Everything you want to know

BusOffer.com is a free comparison platform for hiring a coach with a driver. You enter your trip details once and immediately see price estimates from several coach companies side by side, instead of requesting a quote from each company separately.

No. Comparing and sending a no-obligation booking request is always free for the traveller. You pay the coach company directly; we add no mark-up to the price you are shown.

We have checked a verified coach company for its licence, insurance and registration: a Belgian company by its company number (ondernemingsnummer), a Dutch company in the trade register (the KVK). You recognise it by the green "Verified" label. Companies that have not yet been verified are clearly marked, so you can decide for yourself.

Directly with the coach company. We bring you and the coach company together and show a price estimate; the coach company itself confirms the final price, availability and the actual booking.

No. It is a price estimate based on your route, date and group size. The coach company gives the final price before you pay anything.

Each coach company can set its own rates (hourly rate, rate per kilometre, surcharges). If a coach company hasn't done so yet, we calculate with our own standard rate for that type of coach. That may differ somewhat from what the coach company eventually offers, and this is stated next to that coach. The distance from the coach's depot to your starting point also plays a part.

Yes. All prices you see on BusOffer.com include VAT, the driver and insurance. It remains a price estimate, though: you get the final amount from the coach company itself.

Our standard rate adds a surcharge for a Saturday, a Sunday or public holiday, a trip at night and the busy months (especially July and August). As public holidays a Belgian coach company counts the ten Belgian statutory public holidays, such as 21 July; a Dutch coach company the Dutch ones. A coach company that fills in its own rates sets those surcharges itself. The price shown already includes it.

For a destination abroad, BusOffer automatically adds an estimate of toll, vignette or ferry/tunnel costs on top of the coach company's rate. This applies where a coach actually pays those costs, such as in France, Austria and Switzerland or for the Channel crossing. For Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany we add no toll or vignette: a coach pays no general toll there.

Because something has changed in the offers you are comparing. That ribbon doesn't automatically go to the cheapest: it weighs four things against each other: does the coach suit your group, what does it cost, what do previous customers think of that company, and how quickly does it usually reply. That is why the tile itself says in one sentence why that particular offer has the ribbon, and if it is more expensive than the cheapest, the difference is stated.

It can move for three reasons. One: a company lets us know it cannot do your trip, and the ribbon goes to the next offer. Two: a company gives a final amount. That amount is real, and it replaces our estimate. So the comparison is made again, and another company may come out best. Three: as soon as you have booked a coach, the ribbon disappears altogether, because a recommendation is about a choice you still have to make.

You never have to work this out yourself: if the ribbon moves, the sentence on the tile starts with what happened and which company caused it.

Your contact details and trip details go straight to the coach company you chose. This is not yet a final booking. The coach company contacts you without obligation and itself confirms the final price and availability.

That differs per coach company. For a company that has answered requests before, we show how quickly it usually does; we measure that ourselves. If nothing is shown, the company has not answered often enough yet to say.

Yes, that is exactly the idea. Feel free to compare several companies and send requests to different coach companies to compare response times and final prices.

Change the number of people under "Change request" on your price overview and you immediately see which coach companies still fit. If a group doesn't fit in any single coach from one company, we automatically show a combination of several coaches from the same coach company.

Yes. When searching you can choose between a return trip, a one-way trip or a route with several stops. The coach company includes this in the final price.

Yes, on your price overview. With “Change request” you adjust your trip or the number of people, and with “Cancel request” you withdraw it; the coach companies that already had it see that straight away. If a coach company has already confirmed your trip, arrange the cancellation directly with that company, because its cancellation terms then apply.

Use "Sign up" on the page with the coach companies to register for free, with your company number. You then receive an email explaining the portal for coach companies, where you also set your prices. The portal and that email are in Dutch.

Signing up is free, and you pay no subscription and no fixed monthly fee. What a coach company pays when a trip goes ahead through BusOffer.com is set out in the terms for coach companies.

Not straight away. If you add a coach without its own rate, BusOffer calculates with our standard rate for that type of coach. To give customers the most accurate expectation, we do recommend setting your own rates; you can always do that later.

In the portal for coach companies, under the "Bookings" tab, you see all requests, with contact details, trip details and the full price breakdown. From there you can also enter your own price and update the status.