Travelling by coach can be much easier and way cheaper than rail travel. Travelling by train can be expensive, and they can also be a bit of a nightmare (cancelled, delayed, etc…). Yeah we know, coaches take longer than trains, but you will definitely save yourself some money. And let’s be real, your student budget might not afford much else.

The most well known coach companies are National Express & Megabus. Luckily for you

these are also the cheapest coach companies out there.

‘I love the national express, because I feel like wherever I go I can express myself nationally’ (we all know the tik tok). Probably the most well known coach service for a reason. Get incredibly cheap coach tickets, a Young Persons Coach card, and a 15% Student Discount. Bargain!

Megabus is another market leader in great value coach tickets in the UK. What’s more, you can get 10% Student Discount! You’ll be hard pushed to find a cheaper way to travel.

Whenever you’re booking a ticket to travel anywhere, we always recommend comparing different sites to discover the cheapest travel tickets. You never know what deals are running on different websites, and if you can save some money, you’d be crazy not to check.

Trainline are most well known for the train tickets, but you can also find coach ticket offers. These tend to only be available on certain routes, but have a check and compare prices. You might be looking at train travel, and find a coach ticket with massive savings for the same route!

ComparaBUS allows you to book coach tickets in both the UK and across Europe, so if you’re on a budget holiday and want to travel through Europe on a coach, look no further. ComparaBUS have tickets to more than 2,500 destinations across Europe, with access to tickets on more bus companies than you will ever need. You can use ComparaBUS to compare trains, flights, and even carpooling.

Omio is a comparison site where you can buy cheap bus tickets for routes across the UK and Europe. You can also compare prices of trains, flights and coaches, so this is one to remember if you’re booking a trip away anytime soon. For coaches, it has an extensive list of companies to help get you the cheapest deal, or you can plan your journey by route on their website and find the cheapest deals across all sorts of ways to travel that way.

We bet you didn’t know you can buy National Express coach tickets at your local Post Office! If you can’t be bothered heading up to the bus station, and you’re passing a Post Office, pop your head in and enquire.

Gopili is another travel comparison website for all forms of travel throughout the UK and Europe. Another great place to quickly find cheap coach and bus and coach tickets from National Express, Megabus, Eurolines and plenty more.

We have pulled out where you can find the cheapest coach travel throughout the UK and Europe, here are some extra tips on how you can make sure you’re sticking to your budget and saving money where you can.

The

is very similar to a

you might already be used to. It’s available for any full time student or anyone aged between 16-26 years old. However it works slightly differently; the Coach Card is specific to journeys on National Express coaches.

Your Student Coach Card will save you ⅓ off standard and fully flexible travel tickets. There is also a £15 day return offer on selected days (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays). Good news! There are no restrictions for times when you can book your tickets, you can travel both on and off peak.  Want more of a reason to get one? You even get 15% off Events and Festival Travel!

So, how much will this cost? For one year, it is £12.50, or for three years it is £30 (which is cheaper than a railcard). It’s super affordable and helps you save even more money on your travel. You need to travel at times anyway, so why not make it cheaper.

To get your coach card, just apply on the

, and it will be delivered to you within a week. Easy peasy.

Like with any type of travel, try and book your coach tickets as far in advance as you can. Even just a week or so before you travel will often be enough to make sure you don't overpay for your bus ticket. If you leave it to the last minute, you'll find ticket prices increase massively, and you'll be kicking yourself that you didn't get it sorted earlier.

Make sure that if you’re booking a coach ticket, try and travel in off peak times for the biggest savings. Avoid travelling at peak time, for example, rush hour after work, or on a Friday night. You will be able to save a bit of money by travelling off-peak and having a more flexible schedule. You might find that this is actually better anyways, as your journey can take less time as there is likely to be as much traffic on the roads. 

Signing up for Coach Company Sites Newsletters like

or

or Comparison Site Newsletters like

,

. It's worth it, trust us. You'll receive alerts to any upcoming or ongoing sales, as soon as they happen. Yeah, we know this can be annoying, no one wants any extra emails in their mailbox, but if you want to save money it's worth it.

We hope you're inspired to save your cash when you next travel by coach! If you're after tips on how to save on

. But if you're considering all your options, and want to think about other ways on

visit our guide

. If you’re looking for more advice and information on how to make the most of your time at University, check out our

!