ALSA bus line

I use the Alsa line to get from Logroño to T4 in Barajas and back a lot. Luxury they are not nor dismal. Always on time yes.

One thing that might cause a one time users to have a bad experience is the luggage loading and boarding part. It is pretty much a free for all, and if the bus is making two stops, like the airport and then the bus station, one side is airport luggage and the other is bus station luggage. If you aren't paying attention this can cause problems. Then the line to get on is usually not orderly, but the seats are numbered so there is no fighting to get the best seat.

I used ALSA often in 2016. I don't know whether it was an ALSA bus I took between San Sebastian and Bilbao, but I would be fine with using ALSA there. The train is very scenic, but it is slow, and the seats are not as comfortable as the bus seats.

Because of the schedule, I ended up on one of the premium ALSA buses for one trip. There may have been a free sandwich or snack plus soda provided, and maybe the Wi-Fi was more reliable, but it wasn't a big difference, so I'd go with whichever bus is most convenient.

I used Alsa last year for that same trip (San Sebastian to Bilbao) and it was fine. The trip took about an hour and cost somewhere around 12 euros.

A traveling companion took a bus from from San Sebastian to the airport in Bilbao this past June. I do not think it was ALSA. We went to the bus station the day before and bought tickets. I speak Spanish, so that probably helped. The next day we went with her to the bus station and helped her make sure she got on the correct bus. No problem.

ALSA usually has a ticket-vending machine or,two at the major bus stations. I found them easy to,use. The also,have an Information optios that will print out departure times for your destination. I loved being to get that,information when Imarrived in each city so I could plan my departure.

Don't leave ticket purchase until the very last minute, because ticket lines can sometimes be slow-moving, and there seems to be a policy to stop selling tickets X minutes before scheduled departure. I thought the vending machines were a perfect solution until the day I arrived at the bus station to find that all the machines were down. You can imagine what that did to the lines at the windows.

Alsa is one of the major bus companies in Spain, with routes all over the country (many other companies only cover a region).

My Alsa bus from San Sebastian to Vitoria had AVOD (audio video on demand) at every seat. This is like the system in planes, with a choice of movies, music, games, etc. There was also a USB charging plug at every seat, as well as one electrical outlet per seat pair. I also got an assigned seat, and there was Wi-Fi (at times actually faster than that at my San Sebastian hotel). The ride was fine too (mostly on the expressway).

In general, buses are much more widely used in Spain than in many other European countries, because the train network isn't as robust, and the high speed train network is skeletal. I've taken several Spanish buses, from various companies, and never had problems.

Remember that bus reviews are like airline reviews. Far more people are going to take the time to post if they had a problem than if they didn't.

Unlike others, I'd recommend you go for the Premium buses if you can. The seats are better, I believe they all have Wifi and the bus is a little bit nicer. Especially if this is your first bus trip. I've known many who've traveled by bus and all have survived. It's basically the transportation that most Spanish people use as trains are pretty expensive for the average person.

As for ratings, have you ever taken a look at airline ratings. If you believed all of them, you'd never get on any plane. Most people use those reviews to gripe and complain. I'd feel comfortable taking the ALSA bus myself especially for only an 1.5 hour ride.

I've used Alsa a fair bit with no complaint. Surely problems must happen some times, but my experience is they are on time, comfortable enough for a few hours and clean, plus the air conditioning works.

I suspect many of the low ratings you're seeing are from the standard internet dozy divvy who spends €3 on a bus ticket and then is horrified when not treated like a first class passenger on Singapore Airlines.

Alsa are big in Spain, and some foreign places, though it's actually a British company. The parent company also run a lot of those iconic yellow school buses in America. I don't know if that's an encouraging thing or not.

Yes the parent company is National Express and they bought it in the mid 2000s. But ALSA has been around for nearly a hundred years in all.