrow ticket

I'm sure they don't read every word of it, and they have never scanned

[SKYY]

Dixie - if you're on a See coach ....

There will be people who were forced to buy the coach package

they will use the outbound, but not the in bound

If you miss your early one, I'm sure you will get on a later on

[stardustjunkie]

Don't know about Manchester but the London NE just run on a fist come first served basis, you get in a queue and get on a coach when it's your turn no matter what time coach you've booked.

[ChewieDC]

I hope this isn't true. I've got a London NE coach booked for a certain time, and it gets in with a couple of hours to spare to then get the coach I need to get home afterwards (costs about a third of the price of a train and means I don't have to worry about lugging my stuff around).

I don't want to turn up to my booked coach and not get on it because someone else has got on, and get stuck at the back of a queue which could potentially mean I miss my only chance to get a coach home.

I need to call NE about something else so I might ask about this.

[stardustjunkie]

I wouldn't worry. Last year they checked time. You have to be a little proactive and say NE person you have a ticket for like 10.30 AM and they will get you on that bus if you are not late.

[midnight]

I went by NE to nearly every festival between '98 and '11, always from London.

Now London/Heathrow may be a special case because there are more busses coming and going, and they rarely manage to clear the backlog before afternoon.

There's always a long and messy queue. If you are not far out (say up to an hour), I'd recommend to plead that you have been there for a long time, but were too far back in the queue to hear them properly when they called out your bus, or that someone told you to join the wrong queue at first. All these mishaps have actually happened to me, and it wasn't a big problem, they found a space for everyone with a valid ticket eventually. Might increase the waiting time. Not sure what they would say if you were half a day out, though!