As I always allow far too much time for connections, I had a wait of three hours at London Luton Airport after my flight from Skopje. I tried to get a filter coffee at Pret as they’re a cheap option, but they told me that they had run out. I remained at Pret anyway as they had a power point which suited my needs. At this stage, the commercial transaction was less about food and drink and more about temporary access to electricity whilst sitting in a chair. But, I couldn’t board a coach hungry and so I obtained a breakfast of champions meal deal at the new Sainsbury’s at the airport. Does travel get any more exciting than this?
And is there anything more beautiful than London Luton Airport at sunrise? OK, there probably is, but it’s intriguing watching the light appear whilst also observing already pre-annoyed families wheeling their cases and angry children into the airport.
Mine was the 05:40 which was showing as delayed by six minutes. This didn’t overly worry me, but I was conscious that National Express often saw their delays extend and I only had a thirty minute connection at London Victoria Coach station. I decided to ask the driver of the 05:25 service before if I could get on his coach and he told me that I could do what I liked, which I took as a yes. In fairness, the driver was very friendly and it was early.
Two of us boarded the coach, so I understood the driver’s lack of concern about whether I boarded or not.
I got the emergency exit door seat, although there wasn’t a huge demand for it as the other passenger had sat at the front of the coach. It was too early for a logistical dilemma over seating, so I was pleased at the efficiency of this arrangement. I think this service regularity is more for getting passengers to the airport for their early morning flights, so there is likely usually a surplus of spaces for taking passengers away from the airport.
And safely into London Victoria coach station. As an aside, National Express seems to have been struggling recently and their services rarely seem very full. It’s been a while since I’ve been here and half the services appear to now be run by FlixBus, perhaps an observation that National Express got greedy with their prices and customers walked away. Anyway, it was then time to find the coach that would take me to Bristol.