Ember Reviews 115

I dont have a bad word to say about any of my experiences with ember.
The staff is super kind and warm and the coaches are clean and modern

Incredible company

As a bus service, impeccable, as per the other reviews. My beef is with the lighting... Driving through Glencoe, one of the most scenic valleys in the UK on a beautiful evening, you'd think the passengers would like to look out of the window. Well, you'd be wrong, according to Ember. The moment twilight commences, the ratio of window tint to internal lighting means the only thing you can see is the reflection of the insanely bright LED strip running the length of the bus. It's like we're razzing through Scotland inside a glow stick. Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer to retain authority over the input of information into my eyes. If I dislike what I'm seeing, I use my eyelids to control the feed. On a related note, I work on boats and am virtually immune to travel sickness, but rocking and rolling down the A82 with zero visual reference is starting to test my resolve. At least my path to the toilet is well lit.
Edit: I can't believe I'm writing this, but the nice lady across the isle from me has just thrown up after staring straight ahead and breathing heavily for 20 minutes. You realise this is an avoidable problem: not every highland bus service needs complementary sick bags behind every seat. Rant over, keep up the good work in every other respect

Anil da Costa
Hey thank you very much Ember for employing good drivers like Tom,we were supposed to travel to Aberdeen from Edinburgh Park and ride to Aberdeen on the 8th of November my timing was 3:15 and and when the earlier bus came I ask the driver Tom generally whether he would take me in his bus and very polite he told yes despite I had a late ticket,the journey to Aberdeen was very comfortable,thank you once again Ember and Tom for making it a memorable one.

This is the second time i am using Ember and the experience so far has been fantastic.

The journey is seamless from start to finish, from the online booking system to the journey itself.

I was heading to the airport and had a large suitcase. However, it was no problem for the driver Lee, who has an amazing attitude and excellent customer service, who lifted it into the hold and off again when i reached my destinatiom.

Top marks Ember!

Ease of booking . Very comfortable modern buses . Staff helpful
Overall I would definitely use regularly.
Plus is they are electric

Brilliant service, great coaches and live tracking.

Aberdeen to Edinburgh service,Connor,the driver was exceptional in his customer skills and keeping us informed of any delays

They set example how to deliver bus service. Friendly drivers, 5star customer service, non problems retrieving items left in the bus. Buses are well maintained and electric, with wifi and usb sockets. And it's possible to reschedule your booking hassle free if your plans' changed!
Since bus goes to Aberdeen they started to be late but I believe Ember will try to adjust schedules accordingly.

I am a huge fan of ember as I travel back and forth between Aberdeen and Inverness a lot. I can appreciate that Inverness is included and I can also understand bus journey times and other thing

Although the one issue that I had was when travelling with them and there was a storm happening and the bus was due to arrive at 1:30am which is fine, it was the only bus I could get that day but I politely asked the bus driver if he would drop me off in-between stops ( I am aware that if it is not on the list of areas where it should stop and that they can’t always do that) but I was told no very harshly and told “ it’s not that far, you can just walk” it was about 20 minutes of walking in pure rain, wind and as a teenage girl I felt very upset about the walk back as a city so late at night has many creeps het again this was the only bus I could get
The bus driver of this journey really upset me and made me walk instead of doing an act of kindness which another bus driver has done for me before which I appreciate. Although I would love if ember could inform these sorts of situations to their bus drivers so it doesn’t happen and the option of making my life safer is there. The fact of how quickly I was shut down while trying to talk to this bus driver wasn’t very nice as I was not allowed to expand on it

Traveled with ember from Edinburgh to Glencoe, Kerry was my wonderful driver, she went above and beyond to make my experience into one I would never forget.

If you are deciding between taking a bus into the highlands or a guided tour, let this be your sign. Take the Ember bus. Comfortable seating, almost private bus all to myself, and her kindness and generosity extended beyond. She allowed me to step out very quickly and take some photos at a scenic spot and made sure to give me heads up when the picturesque landscape was coming up.

All in all, for 19£ I will never forget Kerry and the ride I took in Ember this morning

I had a great experience with this company taking a night bus from Edinburgh airport to Aberdeen. The bus was new, clean and the driver was very helpful. It was also super easy to change a ticket to an earlier bus online for free, definitely recommend for people who need affordable and flexible night bus from/to Edinburgh airport from Aberdeen, Dundee etc.

I'm currently travelling in an ember bus and actively looked online how to leave a good review for others to consider. I live in Dundee but work in Edinburgh and have to travel very often. I used the train and other buses in the past, and does not compare with ember:
-new buses with usb, c-usb and the pin plugs. Si I can charge my laptop and phone while working in the bus
-usually on time, but buses depend on traffic. Whoever if your bus is late you get a notification and an estimate new time
-website is just excellent. Easy to buy, easy to add your ticket to Google wallet, easy to find your tickets, easy to change it cancel your tickets.
-full refund if you cancel your ticket in advance
-easy to change your time or date in advance if your plans changes
-I got a couple of buses delayed, one due to a storm (I still was able to arrive home, while trains were cancelled) and the second time I experienced a delay they reimbursed the full cost of my bus when while I still used the ticket(I was 1 hour late)
-bus drivers are very friendly and professional. They help you change your ticket if your on an early bus and they have the capacity.

And finally, full electric so better for the environment.

Only con is it has quite a lot of stops between Edinburgh and Dundee and it takes a couple of hours compared to 75 minutes by train. Maybe they would consider to add some direct buses between Edinburgh and Dundee in the future.

Wow, best coach I've been on. I was sceptical how much of a difference the electric would make but wow! Not only is it a very smooth ride, but you can tell that the interior has been crafted with the customer in mind: comfortable seats, chargers, reclinings seats. And it was early!

It's really too cheaper then other buss services.
I am very satisfied . Best of luck

Travelled by Ember for the first time this week on a trip to Dundee and back. It's been many years since I travelled by coach and I'm scarred by the memories but I with my concession card in hand I took my son's advice and tried Ember. It's very different to my past experiences. The bus was super comfy and spacious. It rolled along like a dream even though we were driving into Storm Amy and the drivers were super nice. Definitely recommend this service. Sadly they don't go between Glasgow and Edinburgh yet but I'm hopeful they will soon.

Not a fan of this service at all. Whilst I’m sure Ember will be well satisfied at how packed the coaches are, as a traveler it’s a very tight squeeze.

It maybe wouldn’t be such a problem, but the seats recline an antisocial amount, and it feels incredibly claustrophobic.

Maybe a positive for some, but it also stops at about 20 stops I believe from Edinburgh to Aberdeen which means it’s very slow compared to other services.

Might be nice for some who have a short journey, or need a specific stop for convenience, but longer distance I’d choose something else.

We were stuck on the A90 for about an hour and a half and the bus driver from Ember called Ryan let everyone who needed the toilet use it!! Very kind and so friendly - thought he deserved a good review!! Thank you again, meant so much to everyone!

Been travelling Scotlands mountains for years and at last a service that gets you to places there competitors don’t at earlier times.Came down earlier than anticipated from the mountains and wanted an earlier bus….no fee to change and zero hassle ❤️

Had the longest trip ever from Glasgow to Dundee due to no fault of Ember - severe congestion, roadworks. The poor driver even ran out of driving time so we had to wait for a replacement driver. Took over 3 hours. But know what Ember done - they emailed me to apologise for the severe delays and fully credited me the total ticket amount to use on my next booking, didn't even ask for it as was out with their control. Lovely touch and most of the other operators wouldn't have considered such a thing. I received the email before I got home!! Well done Ember!