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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To send my 19 yo niece to Heathrow by coach?

58 replies

WildflowerMarmalade · 03/05/2014 19:58

My 19 yo niece is coming to visit the UK from abroad. She has had a very sheltered upbringing as she lives in South Africa where it is too dangerous for her to travel far on her own.

She will be staying with me in London before travelling to stay with my parents up North. She will then need to travel back to Heathrow alone to get a flight. I have suggested she travel by coach. DH says it is not safe and you get dodgy people on coaches. AIBU? Is it safe on the coach or not?

My reasons for her travelling by coach not train are that it will be easier for her to change coaches at Victoria ( Mchr - Lndn Victoria then Lndn Victoria - Heathrow). When I take her to get on the coach to Manchester we can look together where to go for the Heathrow coach. This seems less stressful for her than getting a train and then having to get the Tube across London to get the Heathrow Express. Also it is cheaper - and she is planning to pay for it herself.

OP posts:
grabaspoon · 03/05/2014 20:00

Coach is fine and a much cheaper alternative

NigellasDealer · 03/05/2014 20:00

'you get dodgy people on coaches' what planet does your husband live on?
of course it is safe on the coach.

FlossieTreadlight · 03/05/2014 20:01

Completely fine on coaches

PourquoiTuGachesTaVie · 03/05/2014 20:01

I travelled alone on the coach from up North to down South when I was 16. It was fine no dodgy people at all.

wowfudge · 03/05/2014 20:02

FGS - thousands of people must make that journey every day without incident. If she is at all concerned she can sit near the front and the driver.

turgiday · 03/05/2014 20:03

Coach will be much easier for her. As she has led a very sheltered life, she may find navigating the tube much harder.

MexicanSpringtime · 03/05/2014 20:03

Dodgy people on coaches! Your husband has obviously also had a sheltered life. He needs to get out more

PavlovtheCat · 03/05/2014 20:03

I think for someone who has led a 'sheltered life' your proposal which takes her from one part of a coach station to another part of the same station is far more sensible than her travelling from the coach station, on a tube to another unfamiliar station to get on a train which is bigger and full of more people than the coach will be.

Chottie · 03/05/2014 20:04

She will be fine. My DC have travelled all over the country by train and coach since their late teens.

Coaches are fine. Agree with PP re. 'dodgy people' comments from your DH.

PavlovtheCat · 03/05/2014 20:05

…is a good one.

Blush
elQuintoConyo · 03/05/2014 20:05

Unsafe on a coach? Does your husband think she's travelling route 66 on a Greyhound?

I've been all over the place by bus, wonderful things when you're young

PavlovtheCat · 03/05/2014 20:05

She is flying half way around the world on her own though right?

beccajoh · 03/05/2014 20:07

Victoria coach station is easy enough. Just look at the screens to see which gate your coach departs from, then go and wait. I've been on the coaches a few times and never had any problems travelling on them. You could get some equally weird people anywhere.

TheFairyCaravan · 03/05/2014 20:07

I think it is an excellent idea.

DS1(19) had to go to Edinburgh by train recently (from the East Midlands), he had to change 4 times going and 3 times going back. It was at different stations on both journeys, too.

We had bets on if he'd get manage, tbh!

ssd · 03/05/2014 20:08

good grief, don't know who is worse, your dh for saying that about coaches or you for coming on here and asking that op

your neice soinds more worldly than you two

JodieGarberJacob · 03/05/2014 20:09

I'm not sure but I think the coach station is about 15 minutes walk from the train station. Not ideal if it's the middle of the night.

Suefla62 · 03/05/2014 20:09

My DH and I took the coach from Heathrow to Manchester last year. We didn't even have to go into London. Really enjoyed it. There was only us and two other couples on the bus and the scenery was lovely.

JodieGarberJacob · 03/05/2014 20:10

Sorry, misunderstood. I thought she was getting a train to heathrow.

sooperdooper · 03/05/2014 20:12

Of course she can get a coach, your husband sounds paranoid, what on earth does he think goes on on coaches?? Lol

partialderivative · 03/05/2014 20:16

I'm not sure whether it would be a good or bad thing to show Divine Comedy's 'National Express' video.
I love it;

fisherpricephone · 03/05/2014 20:19

Coach sounds better than the tube. I had an even more sheltered upbringing on a Scottish island but managed to travel to Glasgow as a 17 year old for the University open day no problem (that involved a boat, two train trips and taking taxis in Glasgow, booking accomodation etc etc). By 19 I'd gone all round Europe including across the iron curtain (old gimmer).

partialderivative · 03/05/2014 20:21

As a 9 y/o I had a 3 change journey to school by BR and LT. As did many friends.

Surely, at 19, you can travel independently.

Original poster
WildflowerMarmalade · 03/05/2014 20:24

Hahah!! Yes! Yes! I am right. DH is wrong! (Punches air in triumph.)

Thank you all so much for reassuring me. The coach will be fine.

SSD you might be right! Seem to have lost faith in my risk assessment abilities.

Mexican yes, I agree. DH does need to get out more, or something. He sees the world as being much more dangerous than I do.

It's years and years since I travelled by coach so I was worried that I was getting it wrong. Thanks all. Coach it is. Much appreciated.

OP posts:
Andro · 03/05/2014 20:27

Surely, at 19, you can travel independently.

SA is very different to the UK...and far more dangerous.

Ihavemyownname · 03/05/2014 20:29

She is older than I was when I got the train back to Portsmouth from Gatwick it didn't arrive at Portsmouth till just before 1am I was 17
I'm sure she'll be fine

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