Gets you to from A to B quickly and easily (Greyhound Australia)

Member Name: aylawarner

Product:	Greyhound Australia
Date:	09/12/08 (175 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good value, easy to book and make changes, lots of times to choose from

Disadvantages: not allowed to eat on coach, drivers are sometimes grumpy

Greyhound Australia is such an easy and simple way to get around the country. They offer a wide variety of journeys including set routes that take you from one place to the next stopping at a list of included destinations, by a certain amount of miles or just a simple one stop trip.

Booking your trip is very easy and quick. Simply go onto the Greyhound Australia website and find the trip you want to do. You can do this by either entering the destinations you want included or by selecting one of the packages they already offer. You do not need to enter any dates for travel as this is flexible. You just have to enter a start date from which the ticket will begin (this doesn't have to be the date that you first use it though) and then you have a year to complete the journey. Once your ticket is booked you will be sent a paper ticket which you need to keep safe as you need this to show to the driver on each coach journey. When you want to book in a date for a trip, simply log onto the website with your pass details, enter where you are going from and to and the date you want to travel and a list of times will appear on screen. There are usually quite a few times throughout the day so you won't have any problems getting the day you want. You can book as late as up to the day before and once you have entered the time of the coach you want you simply turn up where they tell you to and you will already be on the driver's list. You can easily cancel a coach trip that you've booked simply by logging into your pass and pressing cancel next to the required slot.

The coaches are big and bright and you can't miss them. Depending on where you are travelling to and from, if they are popular stops then the coach is more than likely to be full up. Occasionally they'll give you a seat number but more often than not they don't so make sure you arrive at the bus station early so that you can find the best seat for yourself and so that you're near your friends. There are regular stops roughly every 2-4 hours - whether it's at a small shopping centre or an early morning stop in a highway 24 hour cafe, they're all good stops that offer hot and cold food and a break from the coach as well as toilet breaks (there is a toilet on every coach which are clean and good but I preferred to wait until we had a stop as I didn't enjoy the bumps of the coach whilst trying to go to the loo!). Most trips will play movies (unless the driver is really grumpy) but there is usually only the one small screen at the front of the coach. If the coach is a big one then they'll have another one about half way up. If the coach is packed with people however, it can be difficult to hear the movie but each seat does have it's own volume control as well as an air conditioner and a light.

Our passes cost only £161 each which took us from Melbourne all the way up to Cairns. That covers almost the whole of the East Coast travelling a total of over 3,800 kilometers!

If you just want a simple coach journey that gets you from A to B quickly and easily then take a look at Greyhound.

Summary: a coach company for simple travel throughout Oz