National Express Booking Fee

remorseless

is there a way not to be subjected to the Booking Fee when purchasing a National Express ticket? Can I buy one of their ticket at a desk/office/kiosk?

on a £15 ticket, booking fee is £5. The ride is still cheap, it's more the principle!

Is there a 'rule' in the UK that if the add-ons cannot be avoided, then they should be bundled with the price?

wealdroam

remorseless wrote: »

is there a way not to be subjected to the Booking Fee when purchasing a National Express ticket? Can I buy one of their ticket at a desk/office/kiosk?

on a £15 ticket, booking fee is £5. The ride is still cheap, it's more the principle!

Is there a 'rule' in the UK that if the add-ons cannot be avoided, then they should be bundled with the price?

Where does that £5 come from?

On their website it says:

Booking fees

We charge two different booking fees to cover our different booking methods, and we always try to keep them as low as possible. Our booking charges are:
A £1 booking fee per web transaction, or:
A £2 booking fee per phone booking
These booking fees also cover all standard debit/credit card fees and reservation costs.

They go on to say:

Delivery fees

To mitigate against rising business costs and continue to offer you the best possible fares, we charge a £2 fee for posting your ticket to you.
If you've chosen to have an m-ticket sent to your mobile via text message, we charge a 50 pence delivery fee.

So it looks like booking via the web and printing the email confirmation should cost £1 per transaction.

Also there is no booking fee if you decide to pay the driver, but I understand that may not always be a good idea.

remorseless

it's on their website. London Victoria to Amsterdam. £15+£5 booking fee.
As I said, the fare, even at £20 is still VERY cheap and it is more the principle.

If you cannot avoid the fees, pointless to break them down.
Can I buy from the driver in advance?

tripled

Eurolines (the National Express subsidary for international travel) charges a £/E5 booking fee, which is what they are passing on. I've heard that if you pay the driver you can avoid it, but the fare may well be more expensive or the coach full. Have you looked at megabus to see if they have any cheap fares?

Generali

If you can go from London to Amsterdam for twenty quid I'd simply grab it with both hands.

It'd cost you more than that to park your car in London while you took a jetpack for free to Holland.

wealdroam

Ah... international travel.

Perhaps that snippet of information should've been mentioned in your original post.

remorseless

Generali wrote: »

If you can go from London to Amsterdam for twenty quid I'd simply grab it with both hands.

It'd cost you more than that to park your car in London while you took a jetpack for free to Holland.

yup totally agree - it is very cheap... it's just the principle as said.
In Australia for example, companies are allowed to advertise these fares, etc unless there is a way to avoid the extra bits...
If you cannot avoid them, then must be included in the price, which I think it is fairer for the consumer.

It is still cheap though!

Exile_geordie

In Australia you are allowed to have sex with your sister - doesn't mean that we should follow suit does it?

remorseless

Exile_geordie wrote: »

In Australia you are allowed to have sex with your sister - doesn't mean that we should follow suit does it?

oh dear...

Andy_L

Exile_geordie wrote: »

In Australia you are allowed to have sex with your sister - doesn't mean that we should follow suit does it?

Of course not.....have you seen my sister <boom-tish>

Exile_geordie

Andy_L wrote: »

Of course not.....have you seen my sister <boom-tish>

Tee hee. Pics or !!!!!! as the young like to say nowadays