Cavangal

I 'd like to order Bus tickets in advance for travel from Dublin airport to regional towns but after making selection for first R/trip ticket for travel day of arrival, when I proceed to make payment using debit card in euros the details show incorrect date, it appears for one day earlier. I tried this several times over a couple of days but could not proceed online. I emailed B/E's contact which appears at top of the website but so far no response. I realize if I book tickets online and if they are show wrong dates, bus driver would probably reject them if date is incorrect.

I also tried ordering one of the tourist passes for 4 or 5 days, and when ready to put in my payment details I read that it takes 14 days to issue for anyone ordering outside of Ireland. I am leaving in about 10 days and this would be risky as I might not get the bus pass on time. If they gave a detailed itinerary of my routes and let me print it then I might be able to show it to any driver. I am arriving very early AM and the ticket office at Dublin would not open till 9am, which is another big delay and most likely would be facing long lines trying to order tickets at window.

Any advice on how to handle this matter? Many thanks.

Tony2phones

You can buy the tourist bus pass from Dublin Airport (I believe the "Spar" shop), other trips can be booked online/android and sent to your phone assuming you will be getting an Irish sim card for an Android or i phone? You only actually save 5% booking on line for a single trip.

Tickets do have to be date of travel. you are unlikely to get a response from Buseireann until after the weekend, and from experience I wouldn't be hopeful of its helpfulness.

Ireland is a country which doesn't move at breakneck speed and does have the odd queue or two even if only 2 people long it can take a while to get to the front

Cavangal

Thanks. I've been trying this all week on the official website for B/E and everything goes fine as I click on the route, time travel in each direction from Dublin, but when I get to the buy tickets "Basket" area with my order it is then that the dates are muddled. Not good if their site has glitches during peak season. When I clicked for one way only the fare was about 8 euros more than buying round trip ticket.

About the tourist pass they recommend for visitors I might be as well off just buying point to point as I do not want to be stuck at airport pulling my luggage and standing on long lines, as would safely guess they will not be open before 6am. and if so, one window open.

Had similar experience 2 years ago, after walking from hotel in Killarney to purchase a train ticket for next morning to Dublin, was informed the ticket office in Killarney rail station closes over weekend. What could I do only (laugh);in this day and age, they could not be there to accommodate tourists and then I hear complaints about how the system keeps losing money.

I might as well give up on getting the tickets or the pass. Appreciate your help.

Southam

Maybe try a credit card instead of debit?

Tony2phones

A lot of Irish rail ticket offices are unmanned and you can get tickets from vending machines, however these require chip&pin cards.

I don't know why you are having problems, could be something as simple as which browser you are using. or maybe you are over the date line and the wrong signals are overlapping.

Cavangal

The credit card is not causing the problem. Their website is fine letting me select journeys and type of ticket, once I click to pay, the column on right hand side shows incorrect dates, not the date I selected, but a day earlier. I have been ordering tickets all over Europe for years, trains and buses, and never saw anything like this. I cannot proceed if the dates are not correct as driver will tell me tickets have expired. Sent email but no response which I expected.

Know that when I buy tickets at bus area I will be charged much more. My travel date is next week, 8/26 R/T ticket. If I BUS/E offer day passes on regional buses then I would like to avail of it. Thanks.

Tony2phones

Where are you aiming to get tickets for? as I said earlier pre booking only saves 10% and if you are starting in Dublin it might be worth looking at a "leap card" or Travel pass, sorry I don't know much about these.
Couldn't get onto Buseireann's web site myself yesterday??

Padraig

You could play the computer at its own game: set out to book for a day later than you intend to travel, and see if it then switches to your preferred date.

Tony2phones

Correction to my last answer... 5% is the pre-booking saving.

Cavangal

I've tried booking these tickets over last week with no success. I arrive Dublin airport after 5am and first ticket is for travel to Athlone. I want a round trip ticket on same day, as I have to go onward to Belfast to reach hotel. When I enter 8/26, select bus in each direction then proceed to purchase, the details on r/h side show day earlier. Maybe its because to get bus leaving airport at approx. 7am, it clicks on earlier date. I might chance ordering the tickets and bring copies to show the driver.

I tried several times to order the tourist pass that covers 4 or 5 days. I could use it for another few journeys. Again when I am about to enter credit card, I see you have to allow 14 days to receive the pass by mail if address is outside of Ireland. Buseireann ticketing area at central bus station opens after 9:30AM so once again, I could not waste all that time going into city to buy the pass, and most likely would have to wait on long lines.

Might give it last try putting in one day later and see if I can get the tickets for the day I need to travel. Otherwise I will pay the driver as I board as the airport express service is much faster when I need to do the return journey. Thanks for taking the time to look at this.

Cavangal

Today was able to book the R/T ticket for travel from Dublin to Athlone. I have email confirmation and even though the travel dates kept showing a day earlier, when I proceeded to confirm booking it corrected itself. The tickets do not show the time I travel, just DAY RETURN TICKET so perhaps one is not restricted to travel only on the time selected which is an advantage in case of delay. The R/T ticket price is at least 30% cheaper than booking single tickets so got a good return for Euros 16.62.

I have booked my ticket on Aircoach which I will take from Dublin airport to Belfast same evening. Things are finally working out. Did not receive etickets for either just confirmation of booking with all the details.
Thanks to all.

Padraig

Well done. I'm glad it worked out, and thank you for the feedback.