National Express

GDB2222

My son was booked on the 2.45 bus to Stansted Airport. The bus pulled in at around 2.50, but NE claimed it was actually the 1.45 bus running over an hour late, and refused to let him on. 

He could not wait over an hour longer as he would have missed the flight, so he shared a taxi with some other passengers to the airport. 

Is my son at least entitled to his money back for the bus? 

We’re looking at other options for future trips, as you can imagine! 

Brie

Presumably the 1.45 was fully booked (whether it was full or not at his stop)

Apparently they will refund the ticket price but only if a bus running late is their fault, i.e. not due to traffic

My coach was delayed, am I entitled to a refund?

Undervalued

GDB2222 said:

My son was booked on the 2.45 bus to Stansted Airport. The bus pulled in at around 2.50, but NE claimed it was actually the 1.45 bus running over an hour late, and refused to let him on. 

He could not wait over an hour longer as he would have missed the flight, so he shared a taxi with some other passengers to the airport. 

Is my son at least entitled to his money back for the bus? 

We’re looking at other options for future trips, as you can imagine! 

I understand his concern but how did he know that the 2.45 bus would in fact be an hour late and not, say, ten or fifteen mins behind the late running bus he wasn't allowed to board?

How much late running contingency had he allowed? It is a long while since I have used Nation Express airport busses but I seem to remember them recommending a significant amount.

Marvel1

Undervalued said:

GDB2222 said:

My son was booked on the 2.45 bus to Stansted Airport. The bus pulled in at around 2.50, but NE claimed it was actually the 1.45 bus running over an hour late, and refused to let him on. 

He could not wait over an hour longer as he would have missed the flight, so he shared a taxi with some other passengers to the airport. 

Is my son at least entitled to his money back for the bus? 

We’re looking at other options for future trips, as you can imagine! 

I understand his concern but how did he know that the 2.45 bus would in fact be an hour late and not, say, ten or fifteen mins behind the late running bus he wasn't allowed to board?

How much late running contingency had he allowed? It is a long while since I have used Nation Express airport busses but I seem to remember them recommending a significant amount.

They do, I had 1 last year and aimed to be 5 hours early at airport in case of any traffic etc

"As you are travelling to an airport we currently recommend arriving 3 hours (180 minutes) before your scheduled flight departure time."

If the bus being late for an hour would mean missed flight, clearly suggests did not plan enough time.  Future options - book an earlier time.

You can also track the coach too.

giraffe69

Is someone really supposed to wait at the bus stop for an hour(or perhaps more) with no guarantee that the bus will arrive? Pretty nerve wracking/stressful.

Undervalued

giraffe69 said:

Is someone really supposed to wait at the bus stop for an hour(or perhaps more) with no guarantee that the bus will arrive? Pretty nerve wracking/stressful.

What is the alternative? Busses can be late for all kinds of reasons many of which are not the bus company's fault!

swingaloo

giraffe69 said:

Is someone really supposed to wait at the bus stop for an hour(or perhaps more) with no guarantee that the bus will arrive? Pretty nerve wracking/stressful.

At that point bus he was booked on was only 5 minutes late so if the first bus had not been late he would have been no wiser and would have waited for the correct bus. For all we or he knows it could have turned up a few mins later.

TELLIT01

If travelling one hour later would have caused him to miss his flight he wasn't allowing any slack in his travel plans.  For most flights it is advised to arrive at least 2 hours before the flight and check in closes 40 minutes or less before schedule departure time.  What time was his flight?

400ixl

The live bus tracker would have given information about the bus they were booked on.

https://coachtracker.nationalexpress.com/

born_again

GDB2222 said:

My son was booked on the 2.45 bus to Stansted Airport. The bus pulled in at around 2.50, but NE claimed it was actually the 1.45 bus running over an hour late, and refused to let him on. 

He could not wait over an hour longer as he would have missed the flight, so he shared a taxi with some other passengers to the airport. 

Is my son at least entitled to his money back for the bus? 

We’re looking at other options for future trips, as you can imagine! 

All you can do is ask National Express.
With no mention of where the bus pick up was from & actual length of trip, very hard to say. 

As to any trips in the future. All ready been covered by other posters.

GDB2222

Thanks for all the info. I’ll let you know if they refund him. 

To answer some of the questions, the 2.45 bus was not expected until 3.55 apparently. The bus he was booked on should have got him to the airport 2 hours before departure. As he only had hand luggage, that meant he had an hour in hand. Not sufficient, apparently. 

The flight is only about an hour long, so it is a bit frustrating to have to allow over 3 hours at the airport as NE suggest. There’s a train service to Stansted, and hopefully that’s more reliable.