1

Nothing wrong with more options, I suppose. However, I compared prices outside their promotional period, between Amsterdam-Paris. The train (Thalys) was cheaper, twice as quick, and arrival at a time other than midnight or 6:30am.

2

I completely agree, Thalys is the best way to travel between Amsterdam and Paris, it's fast and can be cheap if you book well in advance or travel out of the peak periods, but for a last minute trip (i.e. booking within a month or so) it is usually much more expensive (quite often flying is cheaper!). For example, the cheapest one-way Thalys ticket still available any time this week for Amsterdam-Paris is 100€! Good thing of this coach service is that prices are fixed until departure.

I guess the target customer is quite different. For a backpacker traveling across Europe on the cheap and making last minute plans, I'd say it is definitely an option to consider (and to compare with train/flights)...

3

It's not as if other transport companies arbitrarily raise prices at the last minute. Prices of everything -- trains, planes, other buses -- are fixed. It's simply that the cheaper seats, if offered, sell out sooner.

If this is a new company, they have to start somewhere and start small. Looks to be a UK based company going to the continent, so they might be looking at the home market first. But even Eurolines has cheaper advance ticket sales, regular tickets no more expensive, and has more buses per day to choose from.

But that's also the compromise of travel nowadays, whether you're a backpacker or not. Plan ahead and go cheap, or don't make plans and pay more.

4

The company behind this bus service is actually the SNCF, the French national train company (and stakeholder of Thalys/Eurostar) trying to diversify.

5

Thanks. Any idea how much it will cost after the special offer expires? I have trip planned where using that bus might make sense but it's in December.

6

Always the same issue. They do some amazing promotions but when you actually want to buy a ticket it costs you the same as flight with British Airways

7

By Bus (this new bus service):
London to Paris (one way) is between 45 and 60£.
Amsterdam to Paris is between 47 and 59€.
Prices are fixed (they don't change for a specific date, until detparture)

By Eurolines coaches ("normal" bus service):
London to Paris: 42£
Amsterdam to Paris: 44£

By train (best way to travel IMO): Amsterdam to Paris starts at 35€ one way for specific dates and several weeks in advance.
By plane: Amsterdam to Paris starts at around 90€ RETURN.

8

Thank you. Looks like I'll stick with the train as I had planned.

9

What a bummer! I'll be there in September. groan
Do let us know if you hear of any more deals, or if this one is extended.
Guess it's the train for me too, then.

10

I took this bus between Amsterdam and Lille last weekend and thought I should share my experience.

Overall I'm quite pleased with it. The seats were pretty comfy and the legroom was very good. Definitely more personal space than with Eurolines, as you could also slighly move the seat closer to the aisle to increase space between them. As expected for a new line, the buses were brand new, well equiped with e.g. electricity plugs (1 power plug for 2 seats) and good toilets. There were 2 screens at the usual spots but those were not on.

The journey was supposed to take 3.5 hours and in the end we arrived in a bit less than 4 hours, due to the usual traffic around Utrecht and Antwerp. As the bus is direct between Amsterdam and Lille, it's about the time a car would take (the bus was going at 100kph most of the way), another bonus compared to Eurolines.

My bus was about half full, but my driver said there are usually more people.

One negative point was that the supposedly free WiFi was simply not working! Disappointing.

But all in all I would recommend this bus line if train is not an option, either because it's too expensive (e.g. last minute) or too time consuming (like between Amsterdam and Lille)!