Student Agency

Student Agency is the premium bus company in Czechland.  It's actually a full service travel agency that specializes in au pair programs and resells airline tickets.  They also offer city break packages to lots of places, like the one I took a couple of years ago to Istanbul.

But they are best known for the big yellow buses.  Despite the name, you don't have to be a student in order to buy a ticket. I really enjoy taking the student agency bus as they are comfortable and have free Wi-Fi on board.  There is a bus "steward/stewardess" that brings you magazines and you get a free hot beverage.  You get a headset to listen to music or watch a film.  On some of the routes, each seat has its own video monitor so you can select a movie or TV show in either English or Czech.

The bus lines connect Prague with Brno, Vienna, Ostrava, Plzeň, Liberec and Hradec Králové.  The most common route is Prague - Brno which takes 2.5 hours.  Besides lots of destinations in Czechland and Slovakia, there are many other routes to the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France, Hungary, Sweden and Norway.  It looks like they are also finally expanding into Poland.  I love taking the bus to either Prague or Vienna.  Although I'm not sure I could handle a 21 hour bus trip to London. 

Student Agency was founded in 1996 and its headquarters are here in Brno.  They even have RegioJet which is their private train service between Prague and Ostrava.

My favorite route is Brno to the Vienna Airport.  It drops you off right in front of the main terminal which is super convenient.  The only thing that you have to watch out for when you book online is for which currency you choose.  When you use the website in Czech, the prices are quoted to you in Czech Crowns.  Makes sense, right?

If you choose the English language option then the site automatically changes the currency to Euros.  But the prices are higher in Euros.  For example, in Crowns, my Brno to Vienna Airport route is 360 Kč (€13) but if you select Euros then the price is €17 (475 Kč).  So that's about a $5 difference just for switching from Czech to English.

However, if you choose to use the website in English, then just use the toggle switch to select CZK instead of € before you buy anything so that you save a few crowns.