Coach package for internationals

[Masterluke]

Hi I'm looking for some advice. The Mrs and me are looking to come over from Ireland for the festival in 2023. We can get reasonably priced (right now) flights to fly into Bristol Airport. I've seen there are coach packages that go from Bristol to the festival, so that makes sense for us. I have done the registrations.

My questions are...

1) I've heard you need a postcode to book the coach packages. What do we do if we don't have a UK postcode?

2) Do we need to book on a specific coach with a specific leaving day/ time, or is it like a regular shuttle? I obviously need to link up times with the flight arrival

3) How are tickets handled for coach package ticket holders? Will they post internationally?

Any advice is appreciated!

[Hugh with a P]

Hi Masterluke 🙂

I will try to answer your questions as best I can as someone who has gone for years from Ireland but never on a coach package but I have had friends who have. 

1. You need a postcode to register for a ticket, regardless of whether you are going for normal tickets or the coach package.  It doesn't matter that it's an Irish postcode and makes no difference if going for a coach package. 

2. When you go for coach tickets, if you are lucky enough to get through you will try to choose your preferred location and day (coach packages are for Wednesday and Thursday).  There is no guarantee that you will get it though.  Locations can sell out quickly and Bristol, I would think, is a fairly popular location for people trying for coach packages.  If Bristol sells out then most people will just scramble to get whatever location isn't sold out.  This could, unfortunately mean, that you could end up getting a package that goes from Edinburgh for example.  But that would be your own choice.  Desperate people resort to desperate measures when it comes to Glastonbury 🙂 

You don't get to choose the time of your coach at booking stage.  The times for the coaches are usually emailed to successful ticket holders a couple of weeks before the festival.

3. You HAVE to collect your festival ticket on the coach that you have booked on the day you have booked it for.  They are not posted out in advance.  This is to ensure that people who have booked a coach actually travel on that coach.  There doesn't seem to be any negotiations around this.  

So that's the story with the coach packages.

You can always try for normal tickets and then fly over to Bristol at your own convenience, ie not having to worry about getting there for the exact time the coach leaves.  The festival site is about an hour from the airport.  There are regular buses from the airport to the festival site on the Wednesday and Thursday and possible early on the Friday.  Plus ( and I've often done this in the past after flying over from Ireland) there are always people around the airport looking to share a taxi to the site.  Taxis usually cost around £90/£100 although I'm sure this will have gone up considerably by next June like everything else.

Anyway, hope that helps.  Best of luck on ticket day ! 

 

[Masterluke]

Thanks that's REALLY useful info. Not knowing the times of the coach that I HAVE to meet to get our tickets is really tricky when there is a flight beforehand.  I guess we could get a really early flight and hope the coach isn't too early in the day.

Might be best to go for the general sale and arrange transport separately. I was hoping to go for the coach package so we essentially have 2 chances to get tickets.

Edited September 23, 2022 by Masterluke
Forgot stuff

[Kashkin]

I think the coach packages ARE timed departures, in the case of London and Bristol only. So I think you could try for coach tickets (and then of course the general sale is a backup).

[Lycra]

16 hours ago, Kashkin said:

I think the coach packages ARE timed departures, in the case of London and Bristol only. So I think you could try for coach tickets (and then of course the general sale is a backup).

Recall comments/complaints previously of coach times being changed at a later date. They're not guaranteed times at this stage. 

[blutarsky]

2 minutes ago, Lycra said:

Recall comments/complaints previously of coach times being changed at a later date. They're not guaranteed times at this stage. 

You can choose your departure time for Bristol coaches though. 

[incident]

7 minutes ago, Lycra said:

Recall comments/complaints previously of coach times being changed at a later date. They're not guaranteed times at this stage. 

I've never heard of either Bristol or London times being changed (though have heard of the coaches being late on the day of course).

Anywhere other than those departure points, the coach times are whatever they happen to give you - so there's in effect nothing at this point to change.

[Glast0baby]

I can also confirm that Bristol coaches are timed when you book.  My timings stayed the same from booking despite the multi-year plague interlude.   

If you are flying before a coach, I imagine you'd likely want to consider flying the day before and staying in Bristol overnight to allow for flight delays and cancellations.  Lots of hotels and hostels in Bristol.  Just something to put in the mix (more annual leave required) if going for coaches over general sale.

[socky]

In relation to Bristol airport where is the bus pick up for the coach packages? are there any supermarkets near the bus stop for getting supplies(beer) if not where would be the best place to get these supplies if flying into Bristol?

[Glast0baby]

You can get national express coaches direct from the airport, but there is no supermarket.  Just the normal airport outlets.  Duty free shop for booze though.  There is also a Coop now at Glasto for all things food (no alcohol).  So completely do-able. 

If you need shops, probably need to go into the city and then get a coach or train from there.

[rinzeanne]

Last time we took a coach from Bristol, it left at Anchor Road at 6:30 AM. Our tent was pitched around 10:00 🙂