National express getting off early

grace68

i am heading to London on Sunday. We booked journey before i noticed marathon was on. Our coach is scheduled to stop at Golders green and Marble Arch before it gets to Victoria (where our ticket is booked to). Now with marathon it makes sense for us to get off at Golders Green to travel to our hotel at Archway. There is no difference in price. But after googling today i realised you are meant to stay on to the destination you have booked. I have messaged NX on twitter to ask if it would be okay to get off coach early, they say no and i need to book new tickets! So i have questions, can they stop us getting off, we have small cases with us so not sure if they will be in hold, has anyone got off at earlier stops and did you just do it or ask driver if it was okay? 

Momanns

I've done this plenty - Can you take a rucksack or two? You want to avoid getting the luggage in the hold and then just get off. The driver won't notice or care. 

If your luggage does get in the hold and the driver asks, just say Golders Green please. One of those where the T&C's probably don't allow it but given it has a zero adverse impact, just do it. 99 times out of 100 the driver won't notice or care.

tightauldgit

In my experience of NEX the driver will check your ticket to see where you are going when they put the luggage in the hold. So I think you'd have to ask them to allow you to get off early - or at least tell him that's your intention. I would imagine that most drivers would have zero issue with it but if the terms say you can't then they'd be within their rights to say no. 

On my last NEX ride from Heathrow to Bath the driver actually let someone board with a ticket for a different bus so there is flexibility there! 

Grumpy_chap

This sounds like something where, if you ask formally, the response will always be "computer says no" but the drivers are likely far more flexible because, ultimately, it makes no odds.

It would be great if the OP updated with how they got on (or off, as the case may be).

grace68

hi, update. We asked the driver when we got on and he was fine with it. 

tightauldgit

grace68 said:

hi, update. We asked the driver when we got on and he was fine with it. 

Good stuff. Drivers are generally pretty accommodating providing its not putting them to any trouble or cost.