Ember Reviews 115

Ember 4 bus 10.05 Fort William to Edinburgh. Driver was lovely and helpful. It’s just so nice not having to trail to Glasgow to get the Fort William Bus. Really delighted it only took four hours. Please keep this service going.🤞 as it long overdue. Looking forward to using this great service regularly. Thank you 👍

I have been using Ember since they started running buses from Dundee to Edinburgh and in the past 5 years or so I've only had positive experiences. They communicate well if there is a delay. Their website lets you track buses so you get a sense of how long you will be waiting, and some reassurance they're on their way. They are generally on time unless there is huge traffic in their way.
Whenever I email to ask a question, they get back to me quickly.
I can book easily with my concession pass online. It is also easy to quickly amend a booking or cancel.

Also there's a comment below about bus stop location. In your ticket email you get a link to click through to your mapping app to get directions to the bus stop.

The new route to Aberdeen is brilliant, especially as it connects Brechin and Forfar to both Aberdeen and Edinburgh.

The drivers are always friendly and helpful. Also if I've travelling been with someone who uses a wheelchair, they don't ask like you've massively inconvenienced them asking for ramp access. They're polite and welcoming and helpful, which is obviously as it should be, but nice to see. And the ramp access is seamless.

Excellent service, comfy and tidy buses. Always on time and keep updated always. Using frequently, I’m very satisfied

Cannot fault this coach service. Only discovered it in December 2024 as an alternative to my local rubbish and totally unreliable Stagecoach service, but will be using it again for convenience. Website, coaches, drivers, helpdesk, prices and overall experience all 5/5. I wish them all the best and hope they continue to expand their routes in future.

Ember’s website and booking system is second to none. It’s completely hassle free. You can change the date, time and/or location of your ticket any time up to 10 minute before departure at no extra cost whatsoever. Other bus booking systems I’ve used charge you a fee to do any of these things. The QR code as a ticket is great as well.

The drivers are friendly and the buses are comfortable and a smooth ride. I feel very lucky to live very close to a stop on Ember’s route. It makes getting in and out of town for work so much easier. I can’t wait for them to expand to more routes.

Can’t fault them. They pose themselves as a tech company rather than a travel company and honestly I think that’s really working out for them.

Travelled from Brechin to Edinburgh today. Drivers were exceptional, polite, helpful and go above and beyond to make experience good

Terrific bus service. Great prices, very comfortable, clean and quiet. Makes other bus services seem very dated. Easy to book online and alter journeys. The Aberdeen to Edinburgh service is terrific. Forfar no longer feels cut off from the world.

I took a very early morning service from Aberdeen, Union Street, to Edinburgh airport.

Quiet and comfortable. Pleasant, helpful driver.

I'd love to write a longer review. But I plugged my phone into the chair in front, to charge it....Adjusted the seat rake, and headrest position....and woke up 3 hours later at my destination.

Can't really fault Ember at all.

Trip from Bridge of Earn to Ingleston. Despite the bus being a little late (probably due to major roadworks), the driver is lovely. She is friendly and making everyone feel really welcome. It is a really smooth journey and the bus is warm and comfy. Great company - great experience. Will use Ember from now on.

A fab journey on the 5.27 from Kinross into Edinburgh to see a show at the Playhouse, Chris was a very patient driver with the busy roads in Edinburgh he took an interest in his passengers and took the time to let people know about the disruption the roadworks are making around Haymarket area, we had him as the driver on the 22.40 return journey too and gave all passengers a warm welcome onto the bus, definitely need more drivers like him

The new service between Aberdeen and Edinburgh is excellent. Brand new electric buses, which are comfortable, very quiet and have free wifi. Polite drivers.
The live tracking system is excellent, allowing you to see where your bus is located if you are waiting at a roadside stop. They even send a text message if your bus is running late.

The buses are nice, modern and comfortable with WiFi.
The drivers appear to have next level patience (with other road users) and are friendly and helpful.
The prices are excellent.
The communication is good, text alerts when buses are over a few minutes delayed).
The booking system and ability to cancel/change up to 10 minutes before is fantastic.
The frequency is great.
The fact they are electric is wonderful.
I catch these regularly for work and would rather use these than the train.
The downside - more of these! Pick up from Perth park and ride to Edinburgh would be great!

I bought a ticket for a journey from central Edinburgh to Bridge of Earn. The bus stop is advertised as st Andrew’s square and I waited for a 14.50 service that never came. 25 minutes later I found the live chat on their website and was told that the bus stop had been closed and the stop had been changed.
I ended up getting a bus 1 hour late. Their customer service is awful with no offer of compensation and stock reply’s from their team who clearly haven’t read emails. When technology breaks down the customer is left for dead. Very poor that they are unable to put a sign on a bus stop to advise of changes

I have mixed views about Ember bus services.

On the one hand, they have free WiFi, quite comfortable buses and drive a decent speed. Also, the frequency of services is quite decent. Their mission to decarbonise inter-city transport is laudable.

On the other hand, their payment system is unnecessarily punitive. I recently hoped to take an Ember bus spontaneously but was told by the driver that a ticket bought on the bus would be 100% more expensive, even if I used the contactless payment method. I tried buying online, inputting the very same card details to pay the ‘normal’ fare. The system did not allow it as we were quite close to departure (aka ‘computer says no’). This gives Ryanair vibes. I ended up not travelling with Ember and went with one of its many competitors, since there are many options on the routes that Ember services. I also lost some of the appreciation I had for this start-up and have since not travelled with Ember again.

This is a friendly request to Ember to reconsider their payment strategy. You lost a customer who was willing to pay, for no other reason that I would’ve paid via contactless for one of the remaining available seats. That can’t be in the interest of your business. I can see why you don’t like cash since this could delay departure of the bus. But a quick contactless tap should really not imply such punitive additional charges. Be nice!