(12 Jan 2020, 10:27 pm)streetdeckfan wrote I try to stay away from Arriva services wherever possible, even if it means going the long way round on a GNE service! But that's just because I'm a cheapskate and don't want to buy an Arriva ticket!

What is the longest you would be on a bus service in order to avoid one particular company/stick to one particular company?

Last year, I used the 42A all the way from Wallsend to Kingston Park, in order to use only GNE services. This was a Sunday, and it took 72 minutes. Alternatively I could've got a GNE bus into town and got the Q3 or 33A to Gosforth High Street. I am sure there wasn't much time difference, and I had already walked to Gosforth to get the Q3 to Wallsend in the morning, so the walk from Kingston Park was something different and is a easier walk (and meant I could go to McDonalds!).

Impressions are important, first impressions are lasting impressions. I have been a fan of GNE for years now, because Stagecoach has let me down a lot of times, badly. GNE hardly ever has amazingly. I can't remember when GNE became my favourite operator, but I don't think it will change!