FlixBus Reviews 17,547

Worst bus service ever PLEASE AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!! I REPEAT AVOID AT ALL COSTS IF YOU KNOW WHATS GOOD FOR YOU. Just got a cancellation notification a few hours before my trip to the aiport with no refund(obviously as the email suggested that refunds will be made in 7 working days). How convenient as you can imagine. Please avoid this company and use other services

Cheap affordable fares, journey was smooth and on time. Could do with a short coffee stop on long journeys. Only thing that let it down, was not the journey or the bus it was other passengers. People talking loudly on their phones, phones pinging all the time, and people even watching tv full volume. That's what headphones are for. So maybe the company should add a quiet policy on phones?

Booking no. 3352129419 - From San Luis Obispo to San Francisco on 5/12/2026

I purchased the ticket and paid for a reserved a seat, Seat 2A, for my daughter who visited us from San Francisco and returning to SF. Rudely, Seat 2A, and all the front seats, were occupied with the driver's personal belongings. The driver strangely also had a child with her. My daughter asked for the reserved seat, but she ignored my daughter. This experience is highly disgusting and improper.

My daughter was relegated to sitting next to unpleasant passengers who smelled awful and were listening to loud videos. There was a good reason that I reserved the front seat for my daughter - for her safety and comfort.

We sent photos of my daughter's reserved seat and the seats across the aisle to FlixBus. The driver also loaded up with food from KFC and McDonalds for her and the child I supposed (in King City), causing the bus to smell the entire ride to SF. This driver should be fired.

We have asked FlixBus to issue a refund not only for the seat reservation but the entire trip because my daughter did not get the paid reserved seat, and the driver was unfit to drive and was wholly unprofessional. Who knows if FlixBus would even care to respond.

I, also, just recently had very bad experience with Flixbus.

Bus should leave at 11:30.
But never arrived at the bus station.
No contact with the company. No one answered phone calls and AI chat they have didn't work.
The first information from Flixbus I got, was at 13:10. the text said that the bus is delayed 120 minutes.
I kind of already knew it at that time.
At 15:00 I got another information from Flixbus that the bus is cancelled, but the company highest concern is that I arrive at my destination on time .
Of course the airplane was waiting for me patiently untill I arrive.
Terrible company and how they treat their customers. Unfortunately they killed all the other companies which were on the market before Flixbus took over.

Unfortunately i can't rate -5 stars, they are absolute pain:
Once my plane landed i wanted to go from gatwick to Heathrow i tried to book the bus with them (the bus was the airline company but i paid flixbus) they took the money £16 but they never sent me the booking confirmation ( the PDF with the QR CODE ) they said wait up to 5 minutes to receive it i waited more than an hour and when my bus came i showed the issue to the driver he said i don't care you don't have a ticket he made me pay again and i did cause it was late at night, the funny thing is I'm trying to contact them by phone and they send me to the website and the website asks me for the booking number ( they never gave me one ), the last time they cancelled my bus and now i paid double.
Never again with this company 😵‍💫
Edit : after this review they contacted me, they said wait for 72hrs and you'll get your money back to your account as it was a shadow booking and it's been a week and i didn't receive yet, they also said sent me your email, card details blablabla then they said we couldn't find this booking (obviously you didn't issue any booking number you just took the money which is a glitch or bug from your website) anyway I'm waiting for my bank statements to prove for them that i paid twice.
-10 ⭐️

Absolutely shocking customer service. I’ve never dealt with a company as awful as this before. They cancelled my trip to the airport with no explanation just a text to make me aware with an hours notice… and as if that wasn’t bad enough. I then tried to book an alternative trip with them but this wouldn’t have gotten me to the airport on time. So I had to quickly make other arrangements to save me missing my flight. The original trip was direct to Gatwick airport. I had looked around but at such short notice prices straight to the airport were sky high. So I had to book a trip with National Express to Victoria Coach Station in London and then get a train to the airport to make sure I was there on time. Which not only cost me but inconvenienced me taking this different route. I had submitted an online form to get my money back for additional costs spent. The first form I filled out didn’t get any response back, to confirm they’d received it, so i filled out another to which i did get an email back confirming they’d received my form with a protocol number for reference. I had automatically assumed the money would just be put back into my account as I had sent them a receipt and ticket as evidence along with my bank details. But nothing came through… I spoke to numerous people on the chat who were of no help. One agent told me the refund had already been sent and could take 14 working days so to wait. After that time still nothing in my bank. Contacted them again they said they’d emailed me requesting bank details which were already on the form. So I’d already been lied to and now again I’m being told they sent me an email which I haven’t got. I’m still going round and round in circles with this with no resolution. They keep asking me to fill out this form which I’ve now done 4 times. I even tried calling them to get an answer over the phone but unless you select a specific option it just cuts you off and refers you to the website. It’s clearly an error their end and they aren’t willing to resolve it. They just respond with generic answers and don’t actually listen to what your saying then terminate the chat without sorting the matter. Their lack of acknowledgement and accountability is painful. Thats why they do this, making it so difficult to claim money back because they hope people get fed up of continually chasing and get so annoyed and frustrated with the process so they never actually have to pay you back. I’ve never known anything like it. I have 0 confidence that I’ll get this money back and have never felt so helpless in a situation like this. It’s down to the principle now. After promising an email would be received by the end of the day yet again and still nothing I called them. The handler told me the issue is with the email provider, news to me! They told me they are experiencing issues with other customers with hotmail accounts after all the chats I’ve had before no one has told me this! They told me to create a new email! Why on earth should I have to do this when it’s their error! I had asked who their CEO was, he said I don’t know look on LinkedIn. He then asked me for my account number saying it needs to be international and I need to contact my bank. And then he gave me an email which is totally different to the one off the website. No one knows what they are doing and it’s excuse after excuse. I’m becoming quite concerned now and am beginning to think this is a scam and that the company are fraudulent. It’s such a simple request and is still an ongoing nightmare. Absolutely appalling!

Be careful when travelling with FlixBus.

During my recent trip from Berlin to Kyiv, the driver photographed my passport on his personal phone without any explanation or consent. When I asked why this was necessary and pointed out that my personal data was already linked to my seat and booking, the driver responded aggressively and continued using offensive language.

I later contacted FlixBus support asking very specific questions:

where my passport data is stored,
who has access to it,
on what legal basis it was collected,
and whether the image will be deleted.

Despite acknowledging my complaint, FlixBus support avoided answering any of these questions directly.

Passengers should be aware that their personal documents may be photographed without proper explanation, while the company provides no transparency regarding how such sensitive data is handled or stored.

Apart from the privacy concerns, the trip itself involved aggressive behaviour from drivers, constant pressure on passengers during stops, and extremely unprofessional communication during the border crossing process.

Very disappointing experience.

FlixBus cancelled my ride and now I can't get my refund. I have already filled out the FORM they request 4 times, provide my baking detail, receive the email with the PROTOCOL; 50281938, 50403819 and 50592992, and then nothing. I get back in touch with them, and they claim to have sent an email requesting my banking details, but I have never received any of these emails, and by the way. I provide the BANKING DETAILS when I fill out the form since its mandatory.

They gave me a response here just like everywhere else . That they reached out directly but that's a lie. I did not receive any return from them exept through this review.

I will be using again because of the price, but on the way back, I was lucky that another Flix driver told me to check another coach which was white, not green and didn't have the Flix name on it. Because this is the first time using this service, I assumed 100% their coaches would be the Flix company logo that they us, and the potential of me not checking this white coach had the other Flox coach not appeared is very high because I can be quite clumsy like that, but something to bare in mind if anyone is reading this and is checking to use their service. The Flix buses have toilets, but I don't see one on this bus. Would be 5 stars but I think more could be done for this company to make new customers be made abundantly clear they might not use their green branded coaches all the time.

and didn't experience unpleasant passengers ruining the experience which isn't in the control of Flix anyway, but it was a nice bonus.

Completely useless customer support. I missed my bus due to an unavoidable delay while collecting prescribed medication for my girlfriend shortly before departure. I explained this clearly, but the response was simply to buy another ticket with zero flexibility or understanding.
There was no real assessment of the situation, no willingness to help, and no attempt to offer a rebooking or voucher. Just a rigid “policy first, customer last” approach.
Very disappointing experience and not how you treat people dealing with genuine, unforeseen circumstances.

Wrote a review on this return journey, Southampton/Aberdeen. Previously gave Flixbus 1 star due to a forced change in the booking itinerary and the inability to assist me. I seemed to have written it partially past tense, not my intention, the return journey was next day. Further from previous rating I want to update as I feel it is only fair to do so. Against my principle I decided to pay Flixbus to ensure a seat better than what I was allocated on my new booking as I have a back issue. The system did not allow me to complete and pay for a new seat despite several attempts on my iPhone and iPad and a couple of calls for assistance. Finally, having called again, a customer service member of staff assisted positively by saying she would add a note on my ticket to alert the drivers of my issue and allocate a more appropriate seat.
Today, my journeys have been excellent up till now, all down to the wonderful drivers who have accommodated me and the customer service staff who were so patient and understanding. But I still think Flixbus need to address the situation to empower customer services agents to make decisions to help customers disadvantaged when booked journeys are changed. Also, to improve their system to allow customers to change seating position on line. It was suggested I use Google Chrome to change my seating but why, when I was able to book previously without Chrome. Excellent buses, excellent staff, but systems that don’t seem to work and a process whereby disadvantaged customers through no fault of their own cannot get help because customer services staff are not empowered to make sensible and fair changes. Now sitting in a deserted Nottingham Bus Station for 2 hours 15 minutes 11.00pm till 01.15 because this leg of my journey was cancelled for whatever reason? I earlier received an update that the bus from Nottingham will not be a Flixbus so have no idea what seating arrangement I will have. The plot thickens.

Highly recommended! Ticket easy to use, is a QR code and easily scanned by driver. The lady driving was super nice, helpful, efficient, an excellent driver, and she announced the stops which I appreciated a lot. Comfortable trip! Plus, washroom on board which is appreciated a lot. Double check where the stop is located: Google Maps showed the opposite corner that it was actually on in Kitchener, but the all-green signage is prominent enough to find from across the way.

Traveled from liverpool street to Stansted as Stansted express was not operaring. You buy a ticket you do not know if you will travel. Staff is not able to manage customers contributing in generating chaos, friction, tense situations. Total lack of organization complete the picture. Avoid if you have to go to stansted, not worth the price even if you save few pounds.

Website full of bugs and errors. Horrible booking process, like they don't even want my money. Paying with a credit card (which I prefer due to insurance) takes at least 8 attempts. Customer service chat unable and/or unwilling to help.

We took the bus from Kaunas to Gdansk.

We had our drivers change midway through the trip. Our first driver was a native Lithuanian, he was very friendly and helpful. Our second pair of drivers, from what we could tell, were indians - one young and one older. The younger one seemed fairly friendly and spoke english okay-ish. The older guy seemed tired and done with life.
No instances of aggressive or hostile drivers accurred. The reviews make it seem like it's a common thing when it's not.
You do place and take the luggage yourself so make sure to mark it to find it easier.

The bus itself isn't that clean (booger on curtains, gum under chair, stains on the back of seats, crumbs on the floor), but your paying for a cheap trip. You get what you pay for.
There was enough space for legs, but I am also short, so not too much to comment on this.
Wi-fi is limited to 255 MB. Didn't try the electricity or the bathroom.
We had the seats near the bathroom and didn't have any smells coming from it.

The bus was on time to all it's locations.
The concept of being left behind is on you as the passenger. They don't announce the times, don't stray away from the bus. When you see the driver going back you go back too. Or just don't get off the bus, I didn't either.
The bus does arrive earlier sometimes and leave earlier so give yourself an hour in advance so you don't miss it.

The booking was easy, we got our tickets a week before on their site. We had tickets, back on the 9th, but didn't take the bus. We won't be looking for a refund as it seems like a hassle looking at other experiences.

Overall, not as bad as the reviews make it look. But, if you have the option, go by plane or car as it will be both cleaner, and probably faster.

I left my laptop on a FlixBus from Prague to Leipzig. Later the same day, another passenger contacted me, sent photos of my laptop and the bus number, and confirmed that he had handed the laptop to the bus driver.

I reported this to FlixBus and provided all relevant information: witness confirmation, photos, bus details, and location tracking updates from Find My. I also explained that I was still in Germany and ready to collect the laptop from any location if needed.

After around two weeks, FlixBus replied that they could not find the item and suggested it may have been taken by another passenger (!!!) or handed to a public lost and found office. This is very disappointing, because the key question is what happened after the laptop was reportedly handed to the driver.

The support process was also poor: the online form did not work properly at first, phone support redirected me back to the website, local staff could not help contact the driver, and I received no useful update while the laptop was still traceable.

A simple “not found” response is not acceptable when there is a witness, photos, bus information, and tracking history. I expected FlixBus to properly check with the driver, bus partner, depot, and lost property chain.

Based on this experience, I cannot recommend FlixBus if you need responsible handling of lost property or effective customer support in an urgent situation.

Used a handful of times and they have always been on time with friendly drivers. It’s the lack of amenities that let the service down. I know it’s budget-friendly but every time I’ve had issues with the charging points not working which is stressful when you’re on a long journey (particularly to or from an airport). The toilets are also not great - one time it was locked and out of use, another time you could smell it during the entire journey no matter where you sat.