An Honest Flixbus Review – Should you ride in 2021?

Here is my Flixbus review. I have used Flixbus extensively during my travels in Europe, its really a no thrills, dirt-cheap way of getting from one place to another. What more do you want? Well, maybe just a little bit more. Let’s delve in and have an in-depth look at what Flixbus has to offer, and what it doesn’t more importantly!

Firstly A bit of information on Flixbus. Flixbus is a German company founded in 2011 that runs budget intercity bus routes across mainland Europe and some routes recently in the USA. I have done some research and found that Flixbus actually only owns one bus! Its business model relies on local bus operators running the routes set out by Flixbus on their behalf, and Flixbus taking 25 – 30% of the ticket price.

So why am I telling you this, your just looking for a review on Flixbus, right? Well, it might go some way as to explain some of the issues I and many other travellers have found with Flixbus.

Flixbus Review – The Pros of Using Flixbus.

I’ll start off with the pros of Flixbus and then ill move on to the cons. Finishing with some of my personal tips for if you do decide to use Flixbus. Also, I have another guide on the alternatives to Flixbus when travelling in Europe you can check out.

The Prices!

Flixbus is incredibly cheap, like unbelievably cheap. From Berlin, Germany to Warsaw, Poland right now the tickets are €17.99. That’s less than €20 for a 600km trip. It’s insanely cheap, I have researched train prices on Omio.com and the same journey is going to cost you €47.50 although it is an hour shorter depending on what time the Flixbus departs. Flixbus really is amazing value for money and if you’re on a budget it’s definitely worth considering just for this factor. There are also none of the hidden costs associated with budget airlines (read my guide on how to save money on flights here.) Luggage is included in the price of your ticket, there are some regulations which you can read about here. But overall it’s a pretty generous offering.

On the UK version of the Flixbus site they are advertising coach trips starting from £0.99 (€1.15) now personally I have never seen tickets this cheap, but they must be available if they are advertising them. The cheapest I have taken a Flixbus is around €5. With a couple of clicks, I have just found a 300km route from Warsaw to Krakow for €6.99. Some of the longer routes (especially in Western Europe can be a little more pricey, but you have to expect this as costs for them are going to be higher. But I do have a bit of a hack of how to never pay more than €20 for any direct Flixbus journey that I’ll talk about later on!

Flexibility.

Or Flixability if the Flixbus marketing team wants to offer me a job.

Sorry about that, Flixbus offers travellers a good amount of flexibility. They usually have multiple routes a day with different times to suit your needs. There are some small differences in price reflective of the popularity of the route you are taking. For example, an early morning bus that arrives at your destination at 3 pm will more than likely be a euro or two more expensive than a mid-afternoon bus that arrives at your destination at 11 pm.

More importantly, you can book the same day, even the same hour as long as there are seats left. You can also change your booking up to 15 minutes before departure. It is also possible to change the name of the passenger travelling for free, so if you decide you don’t want to travel you can transfer the ticket to someone else. Also, you can change the destination or time you wish to travel up to 15 minutes before departure.

This is done by cancelling a trip and receiving a voucher (minus cancellation fees) that you can then use on another booking.

See the cancellation fees below.

• Cancellations 30 days prior to departure are not charged
• 14-29 days before departure are charged at €1
• 3-14 days before departure €3
• 15 mins prior – 3 days before departure €5

But all things considered, the prices really aren’t that bad if you do want to cancel or amend your trip and the flexibility of Flixbus really is a big bonus of using the service.

Does What It Says On the Tin.

Now, this can be a pro or a con depending on how you look at it, but I’m going to say it’s a pro.

Flixbus is a company that gets you from A to B for a rock bottom price. It doesn’t really do much else. Personally, when I’m paying €5 to go from one side of a country to the other I don’t really expect much. Apart from getting there in one piece. The seats are not luxurious and the interiors of the busses can be shabby. But what can you expect at these prices? It’s really a no thrills way of getting around, super cheaply, and I kind of like the fact that I know where I stand.

Flixbus Review – The Cons of Using Flixbus.

Now I’m going to be honest with you, this list is going to be a little more extensive because there are a lot of negatives travelling with Flixbus, But that’s not really relevant because the few positives can outweigh the negatives as they can be minor to some people (like me).

Punctualility.

If you need to be at the airport and you’re relying on a Flixbus to get you there on time, don’t! Now I’ve been on a lot of Flixbus’s and I’ve never had too much of an issue with being late. Sometimes I’ve arrived early which can also be annoying if you can’t check into your hostel. But yeah, you can be seriously delayed with Flixbus and a lot of travellers will tell you the same.

I’ve been on Flixbus’s that have broken down (not the company’s fault) Flixbus’s that have been stuck in traffic and also one Flixbus where the driver just didn’t come back for an hour on our 10-minute pit stop. Also, I’ve been waiting at a stop and it has turned up an hour late. I did meet a guy once that was stranded at a bus stop for 4 hours waiting for a Flixbus connection.

With trains and planes, you do find these issues, but the roads are much more unpredictable than the Skys and rails. If you are pretty laid back and not on a tight schedule then this won’t be much of an issue. However, If you need to be somewhere at a certain time then maybe you should take an earlier service or avoid Flixbus altogether.

10 Minutes Means 10 Minutes…

When your diver says be back at the bus in 10 minutes you better be back at the bus. The divers won’t wait for anyone if you’re not back when he said he going without you. With your luggage and believe me, it’s not easy to get your luggage back once it’s gone. More about that later on.

So yeah under no circumstances be longer than the driver tells you you’re stopping for because it’s gonna be a big headache when you’re stuck at a random Romanian bus station with no luggage.

Don’t expect to be speaking English.

As I said before Flixbus services are run by local coach companies. Most of these company’s don’t make English a necessary skill for the job. Now I don’t want to come across as an elitist English speaker, to be frank, I don’t care if my driver can speak English or not. But it can be challenging if you need to explain something and you are greeted with a blank stare.

This is not the case on all Flixbus busses but the level of English overall is poor among the drivers. Just remember you are the one that’s abroad, you can’t expect everyone to speak English.

You Will Strugle to Find the Stop.

The stops are generally poorly marked if at all. On the FlixBus App when you book a ticket it will give you a map with the stop as well as some directions. Don’t always follow this to the tee. I have been at multiple bus stops and seen a big green bus pull in further up the road and had to briskly walk up to meet it. The bus stops are usually not sheltered and can sometimes just be a random bit of road in a street with no markings whatsoever.

Just make sure to get there early and ask people if they are waiting for the bus when you think you have found where you’re meant to be.

Terrible Wi-Fi

Why-fi. Why is it so slow, why do they even advertise it? You literally can’t do anything on the Flixbus Wifi, if it’s even working. I think the most I’ve managed to do is send a couple of WhatsApp messages, which is impressive for Flixbus. Any kind of internet surfing and you’re out of luck. Make sure to download your songs to your phone and maybe a movie because the wifi is really unbearable. Plus it’s capped so you wouldn’t be able to use it for long even if it did work.

Non-Existent Customer Service.

When Flixbus train their customer service staff I think that they tell them to give as little help as possible. I once left my backpack on a Flixbus. I just woke up and jumped off the bus in Poland. Walked off and then my stomach sank, id left all my luggage on board and only had my small day pack with me. Read here to see what you should pack. Just make sure not to leave it on any busses…

I sprinted back to the bus station to see the rear end of my bus pulling out of the station. To my joy, I saw a Flixbus employee standing by the stop. Panic over he can just call the driver or head office and tell them to come back. He’s only just left, right? Wrong he couldn’t care less he told me there’s nothing he could do and removing luggage from the coach is the customer’s responsibility. After some back and forth I got a phone number to call customer service to see if they could help.

Panicking I called them and explained the situation, she put me on hold to track the bus for me and I thought I could be in luck, “hello sir your bag is headed to Budapest so you can ask your friends there to collect it for you.” I don’t have any friends in Budapest. I asked her can to tell the driver to leave the bag at the bus station and I will take another bus to go and collect it tomorrow. Sorry no, we will have to take the bag to lost property and after a month we will contact you if we find it. Brilliant.

So yeah it was my fault I left the bag on the bus. But surely they could have done more to help rectify the situation. In the end, I used Couchsurfing to find someone in Budapest that would help me out and collect my bag for me from the bus. Thanks, Zoltan!

Check out some of these reviews to see what I’m talking about. Just bear in mind I still use Flixbus, it just depends on what your expectations are!

So Do the Pros Outweigh the Cons?

In my opinion yes they do. If you are looking for a cheap way to get around Europe then Flixbus is a great option. If you prefer a little more comfort and require more reliability then you can use trains and flights. But you are going to feel the costs of these considerably more. My advice, take a Flixbus on a short journey and see what you think. If you don’t mind some of the rude drivers and badly marked bus stops, then save your money and travel through Europe with Flixbus! Read my article on how to save money for travel here.

Here Are Some Tips if You do Decide to Use Flixbus.

Book Early.

Book early and you will find the cheapest rates. Now when I say book early it doesn’t have to be months in advance I’m talking about a few days before. On popular routes, the prices can be very high once seats sell out so be warned.

Avoid Overnight Busses – Or dont.

I have been on many an overnight bus and I hate them. It seems like a good idea, you don’t have to pay for accommodation you sleep right the way through and wake up in your destination…it doesn’t usually work out like that. You’ll be stopping multiple times at which all the lights will turn on and people will be bumping into you. I’ve never had a good nights sleep on an overnight bus and never met anyone else that has. So unless you’re an extremely heavy sleeper avoid overnight busses where possible.

Try and Be One Of the First On the Bus.

You can reserve seats on Flixbus but I don’t see the point. Get on first and look for the green stickers, which means they haven’t been reserved. This is really just so that you don’t get a seat next to the toilet. It’s disgusting. Get on quickly and nab a good seat. Just be warned it can get hectic when boarding!

Have Your Passport and Ticket Ready.

I mentioned before, a lot of Flixbus drivers are seriously moody! Have your passport and ticket ready for them to get on quickly and secure your seat or you’ll be ignored until you are the last person to get on. Also, make sure you keep your passport on your person at all times in case you have a saga like me in the topic above.

InterFlix.

Now, this really is a top tip. I mentioned earlier how to never pay more than €20 for a journey on Flixbus. This is by using InterFlix. You basically pre-buy 5 journeys for €99 and you can use the tickets on whatever route you like. You have to be smart about using them and do a bit of research as to whether they would save you money. Certainly in Western Europe, you will save money, but tickets in eastern and southern Europe are cheap anyway. I recommend purchasing a bundle like this as I personally saved a decent amount.

I hope this has given you some insight into Flixbus from a person who has really tried and tested the service all over Europe. Like I say if you are not sure take a small trip from city to city and see what you think!