flixbus.pt Reviews 47

Subject: Formal Complaint – Departure Failure, Significant Delay, and Financial Damages
Operator: FlixBus
Date of Incident: April 9th, 2026
Route: Leiria – Porto (Scheduled Departure: 07:15)

1. Statement of Facts
I am a frequent traveler on the Leiria-Porto route and held a valid ticket for the 07:15 service on the date mentioned above.

Failure to Stop: After waiting at the Leiria Terminal, the vehicle failed to arrive. At 07:30, I inquired at the terminal information desk and was informed by staff that FlixBus occasionally "skips" scheduled stops. Upon checking the FlixBus App at that exact moment, the real-time GPS tracking showed the vehicle already traveling North of Leiria, having bypassed the station entirely.

Contradictory Information: In subsequent email correspondence, FlixBus customer service provided conflicting versions of the events. Initially, the incident was denied; however, in a second communication, the company admitted a delay, claiming the bus departed at 07:55 (40 minutes past the scheduled time).

Service Unviability: Even if the company's second version (07:55 departure) were true, such a delay rendered the service useless for my professional requirements. As a Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Porto, I have strict teaching schedules that do not allow for such significant, unannounced delays.

2. Damages and Professional Consequences
Due to the lack of timely information or alternative transport provided by FlixBus, I was forced to use my private vehicle to ensure I could meet my teaching obligations and reach my students on time.

The following financial damages were incurred as a direct result of your service failure:

Private Vehicle Travel (Leiria-Porto-Leiria): €107.20 (Fuel and tolls, estimated via ViaMichelin).

Parking Fees (Porto): €8.10.

Loss on Return Ticket (Rede Expressos): €6.00 (Loss incurred due to a partial refund of a return trip that was compromised by the failure of the outbound journey).

Total Claim Amount: €121.30

3. Legal Basis and Demand
Under Regulation (EU) No 181/2011 concerning the rights of passengers in bus and coach transport, passengers are entitled to assistance, reimbursement, or compensation in the event of significant delays or cancellations.

In light of the above, I hereby demand:

A full refund of the unused FlixBus ticket.

Full compensation for the additional travel and parking costs (€121.30) caused exclusively by the operator’s breach of contract.

I have attached all supporting evidence, including receipts and the email thread containing your admission of the delay. I look forward to a prompt resolution before I escalate this matter to the AMT (Mobility and Transport Authority) and relevant consumer protection agencies.

Rude and uncivilised drivers. On my last long hour trip from Madrid to Lisboa the portugese driver resting had his foot on the front armrest with shoes on. Had music loud from his phone and talking loudly with the driver driving making super inapropriate jokes about female passengers.

I took the flixbus on 13 march from Coimbra to Lisbon.
Excellent trip. On time.

I have just arrived with Flixbus 1050 from Lisboa to Albufeira. The driver drived the bus with 100 km/t through the payment zone. And all the way from the highway to central Albufeira he drived 20-25 km/t faster than the ordinary speed, and too nearly to the other cars. I thought that the bus would flip around. He was playing russian roulette with the passengers life.

We booked tickets to travel from Lisbon to Porto, two weeks in advance. The tickets were very cheap (less than 5 euro for both),so we took that as a good sign. Two days before the trip we received an email with the location we should catch the bus from. We arrived at a random spot but checked many times and made sure we had it right. Ten minutes before the time we were supposed to leave, it was clear that no bus was coming. So we navigated a bit and found the actual bus station further down the road. We lost the bus and went to the flixbus office to book new tickets. It was closed, even though it was supposed to be open. We booked new tickets online and ended up paying 30€ for both. The bus driver didn't speak english or seem eager to help us realise why he couldn't scan the ticket barcode. Very stressful experience and very poor manners. Would't recommend!

P.s The address was still wrong on the new tickets

2 stars simply for the fact that a trip from Faro to Porto in Portugal that should take roughly 6 hours or so, and you get in the bus to see a notice stating WC is out of order... Then a voice on the peakers saying we will stop for toilet breaks. Oh my god, what works is this service in, me and my 12 year old daughter used your services in other countries and never seen this stuff. Embracing having to tell her to hold it cause the bus is crap and doesn't have a toilet. Is she supposed to do a number 2 in the woods????

I have lost count on the number of times I have contacted Flixbus customer service. It has been 5 weeks now with nobody resolving my issue.
They say here on TrustPilot that they have responded, but they haven't.
Whoever is in charge of their customer service should be fired immediately as they are clearly not up to the job.
Flixbus will gladly take your money but when they commit a mistake, they will not look to resolve the issue they created.
My child was denied boarding because the bus driver claimed he should have a child seat, even though according to Flixbus' own policy, he wasn't required to have one. I tried showing the bus driver my child's ID card to verify his age but he didn't want to look at it.
This was at midnight outside Porto airport with no other means of travelling to Lisbon that night. The bus driver made the "executive decision" to abandon a 4 year old child outside an airport at night, in the rain because he couldn't do his job properly. That guy should be fired as well for his incompetence.
Luckily I had the means to book the 4 of us into a hotel for the night and the next morning we got on a Rede Expressos bus (with no issues or demands of a child seat from that driver).
I'm not even looking for compensation for the hotel and alternate travel, I just want my money back for the Flixbus trip. But they have gone silent and refuse to respond to my chats or emails. I have contacted their legal dept and they also have not responded. There is no other way of contacting them - obviously afraid to provide a phone number so I can speak with one of their inept staff.
Despite using Flixbus on numerous occasions in the past, spending hundreds of euros (customer loyalty doesn't register with them), they simply don't care once they have your money. Please avoid booking any trip with these scammers because their after-sales service is non-existent and they clearly don't give a sht about their customers.
I hope Flixbus folds and you all lose your jobs because you are not good at it.
Give me back my money you thieves!

The drivers dont open the toilet. The last time I went on ,the driver wasn't even going to stop until several desperate passengers asked him to. By then we were nearly at our destination. Flixbus says food and non alcoholic drinks are allowed on board, yet the driver made everyone stand outside in the car park to eat.The service from lagos to Lisbon was so bad we ordered a transfer home. last time I will ever travel with this appalling company.

Just caught the FlixBus from Lagos to Seville . What a joke , firstly get a message to say not original flux bus . So no internet , or toilet . My seat will not stay upright and just keeps reclining every few seconds . Driver not helpful when asked when can we stop for a toilet break . In my opinion use another company for the route .

I cannot praise FlixBus highly enough for the way they managed getting my lost phone/bank cards and money safely back to me. Special mention for Snr SANTANA who took me to the bus station and gave me €5 to pay for taxi back to the airport. He was such a caring gentleman. Also Miguel who advised me what to do and helped me with WiFi. Special mention to Stefani (not sure of spelling) who contacted me and my daughter via facebook and arranged for the driver to hand over my phone to a friend travelling on an allotted bus. This was amazing….thank you so much. Such kind and caring people who went the extra mile to help a solo travelling lady of a certain age. Thank you, thank you.

The bus may have departed on time but I am travelling from Seville to Faro and so far the loudest noise is the driver who has chatted the whole way (1.5 hours so far). He is being paid to drive us and look after a his coach full of passengers; it’s disgusting that he is not 100% concentrating on this role and the safety of us all.

I think it’s crazy that I can book a ticket, cancel and book another ticket, but I can’t get a redound for something I bought 10 minutes ago… now I have a voucher for a bus I won’t be driving with again…

Second of all, I went to Lissabon with my boyfriend, we were supposed to take a bus from oriente to portimão. The only note I got was that the bus would be located on deck 14. There was no such thing as deck 14…
I ran around like a crazy person, couldn’t find the bus, found the bus last minut on 32D?? The driver looks at us, was taking his seatbelt on, an drove away… HE LOOKED AT US AND DROVE AWAY… and that was the last bus for the day…

So now I’m sitting here with a voucher for at company I won’t be driving with again…

Horrible experience at Flixbus in Lagos, definitely avoid this company. After paying for extra oversize baggage, they would not let me and my partner board as the bag was a surfboard bag. There wasn’t even surfboards in the bag we just used it as a bigger bag, it was well within their baggage requirements we paid extra for. The driver was extremely rude to us and I couldn’t get any help from customer service. We were left stranded after paying 45€ for a ticket. Rede Express from the same terminal were helpful, just book with them instead

Drivers all full pf igo stupid behaviour during my
Guarda to covilha journey

Paid premium fare for front seats but leg room was terrible as a partition blocks feet .Most concerning was the return journey from Lisbon to Albuferia and observing the driver holding a social conversation on his phone not hands free travelling at100kph for 45 minutes. An accident waiting to happen. Toilet out of use which was no surprise and I suspect a blatant lie to avoid having to clean up after journey. I would never ever use Flixbus again .

My journey was Lisboa-Faro and because probably it was full when booking the reservation was made as a stop on the bus to Seville/Spain. In Oriente there was a bus direct to Faro at the same time, and I inquired on the location of the departure of the other bus to Seville but with a stop in Faro, my destination. The bus driver told me to wait behind that bus. After 20minutes, the bus didn’t arrive, and I approached the driver if the bus Lisboa-Sevile and he told me with a smile the departure was somewhere else and the bus has already departed. So I lost the bus..and the driver told me to visit the help centre at the station. I arrived at the help centre and they said they were just a bookings service. So, as a conclusion this people are not serious at all and I advise all to fully avoid them..

Checking the other reviews left me stunned. I used flixbus for the first time, travelling from Aveiro to Porto and the trip was flawless. Driver was polite and drove alright. The bus was on time and there was no issue with the luggage.

Perfect.
Left on time, easy to find the bus, spotless, wifi was great.
Arrived on time.
Family of 6 travelled and loved it!

Selling an extra seat for added privacy and space and then, 24h before the trip, cancelling that and provide a voucher is the ultimate act of disloyalty and bad faith towards the customer.

Horrible experience.
I’m Korean and living in London now. I used Flix bus from Faro to Lisbon. As soon as I checked my ticket with racist driver, he said he cannot understand my English because my English pronunciation is suck and his motion made me humiliated. He doesn’t need to speak with me if he doesn’t want to.

But, why he try to humiliate me? His job is just checking my ticket and driving. Then, why? Why he try to make me upset? Why he try to fight with the passenger? His behavior is totally wrong as a worker who is being paid from passengers.

I felt so humiliated and frustrated but he never stopped. He said I need to learn the Portuguese if I want to travel Portuguese. I have several travel experiences to the European contries and nobody never ever said like that. I cannot believe these kind of things happened to me!!!

This experience made me feel frustrated and definitely ruined my whole travel journey because he never ever said like that to the other passengers only except for me. He is racist. He definitely can say these humiliating words because I’m Asian.

According to his reason, he needs to learn all international pronunciation of English because he is working at international bus chian company and also totally understands all countries English accent. If he cannot, he need to be fired or leave as he said so.

As a result of this experience, I never use flix bus anymore even if I have no choice to travel with flix bus. If I need to use this bus chain company for traveling, I will give up to travel or change the contry.

BECAUSE I WAS HUMILIATED BY FLEX’S BUS DRIVER as a human being.