We will be arriving at Heathrow about 1:30pm on a Wednesday in June. After researching all the options for getting from the airport to Bath, I think we will try the National Express bus. My question is, can we just buy our ticket at the airport? With the possibility of a late flight, and long immigration check lines I am afraid that if we get our tickets in advance we might miss our bus. But I also fear that there might not be room for us on the bus (there are 4 of us). So is it common to have seats available on all busses heading to Bath from Heathrow? And where do we purchase them from? (Strange, I never thought that this would be the most confusing part of my travel plans, lol!)
I would suggest instead that you buy in advance off the website for a time you may reasonably expect to make, and add the £5 fee to make it flexible. This means you don't pay the walk up fare which is usually more than this and have a confirmed seat on one coach. If you are late you can travel on a later service on a space available basis (you can also travel on an earlier one - ticket is valid 12 hours either way). Normally there will be although there can never be a guarantee.
If you buy on the day you do it at the ticket office in the Heathrow Airport Central Bus Station (manned or machine).
Thanks for the advice! I just looked into the added cost for flexible schedule and it lists it as 20 pounds per person for a ticket that only cost about 12 pounds. Not sure if that is worth it...
We took this bus a couple years ago. I don't recall if we paid in advance (I would guess not) but I do remember the bus was not crowded -- maybe a little over half full.