Tag: National Express

Tastebud Tour of Britain!

– National Express launch limited-edition travel sweets with fish and chips, pork pie, Wensleydale cheese, curry, Eccles cake and cornish pasty flavours –

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In celebration of Britons being able to get back on the road to start visiting friends and family once again or plan a UK break, National Express has today released the first ever range of regionally inspired travel sweets.

The Tastes of Normal limited-edition travel sweets are a homage to the simple pleasures of travel and the staple of many a journey for generations. They have been reinvented with an unexpected range of flavours inspired by favourite dishes associated with British locations, including fish and chips, pork pie, cornish pasty, Wensleydale cheese, Eccles cake and curry*.  

That’s right, boiled sweets that actually taste of fish and chips!

The Tastes of Normal travel sweets come packaged in classic round metal tins, just like those that have traditionally been found at service stations and airports for decades. Each sweet tastes of a classic dish that is synonymous with a British city or region that can be visited using National Express.

The six sweet flavours have arguably never been tasted before in boiled sweet form:

●      Fish and chips – enjoyed with fresh sea air at ever popular choices for a day trip to the seaside or coastal holiday such as Devon, Brighton, Margate, Scarborough and Blackpool 

●      Curry – in honour of Birmingham, the home of the Balti triangle and National Express

●      Cornish pasty – a must-taste treat for anyone visiting the ever-popular coastal county of Cornwall

●      Pork pie – the classic British snack from Leicestershire, home of the Melton Mowbray pork pie

●      Wensleydale cheese and cranberry – a nod to Yorkshire and popular destinations such as Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford.

●      Eccles cake – the only ‘sweet’ sweet in the tin, representing Greater Manchester. 

The National Express full UK timetable with hundreds of destinations is now on sale, allowing Summer bookings when all restrictions are lifted. Customers can also book accommodation and attractions alongside their coach travel, complete with a price guarantee and ABTA protection

Chris Hardy, managing director of National Express UK Coach, said: “We suspended all services for 11 weeks at the beginning of the year so we’re delighted to now be back on the road with full measures in place to ensure passenger comfort and safety. 

“As the UK’s largest coach operator, we’ve always been part of seeing friends and family, going to events, on day trips and holidays. We wanted to mark helping make this happen again in a fun way. 

“Fish and chips and pork pies might not be the kind of flavours anyone would expect to taste in boiled sweet form, but each confectionary celebrates the wonderful diversity of the UK.

“We hope the tastes will take people to a place they’ve missed and can now happily and safely return to with National Express.”

The limited-edition sweets are not for sale but will be given away to the public via National Express social media channels:

Instagram @nationalexpress Twitter(@nationalexpress and Facebook @NationalExpress)

and the National Express website at www.nationalexpress.com/tastesofnormal.

For more information and to book travel visit www.nationalexpress.com. 

Vaccine confidence encourages ‘grey pound’ to spend on UK coach holidays in 2021

A UK package coach holiday operator is reporting signs of growing confidence from the ‘grey pound’ in their ability to start to travel again in 2021.

The package coach holiday division of National Express, which includes Lucketts Travel and Woods Tours, has seen a 185% increase in bookings for Spring and Summer 2021 compared to figures for 2020 (pre-Covid)*.

Jit Desai, head of holidays and travel at National Express explains: “98% of our customer base is over 65 and we’ve seen an increased appetite for travel in the last week or two with an uplift in enquiries and bookings every time there’s been an announcement about new vaccine approvals and the roll-out programme.

“Some of this is postponed travel carried over from last year. But there’s definitely a trend of customers being comfortable that they will have had their vaccination and be protected from Spring onwards, so can start to make travel plans. Some are telling us that they’ve already had their jab and can’t wait to go on holiday once guidance allows again. ”

Lucketts Travel and Woods Tours provide package coach holidays across the UK and Europe which include accommodation, meals, excursions and return coach travel. They are currently taking bookings for travel from May onwards.

The top 10 most popular UK destinations for 2021 bookings to date are:

  • The Cotswolds
  • Isle of Wight
  • York
  • The Lake District
  • North Wales
  • The Isle of Man
  • Northumbria
  • Isles of Scilly
  • Scotland
  • Cornwall

“Customers are telling us that they are choosing the UK because of the uncertainty around international travel and flights. They are worried about the possibility of cancellations and the potential that they may have to quarantine on return to the UK.”

National Express is offering the option of £1 deposits and a no-quibble 100% refund, or a free transfer to another departure date of the customers’ choice if their holiday is cancelled due to Covid-19.

“This flexibility has been an important part of our discussions when customers are making enquiries and bookings, along with the details of the covid-secure measures we have put in place.” 

Enhanced cleaning regimes ensure vehicles are sanitised multiple times a day;  including the disinfection of all high-contact areas with antiviral products and fogging systems. New air filtration systems have also been installed to regularly purify the air on board the vehicle throughout the coach journey.

All coaches have limited seating capacity with passengers required to only use designated seats to comply with social distancing rules. 

Drivers are temperature checked prior to starting their shift and all passengers must be temperature checked before they can board the vehicle.

“We’ve worked hard to make sure we can offer the same great coach holidays with added reassurance in 2021 and look forward to being back on the road when the time is right.”

National Express temporarily suspended all coach services on Sunday 10 January.

www.nationalexpress.com

National Express: Full Suspension of Services

National Express will fully suspend its national network of scheduled coach services with effect from 23:59 on Sunday 10 January 2021.

Chris Hardy, managing director of National Express UK Coach: “We have been providing an important service for essential travel needs. However, with tighter restrictions and passenger numbers falling, it is no longer appropriate to do this.”

All journeys before Monday 11 January will be completed to ensure any passengers making essential journeys are not stranded. All customers whose travel has been cancelled will be contacted and offered a free amendment or full refund.

Chris Hardy adds: “As the vaccination programme is rolled out and Government guidance changes, we will regularly review when we can restart services. We plan to be back on the road as soon as the time is right and have put a provisional restart date of Monday 1 March in place (subject to change).

“The whole team at National Express worked incredibly hard throughout 2020 and I want to thank them for their efforts as we pause our services. We will now make sure we are ready to get back behind the wheel as soon as the nation needs us again.”  

Regular updates will be provided through the National Express website, social media channels and customer emails.

www.nationalexpress.com

National Express: Full suspension of Services from Midnight 5 April

National Express will fully suspend its national network of scheduled coach services with effect from midnight Sunday 5 April.

Chris Hardy, managing director of National Express UK Coach said: “We kept a limited coach network running to be able to help those individuals with essential travel needs but it is no longer viable to continue to do this.

“Passenger numbers continue to fall as the public rightly follow government advice to avoid non-essential travel. The decision to temporarily suspend all services is the right one based on the current unprecedented circumstances and I hope our passengers understand this.

“It is very clear that the critical thing we must do to protect our NHS and save lives is to stay at home. All journeys before Monday 6 April will be completed and we will ensure customers are not stranded but until further notice, we will not be running any services.”

Passengers who had travel booked can choose to hold the ticket and amend for future travel within the next 12 months, free of charge, regardless of the terms and conditions. Customers do not need to make contact until they wish to rebook.

For passengers who do not want this option, a full refund will be issued for cancelled services in line with terms and conditions.

Full details are available on the National Express website www.nationalexpress.com.

Chris Hardy added: “Our drivers, customer service teams, customer contact centre and the wider National Express team have been working incredibly hard to keep our services running safely and we thank them for their efforts.

“We are speaking to them about what this means and will continue to do all we can to support everyone who works in our business at this challenging time.

“We know this is a worrying time. We take the welfare of our customers and employees extremely seriously and will continue to take guidance from the Government to ensure we do everything we sensibly can to keep them safe.

“Regular updates will be provided through our website, social media channels and email alerts.

“When the time is right, we look forward to resuming services and welcoming customers back on board.”

National Express celebrates a cracking end to the noughties

  • 27th December was the busiest single day in company history with over 78,000 passenger journeys
  • More coach passengers than ever before on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day
  • Over 30,500 seats were added to the coach network to cope with rail disruption caused by RMT strikes and a whopping 386 rail engineering projects.

Continue reading National Express celebrates a cracking end to the noughties

National Express saves Christmas amid rail chaos

  • National Express is the only national public transport network operating on Christmas Day
  • The busiest days for travel over the festive period are Friday 20th December, Monday 23rd December and Friday 27th December with over 90k passengers on these days alone
  • RMT strikes and a whopping 386 rail engineering projects have led travellers to turn to coach

National Express is stepping in to save Christmas for thousands of Brits who are preparing to spend the festive period with their loved ones.

The UK’s largest coach operator is the only national public transport network operating on Christmas Day. They have already increased capacity with an additional 30,000 seats added to services to meet demand over the festive period (20th December – 2nd January) while the rail network continues to let people down.

Advance coach ticket sales indicate that Friday 20th December aka “Frantic Friday”, Monday 23rd December and Friday 27th December are set to be the busiest days to travel over the festive period, with more than 90,000 people choosing coach to get to where they need to be.

With trains not running on Christmas Day, limited services on Boxing Day, South Western Railways strikes ongoing for the remainder of the month, and a whopping 386 engineering projects planned for the festive period; National Express has come to the rescue for UK travellers.

Chris Hardy, Managing Director of National Express UK Coach, said: “National Express is the reliable choice for travellers, not just at Christmas but all year round.

“With so much rail disruption over Christmas and New Year, we’re stepping up once again to get people where they need to be by adding extra services as and where required.”

National Express customers benefit from a guaranteed seat (no standing), air conditioning, access to films, TV and magazines through a complimentary onboard entertainment app, as well as power sockets and free WiFi.

For more information visit www.nationalexpress.com.