Big Sky Intercity Bus Ticket Bookings 2025
Big Sky Intercity is Intercape's sister company offering no frills domestic SA coach trips. They service a large network of stops across South Africa from Cape Town to Johannesburg, Durban and many more.
Although they focus on city centres, they have multiple stops in all the major cities of South Africa. This page covers (click to jump to the topic):
Booking a Big Sky Intercity Bus ticket
Website bookings
Click here to book a Big Sky Intercity Bus ticket (there is also a live chat facility on the website)
Big Sky's central bookings
Tel: 087 821 8218 (also WhatsApp), a 24 hour phoneline
Tel: 021 380 4400
Email: info@bigskyintercity.co.za
Bookings in person (offices)
| East London |
012 660 0071 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Mthatha |
047 532 4937 |
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| 021 380 4400 |
||
| 021 380 4400 |
||
| 011 312 0556 |
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| 021 380 4400 |
||
| Pietermaritzburg |
021 380 4400 |
|
Cape Town |
021 380 4400 |
Physical addresses of Big Sky/Intercape soffices:
| East London |
Windmill Office Park, 126 Moore Street, Quigney, East London, 5201 |
|---|---|
| Mthatha |
LCM Ludidi Building, 3 Chatham Street, Mthatha CBD, 5099 |
| Corner of North Union Street and Fleming Street, Port Elizabeth, Gqeberha, 6001 (opposite the city hall) |
|
| Bloemfontein Tourist Centre, 61 Park Road, Willows, Bloemfontein, 9301 |
|
| Midrand Engen Petrol Station, Big Bird Petroport N1 Bridge SouthboundNew Road Junction, New Road, Carlswald, Midrand,, 1685 |
|
| Durban Station, 65 Masabalala Yengwa Avenue, Stamford Hill, Durban, 4025 |
|
| Pietermaritzburg |
264 Burger Street, Pietermaritzburg, 3201 (near McDonald's) |
Bellville Station, Mabel Road, Cape Town, 7550 |
Fax mumber
Bit Sky Intercity's fax number is 021-380-2088
Head office
Corner of Research Rd and Staal Rd, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Partners
You can book Big Sky Intercity with any of their partners:
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Spar
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Shoprite
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Checkers
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Choppies
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Blu
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Usave
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Intercape (their parent company)
Payment options
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You can pay immediately when you make your reservation, with a credit card.
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Alternatively, you can make a booking and select to pay via:
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Bank EFT
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Pay when you collect your ticket at a Shoprite/Checkers or PEP store.
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Ticket classes
There are 3 classes of tickets:
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SAVER tickets offer the cheapest bus tickets, but restrict your ability to make changes to your booking (or cancel it). Saver tickets have limited availability, so you'll need to book very early to get hold of one. s
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FLEXI
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FULL FLEXI
FLEXI and FULL FLEXI tickets generally offer more flexibility when it comes to making changes to bookings than SAVER tickets, but they are more costly.
Cancellations
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SAVER: up to 48 hours before departure with a 25% penalty.
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FLEXI: up to 24 hours before departure with a 15% penalty.
- FULL FLEXI: up to 10 hours before departure with a 10% penalty.
To change or cancel a ticket either:
- Phone 021 380 4400
- Contact the agent who sold you the ticket
- Visit the nearest Big Sky Intercity office
To cancel/change on the phone, you'll need to fax a copy of your ID to 021-380-2088.
Changes to bookings
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SAVER: up to 15 minutes before departure with a 25% penalty + any difference in fare
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FLEXI: up to 15 minutes before departure with a 15% penalty + any difference in fare
- FULL FLEXI: up to 15 minutes before departure with a 10% penalty + any difference in fare
Reserved seating / seat allocation
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SAVER: no seat reservations allowed.
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FLEXI: yes, seat reservations may be made, but only on some routes.
- FULL FLEXI: yes, seat reservations may be made, but only on some routes.
Reserving seating is only possible on certain rroutes, and then only if you bought your tickets at :
- Bit Sky Intercity's call centre; or
- Big Sky Intercity offices.
Discounts available
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SAVER: no discounts
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FLEXI: discounts are available
- FULL FLEXI: discounts are available
Ask your sales consultant about the following discounts, and their terms and conditionss:
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Seniors discount
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Loyalty discount
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Student discount
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SAP & SANDF discount
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Family discount
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Children's discount
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Return & connecting discountss
Luggage limits
Luggage is taken "at own risk", passengers have no recourse if something happens to the luggage. Passengers should take out their own travel insurance to protect them if wish so (Big Sky Intercity does not offer travel insurance).
A passenger may take no more than 2 pieces of luggage.
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SAVER: 20kg (domestic trips)
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FLEXI: 20kg (domestic trips)
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FULL FLEXI: 25kg (domestic trips)
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Cross-border: 30kg
Each piece of luggage must not be bigger than 30cm x 80cm x 60cm,
Excess luggage being charged for on a per kg basis.
Big Sky Intercity reserves the right to refuse to take luggage on board. There are certain common-sense items that you cannot take with you: "BIG SKY INTERCITY will not transport the following: weapons, rearms and ammunition (unless arranged and agreed to in writing by BIG SKY INTERCITY), or any explosives, reworks, any illegal items including drugs, substances used to manufacture narcotics and illegal cigarettes, hazardous materials including acids, batteries containing liquid acid, gases in cylinders, flammable, corrosive or caustic materials or products, poisons and radioactive materials or products, live animals, abattoir products, corpses, assembled coffins, perishable goods including, but not limited to meat, fish, any other food or perishable food products (save for food and beverages taken on-board for consumption whilst travelling), dry ice, used fuel tanks, paint."
When you board you should optain a Big Sky Intercity luggage sticker.
Social Media
BigSkyIntercity on Facebook
@BigSkyIntercity on Twitter
@BigSkyIntercity on Instagram
Big Sky Intercity sometimes runs competitions on their social media platforms, e.g. where you may win a R1000 travel voucher if you like and tag and share on their Facebook posts:
Routes
Pretoria to Cape Town, with popular stops on the way being:
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Johannesburg
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Kimberley
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Bloemfontein
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Kroonstad
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Beaufort West
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Worcester
Pretoria to Durban, with popular stops on the way being:
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Harrismith
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Swinburne
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Pietermaritzburg
Pretoria to East London, with popular stops on the way being:
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Welkom
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Aliwal North
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Queenstown
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King William's Town
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Stutterheim.
Pretoria to Port Elizabeth, with popular stops on the way being:
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Kroonstad
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Colesburg
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Bloemfontein
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Graaff-Reinet
Cape Town to East London, with popular stops on the way being:
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Bellville
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Stellenbosch
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Paarl
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Worcester
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Robertson
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Swellendam
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Riversdale
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Mossel Bay
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George
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Wilderness
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Uitenhage
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Graaff-Reinet
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Port Elizabeth
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Queenstown (Komani)
Life on the bus
USB charging points, adjustable seats, seat belts, emergency toilet, air conditioning outlets and reading lights above each seat, onboard entertainment (with a Christian ethos, like Intercape their holding company) and blue litter bags.
Toilet review!
Travelling from Parys to Plettenberg Bay, Bryan shares this review of the toilet:
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really steep to get down to the toilet.
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if the man/woman toilet sign is green, it's empty and you can go to it; but if it's red that means that somebody is busy there.
At Bloemfontein they changed from Big Sky Intercity to Intercape Sleepliner (checking in at the Bloemfontein Intercape lounge), which seemed to offer more legroom.
Refreshment stops
Refreshment stops are for 15 minutes, where you can buy food and drinks. Do not leave anything valuable on board the coach when you disembark. Take note of the license number plate of the coach so that you board the correct Big Sky Intercity bus.
Pregnant mothers
All expectant mothers must sign the "Indemnity: Expectant Mothers" form before boarding.
- Pregnant passengers are not permitted to travel beyond 30 weeks of pregnancy.
- Those who are 28 weeks or more along must present a medical certificate confirming their fitness to travel.
Children
Children younger than 24 months may travel free of charge on the lap of their accompanying guardian/parent.
All children under the age of 18 years, whether accompanied or not, need to comply with the h the South African Immigration Act and its related regulations (phone 0800 601 190 for details).
Children under 12 years old must be accompanied by a guardian or parent who is over 18 years of age.
Children between 12 and 18 years old will only be allowed to travel alone if a specific indemnity form has been completed.
Read the terms and conditions of travel for full details.
Crossing national borders
Passports are required (and potentially visas too, depending on your nationality).
Passengers should ensure that they comply with the countries' health regulations.
Border control officers may require a monetary amount to be paid.
Read the terms and conditions of travel for full details.
Complaints
Read about customers who have complained about Big Sky Intercity, and how they have dealt with it, on their HelloPeter page. Don't get a shock to see complaints, this happens with all companies; do look at the substance of the complaints, how Big Sky management dealt with the complaints, the average scores for the company and how this compares to their competitors.
Complaints included:
- the bus being late (this is by far the most common complaint for all bus services, not just Big Sky).
- heater being on (when too hot) or off (when it's too cold). PS on this point, it's advisable to always take something warm with you to put on in case you are feeling cold, even bring a duvet in winter.
- and lights being left on when passengers were wanting to sleep
Jobs
Click here to see what Big Sky Intercity jobs are available.
Click here to see what jobs are available at the wider Intercape Group.
Intercape
Intercape are the owners of the Big Sky Intercity service (click here to read more about Intercape).
Big Sky Coaches
Do you have a group (e.g. school, sports team, Church or a company team building) for which you want to make a customised booking (anything from airport transfers to school adventure weeks and events such as rugy or soccer matches). Arrange your luxury coach charter with Big Sky Intercity's sister company, Big Sky Coaches. Airport transfers are offered for both groups as well as individuals.
Big Sky Coaches has its depot in Bloemfontein but its fleet are ready to help you arrange a customised trip anywhere in South Africa. Together with the remainder of the Intercape Group,Big Sky Coaches are South Africa's leading charter tour bus operator.
Coaches are equipped with adjustable reclining seats, monitors, heating, toilets (on luxury coaches only), fridge (on luxury coaches only). There's a PA system on the coaches, as well as a radio service and a trailer may be attached if required for additional baggage.
Booking
Online bookings at www.bigskycoaches
Email bookings at sales@bigskycoaches.co.za
Telephonic booking at 051 434 3080
Fax at 051 434 2895
Other contact details
Physical address
21 Mill Street,
Hamilton,
Bloemfontein,
9301
Social media
Fleet
Big Sky Coaches' fleet consists of bus of the following sizes:
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36-seater
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57-seater
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60-seater
Recent news
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4 March 2024. New route launched! East London to Durban (stops include Umtata, Harding and Mount Frere).
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17 Jan 2024. Big Sky Intercity's fleet consists of 40 luxury coaches
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9 Nov 2023. At an event in Sandton, Intercape showcases its new Big Sky Intercity services. sHere's their welcome video:
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11 July 2023. Big Sky Intercity launch their Instagram page.
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11 July 2023. Big Sky Intercity launch their Twitter page.
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22 Jun 2023 Big Sky Intercity launch their Facebook page.
4 Oct 2022. Intercape completes its takeover of Big Sky Coaches, a Bloemfontein-based coach charter company. Click here to read more about the takeover. At the point of takeover Big Sky Coaches had a fleet of 21 luxury coaches, including both 36 and 60 seater variations.
- 19 May 2016. Big Sky Coaches makes its first Facebook post.
- Feb 2019. Big Sky Coaches creates a Twitter profile.