In a move that breaks the mould of open-top sightseeing in London, Stagecoach has started a new operation with prices from £1, plus its usual 50p booking fee. Called megasightseeing.com, it is London’s first low-cost sightseeing tour.
Tickets went on sale on the launch day (26 March) with services beginning on St. Georges Day (Monday 23 April).
Offering a sightseeing tour like no other in London, the service takes two hours to travel non-stop to around 50 famous tourist sights. Other hop-on, hop-off, sightseeing tours operate on different routes meaning that to see all sights a number of different journeys need to be made.
And, with tickets are from only £1 per seat, it offers a great saving on the cheapest pre-booked alternative in London, which is currently £19.
However, prices from the main alternative providers generally range from £26-£37, especially when bought on the day. These prices sometimes include other aspects, such as discounted entry to attractions or a river trip.
When we checked megasightseeing.com there were plenty of seats at £1 for solo passengers. The site appears to use the same yield-management techniques pioneered by Megabus.com, meaning that when two people book together, the price rise to around £2.50 per head. A party of 10 was around £5 per head when we tested the site.
Stagecoach’s tours depart every hour from three locations: Park Lane opposite the Hilton Hotel, Tower Hill and Belvedere Road near the London Eye.
Operated by Stagecoach London, the tours run daily between 1000-1700hrs with additional services during the busy seasons.
Seats must be pre-booked via the megasightseeing.com website but can be reserved right up until the time of departure (subject to availability), with the option of a guaranteed top-deck seat.
A GPS commentary system provides a comprehensive English-language commentary of all of the sights through interior speakers.
The service is using nine former London Dennis Tridents, which have been converted by Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) at its well-known Anston and low-profile Harlow workshops. Four are fully open top and five have a partially-covered top deck.
The buses have received a full retrim including LED lighting to the floor and front LED destination fitment.
The exteriors sport the well-known cartoon face of megabus.com mascot Sid and each vehicle has been named after a famous person with a London link: King Henry VIII, Sir Christopher Wren, King George V, Queen Elizabeth II, Lord Nelson, King Charles II, King William I, Sir Winston Churchill and Queen Victoria.
ADL recently invested £250,000 installing a paint booth at its Harlow facility in addition to the three already operational at Anston. The workshop teams pride themselves on their flexibility (all makes of vehicle are repaired, converted and refurbished) and their industry-leading expertise and knowledge
Wayne Allen Commercial Manager Workshops, from ADL said: “It has been our pleasure to undertake these high quality refurbishments on behalf of Stagecoach.
Megabus.com MD Mark Venables says: “By teaming up with Stagecoach London to deliver our megasightseeing.com services we’re bringing our brilliant value fares to a whole new audience.
“Around 19m tourists visit London every year and this is the perfect sightseeing choice for those coming to this great city – a great value, non-stop tour of the capital’s most famous sights, from a brilliant top-deck vantage point. We look forward to welcoming people from around the globe on to our services.”
Paul Lynch, MD of Stagecoach London, says: “We are so proud to be launching this new product.
“With our superb value tickets this is not only a fantastic service for tourists coming to London but for people living or working in or around London who might have a couple of hours to spare, or friends and relatives visiting from out of town. With our great value tickets a family can enjoy a day out for a great price.”
The route is a large circle from the east (Tower of London) to the west (Park Lane) taking in Westminster, central London plus the London eye and the Shard. Tickets are only available online. There are no street sellers and drivers will check pre-booked tickets. If there's an opportunity, they will advise about booking online. The driver can direct them to the website three minutes before the service leaves and they join that departure, subject to space.
Stagecoach is no stranger to the sightseeing market both in the UK, where it runs a variety of ‘conventional’ operations, either city-based, such as in Cambridge, or country-based, such as in the Lake District, along with some summer-only seafront services. In the USA, until February 2017, it has had a major role in New York with its own operation.
Stagecoach’s operations in other sightseeing markets gives it experience and it appears to have learned two things. Firstly (especially in New York) that it is a fickle market that is sensitive to tourism ups and downs. This is affected by external events, such as air travel costs and terrorism. Second, that cost of operation is a crucial factor.
By not having street-sellers or live guides and using ‘free’ buses – albeit with a conversion cost – the biggest cost of any operation has been managed. Also, with a non-stop route, passengers can ‘do London’ in two hours, rather than almost a day. In modern times with the desire for the public’s instant gratification, this could be a big bonus.
