Why I love the megabus: A closer look at a seldom-used (but cheap!) way to travel
I’m in the middle of a month-long trip to the East Coast: a little work, but mostly tourism. Although the conference I attended was in New York City, I flew to Philadelphia because it’ll be easier for me to get back there after I’ve hung out with family and friends.
That meant I needed to get myself from Philly to New York, from there down to Washington, D.C., and then back up to Philly to do my visiting. The total cost of those three trips was — wait for it — three dollars and fifty cents.
That is not a typo. I spent $1 for each of the three tickets and 50 cents to book them.
Bus trips aren’t for everyone. But they might be just the thing for people disgusted by air travel (yep, TSA, I’m talking to you), who are afraid to fly, or who can’t afford either planes, trains or automobiles.
Your mileage may vary, but for me the Megabus worked incredibly well — even after my plans changed due to Hurricane Irene.
How Can It be That Cheap?
Megabus has no bus terminals to maintain, insure and staff. Instead, it picks up and drops off on city streets or at existing facilities such as 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. You buy your ticket online and present a reservation number to the driver.
Ticket prices vary based on when you buy and how many seats have already been sold. As the vehicle fills and/or the departure date approaches, fares gradually go up. The average ticket price is $20 — but again, you could pay a lot less, especially on short trips.
Bus travel has a lousy reputation in this country. I’ve heard dire tales about “riding the dog,” i.e., endless treks on grimy Greyhound buses with scary and/or smelly fellow travelers. In fact, Greyhound is not only working to clean up this image but has also begun to experiment with super-cheap tickets. (More on that below.)
Not everyone has time to ride the bus. If you were traveling on business you’d probably hop the shuttle from New York to D.C. Then again, you’d have to factor in the trip to the airport and at least an extra hour to make sure you get through security.
For me, saving money is usually more important than saving time. That’s because the cheaper I travel, the more I can do of it. And did I mention that the Megabus has free wifi? On my flight from Seattle to Philly they wanted to charge me for Internet use.
Comfortable and Frugal
I’d used the Megabus once before, during my trip to the United Kingdom. The bus took me from London to Cardiff, Wales and back, an experience that was both comfortable and frugal: cushy seats, smooth ride, ridiculously cheap ticket (just over $10 USD round-trip). The national railway would have been as much as $262.
Train travel is expensive on this side of the pond, too. As of last week, here’s what Amtrak would have cost:
- Philadelphia to New York City, between $49 and $150
- New York to D.C., $78 to $209
- D.C. to Philadelphia, $48 to $170
Obviously, buses move more slowly than trains. But not much slower, sometimes:
- Philly-NYC: 2 hours by bus; 75 to 98 minutes by train
- NYC-D.C.: 4 hours, 15 minutes by bus; 2 hours and 47 minutes to just under 4 hours by train
- D.C.-Philly: 3 hours, 10 minutes by bus; 88 minutes to just under 2 hours by train
Those travel times are not guaranteed. For example, my Philly-NYC trip was about 20 minutes late because traffic backed up at the Lincoln Tunnel. (Surprise!)
But planes are notorious for being late, too. When I traveled from Los Angeles to Phoenix earlier this year, the flight was delayed so long (more than two hours) that the airline finally just booked me onto the next plane going out.
I always assume that any form of transportation won’t work as expected. That way I’m never disappointed, but often pleasantly surprised.
Mega Tip: The Megabus isn’t the only cheap-seat carrier out there. Other options include:
- Greyhound is partnering with Peter Pan Bus Lines on Bolt Bus, which runs to eight cities on the East Coast. Tickets can be as low as $1 plus booking fee.
- A company called GoToBus.com provides booking for inexpensive bus trips in the Northeast and South and on the West Coast.
- So-called “Chinatown bus” companies, such as New Century Travel, Apex Bus and Chinatown-Bus.org, operate in numerous U.S. cities.
Having never used any of the above lines, I cannot vouch for them personally.
Cutting My Losses
As then-Hurricane Irene labored up the coast, I realized it would be really dumb to complete the D.C. portion of my trip. Remember, at that point meteorologists were predicting Armageddon-by-the-Potomac.
So I had my father book me a ticket for the NYC-to-Philly Megabus. Even with just a few hours’ advance notice, the cost was only $15.
Note: I asked Dad to buy the ticket because using my credit card over a wifi connection would have invited credit-card fraud. As soon as I arrived I repaid the $15. Later I gave him half my cheesesteak sandwich, which took care of the 50-cent booking fee — and maybe a little interest.
Though Irene packed a punch, she wasn’t nearly as destructive as she could have been. But better safe than soggy. Had things gone the other way, I’d have been shut out of all the touristy things and, worse, unable to meet deadlines if the power had gone out.
Being on the Megabus cut my losses considerably. If I’d been traveling on an uber-discounted, sorry-sucker-no-refunds-not-ever-ever-ever airline ticket from Philly to D.C., I’d have been really irritated. Yeah, I could probably have gotten airline credit to use at a later date, but it no doubt would have come with restrictions.
Eating the cost of a $1 bus ticket, on the other hand, was nothing. Ain’t no collateral damage like frugal collateral damage.
Photo by Buddahbless.
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There are 130 comments to "Why I love the megabus: A closer look at a seldom-used (but cheap!) way to travel".
You mention casually that the buses are not always on time, but I think that merits a little bit more. My partner took the bus (either Bolt or Megabus) between Philly and NYC to commute for work three days a week for two years. The bus was NEVER on time. It ranged from 20-30 minutes late, like yours was, to sometimes two hours. On average I would say it was around an hour late. Eventually they began stretching their estimates for the duration of the trip, but the bus was still late. The wifi was not working roughly 25% of the time, and the bus varied in temperature (in fact, Bolt recently added a note to their FAQ about how you can expect the bus to be cooler in front and warmer in back – I might have that in reverse).
If you’re prone to motion sickness or if you’re intending to travel during rush hour expect a long, slow, inconvenient and frequently uncomfortable ride. It’s still economical, but whenever we could, we scoped out Amtrak fare deals.
I’ve been traveling a lot since January 2010 and I would have to say that few, if any, of my flights have been on time.
Some were VERY late, such as the one I mentioned above. And I was sitting in a wheelchair at the time, having come from the emergency room after falling down the steps at my house-sitting job. Not comfortable, not fun, but the price I accepted for booking an airline ticket.
If your partner had been driving that commute three times a week, s/he might have been late on a regular basis due to the nature of highways and tunnels.
Again: Bus travel is not for everyone. But it works for plenty. Personally, I’d rather be inconvenienced for a buck than for a couple of hundred dollars.
Not only that, but the train network in the States is terrible. You compared travel times between Philly and NYC; try comparing the train and bus times between Pittsburgh and NYC! It’ll take you like a full day to get there via train.
I hate the TSA and the train network in the States is nigh-useless. When I move back there, I plan on using buses as much as possible.
(note: I live in Japan right now. I would say ‘god bless the Japanese transportation system’, but that makes it sound like it was a gift from above. They have a great system here because they invested in it, and use tax dollars to pay for it. I wish the US would do the same.)
I’ll say ‘amen’ to that! We were posted to Tokyo for four years; still overseas and return once a year on R&R. We used to take the Limosine bus service to/from the airport at 3,000Y/each, then we discovered the train – 1/3 the cost and it’s great!
I love the subway system there – so easy with possibility to purchase prepaid cards and a great on-line travel planner.
Um, WTF? How?
Anywhere you enter/submit your credit card details should be over “https”. If that is the case (and if it isn’t, you probably don’t want to put your card details in, no matter where you are), it doesn’t matter if you’re using an unsecured wifi point where everyone can see your raw TCP/IP traffic, because the “s” in “https” tells you that everything is suitably encrypted at the next layer up.
(Using “https” over a secured wifi link doubly-encrypts the traffic for the hop from your PC to the wifi hotspot, and ensures it’s encrypted for all the other hops between the wifi hotspot and the server you’re sending your details to)
If the wifi on the bus was compromised, someone could pose as an intermediate node:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-in-the-middle_attack
Granted, this could happen anywhere, but somehow “public access” screams “questionably secure”.
And that’s why https uses a certificate chain, with CA root certs provided as part of your OS and/or web browser, to prevent MITM attacks.
Actually, the very page you link to states:
I wasn’t actually on the bus when I needed to change the ticket — I was using public wifi at a McDonald’s.
Apparently I don’t know enough about what’s safe and what isn’t safe but it just didn’t feel secure to me to send my credit card information out from a public wifi signal.
My dad was happy to do it for me — and that was BEFORE he knew he’d get to share a cheesesteak. 🙂
Do you use your credit card in restaurants? If so, you have exposed yourself to far more risk than you would using your credit card on public wifi.
Yeah but ya shorted him fifty cents and made up for it in half a sammich :0 I’m sure he will remember that in the will:)
https does not mean ‘unhackable’ like you claim it is. Even though the traffic is encrypted, it can be captured and decrypted.
Matt says, “it can be captured and decrypted.”
I’m sorry, this is just not true in practice. In theory this is true. In practice, no one (except perhaps the government) has the computing power and mathematical know-how to pull this off. If your connection is https, then it is secure.
Man in the middle attacks are a concern with secure links, but the certificates that protect communications are also signed. If your browser doesn’t pop up a big warning about the certificate signature, then there’s not a man-in-the-middle.
I have no qualms about using wireless to make https connections and do work. And I’m a professional mathematician with a better-than-average interest in computer security an encryption.
General reply to all on the security of wifi/https. I’ve worked in infosec for years, including for DoD so I do have a good amount of knowledge on this subject. So, just to clear things up on the risks here.
If the site is https that doesn’t mean it’s infallible but it does mean it’s encrypted. The S stands for either SSL or TLS which are encryption protocol suites.
Then again, just because something is encrypted doesn’t mean it’s secure. You have to be using sufficient encryption. Hopefully the website you use using an adequate encryption algorithm such as AES/RSA/3DES and an adequate strength such as 256/2024. 128/1024 also works but I believe NIST will likely change their standards to require 256/2048 in the next few years due to computing power increases. You can verify the type of encryption by checking out the certificate of the website.
When it comes to encryption, all that’s protecting you is the time it takes to break that encryption. The higher the bit count the more time it will take to hack.
As for the wifi issue, I would be more scared about entering secure information from a public computer (think library/hotel/kiosk) than over wifi, IF the website your on is encrypted properly. As long as you’re on your own laptop then you are less likely to have your keystrokes logged. Something to check for though is a website redirecting you to an unecrypted page after logging in. A lot of webmail site (hotmail/yahoo) used to log you in encrypted but then when you got to your inbox anything you sent out was unencrypted. If done over public wifi it would be easy to sniff that traffic and read what everyone is emailing about. Just make sure the https stays there if you’re entering anything you don’t want others to read.
This ended up being longer than I thought so I’ll just add one more quick thing. WEP does not count when it comes to securing wireless. If someone says their wireless is “encrypted” with WEP that’s a perfect example of using encryption that doesn’t actually protect anything. WEP is crackable in a matter of seconds. Now I’m stepping down off my soap box. 🙂
True.
Except that none of the ciphers used by SSL/HTTPS have been properly broken yet, with only reductions of around 2^4 available against the least-secure of them.[0] And that’s assuming an HTTPS session gives the attacker enough data to work with that allows this full reduction. (Probably true though. The SSL handshake is probably enough.)
That still leaves a brute-force keyspace of 2^124 or 2^252 for an attacker to search, which requires more computing power than exists in the world, for a time period considerably longer than a human lifetime, and certainly longer than the time before your credit card expires. Of course, an attacker might get astronomically lucky, so cracking your session is theoretically possible. But it’s more likely that you and all your family members will get struck by lightning within the next 24 hours.
Also, it’s worth noting that HTTPS uses the same ciphers as wifi encryption. If you believe HTTPS is broken, then secure wifi won’t save you. Also, even if you don’t use wifi, if you think that HTTPS is broken then you’re operating under the assumption that every router, gateway and server between you and a merchant can see your credit card details every single time you make a purchase online. And there are quite a few of those. If that’s the case, you probably want to stop using your card online at all.
Except maybe for one final purchase of a tin-foil hat. 🙂
[0] Ignoring attacks against reduced-round versions of the ciphers, as real world implementations always use the full number of rounds.
Came to read a personal finance bus story, and a wifi security discussion broke out. awesome.
I like the concept of the MegaBus, I just wonder about its safety. I seems like there have been a high percentage of accidents and deadly crashes involving MegaBuses in recent months. It just be my uninformed perception, but I don’t know if I would trust to put my life in the hands of a megaBus.
No, that was a different company. Ultimately the NTSB shut it down.
I know of one big mega-bus crash. The other bus crashes have been the “Chinatown” buses, I believe.
I wouldn’t ride one of the overnight/dead of the night buses, though. Don’t mind an overnight plane flight, but buses can’t (yet) drive themselves and one little doze and…
actually they CAN (as in the technology exists) but no-one has equipped a vehicle with autopilot yet… if every car had it, we would probably see a whole lot fewer fender benders.
And a whole lot more questions on insurance liability that arise when an “auto-pilot” car hits another “auto-pilot” car.
my sister has traveled from DC to NYC on the cheap busses (DC trailways?) without issue. i DO NOT allow ANY of my friends to ride a chinatown bus- fung wah, lucky star, etc. they flip over and injure passengers regularly. your health isn’t worth the $20 savings!
i got a great bus ride from NYC to atlantic city last summer- $25 there and back, $25 in casino vouchers. i ended up losing my return ticket trying to redeem the voucher, so i paid an extra $25 to go home 😉 not the end of the world.
refreshingly easy travel in our TSA era.
I have used the Megabus for short trips between Detroit and Chicago. It’s the perfect solution! It’s cheap, I don’t have to drive, O’Hare is a very long and expensive cab ride to where my meetings or conferences always are, and I always get a ton done with the FREE wifi.
Smart tip here!
When it’s good, it’s very very good — and apparently, when it’s bad it’s horrid.
I have used Megabus, Bolt, and Greyhound going to and from NYC and DC/Philly. By far the nicest is the Bolt bus. It’s kind of amazing for $15 bucks to have wifi, leather seats, and your own power outlet. I’ve also taken the Amtrack business express to DC. While it’s nicer to have a table to sit at, it’s not definitely $345 dollars nicer. (Bolt bus $10-15, Bus. Class Train was $360).
I’ve used MegaBus plenty of times while visiting family in the northeast. It’s amazing, especially for college kids living on a college kid’s budget. They can also work great for work purposes: I’m taking MegaBus in the near future to commute from where I live now to my job’s main office farther upstate. And it’s only going to cost A DOLLAR. Awesome!
The Seattle city bus system costs me $2.25 to $2.50 per ride. It cracked me up to travel from Philly to New York for a buck.
Seconding the university/college love for Megabus- one of my uni friends uses the original UK Megabus to go home to Leeds from London for £1!
I haven’t had good experiences with buses/coaches, but I’ve only ever used National Express. Took a New years trip overnight to Glasgow and back on one and HATED it. Slow, uncomfortable, packed, got woken up at 4am by a man talking loudly on his mobile phone.
But then again, I’ve had some nightmare trips home by train, so can’t complain really.
When I was in UK, I did travel in mega bus. Leeds to London weekend trips would cost me one pound. that’s 50 times cheaper than the train cost. In Florida there’s no mega bus yet.
My wife and I took the Megabus for a trip from Raleigh-Durham to DC for a wedding. On the way back, our driver had some sort of episode from being over-tired and collapsed, causing the bus to nearly drive off a bridge. Fortunately the passenger in the frontmost seat realized what was happening, and managed to grab the wheel and steer the bus past the bridge, onto the shoulder, where it came to a stop after the passenger managed to move the drivers foot off the gas. Nobody was injured, but EMTs had to enter the bus from the roof to provide medical support and provide a driver to take the bus to a safe location. The bus was moved to a gas station where we sat for four hours while a new driver was sent from Maryland. (We were stuck just north of the VA/NC border) – No admission of fault by megabus. No apology. No refund. Not a big megabus fan here!
Good heavens, Ryan! I’m so glad you weren’t injured.
Just as big airlines sometimes won’t make good on their foulups, smaller companies sometimes won’t admit fault. It’s appalling that you didn’t even get an apology.
Myself, I’d have made a fuss: In writing at first, and then through some other consumer guerrilla tactic, e.g., the “United Breaks Guitars” video.
Great article. Not only do I love the content, but I found this to be a VERY easy read. 🙂
Thanks, Jason.
When I looked into BoltBus to get the $1.00 fares I didn’t know that the key was to book early …and I have just found this out from this post!
Therefore, a week before our trip to see a show in NYC the fare listed on the site was $65 round-trip per person. There were five of us — pretty expensive for just a two hour drive, IMO.
So I looked into other options and booked a $175 round-trip trip for five with a different discounted bus service (I won’t say which one, but the website looked legit). Of course there were no refunds allowed.
When my daughter (teens!) found out which bus service I had decided to use, she researched it online; she found some real horror stories, like people needing to sit in the aisles due to overbooking, and safety issues, etc. She told me that she absolutely refused to ride the bus! I told her we would give it a try and call it an adventure.
Well, after waiting at the wrong bus stop, finally finding the right stop, then waiting 40 minutes in the dead of summer (HOT), then seeing the condition of that bus, well…
We ended up last minute just driving ourselves because of those reviews and ‘eating’ the non-refundable tickets.
I was fine with whatever grimy conditions we encountered on that bus…but to me it did not look safe. And trust me, I am NO snob and do not consider myself picky at all.
Bad part was that I had plenty of time to book on BoltBus or MegaBus but didn’t know how their pricing model worked. Amtrak was over $150 per person round trip!
Holly, I’m sorry you had such a lousy experience. Driving in New York stinks, but with five people I would think it’s cost-effective to drive and park vs. paying for a bus or train.
While I was in New York I got in line every day (twice a day on Wednesday) for the ticket lottery at “The Book of Mormon.” Didn’t get one, but I’m going back to New York in mid-October for another conference and I will try, try again.
Yes, Donna, driving up only cost us the price of gas and $32 to park. Unfortunately, my husband had to drive back up through NY the very next day for business, so I was trying to give him a break (he won’t let me drive with himself as a passenger…it’s a control issue he has).
Good luck getting out to see the show…should be interesting!
Thanks for the article! I’ve been thinking about looking in to Megabus for a while, but you’re right – I can’t shake the memory of the sketchy greyhound I took from NYC to upstate NY once.
We live in Harrisburg, so getting to most places on the east coast is a relatively easy drive (and not boring, if I’m traveling with my husband). But if I’m traveling by myself, it would be nice to be able to sit back and relax on my laptop instead of doing all the driving!
I just checked the site: The Megabus goes to seven cities from Harrisburg. Those may be easy drives, but it would almost certainly be cheaper to take the bus.
Note: There is always the possibility of the wifi not working. Bring a book!
Driving trips between DC/NYC and NYC/Boston are just about 4 hours, and for many years it’s been my preference to drive rather than to fly (which is only marginally faster, if at all, and certainly is TSA-torturous these days). Taking these new bus lines might be a good alternative to driving or taking Amtrak.
I’ve taken Bolt and Megabus multiple times to and from NYC and have found Bolt superior to Megabus. I won’t discuss the discount buses because I see no reason to take them. Bolt and Megabus are usually the same price and provide superior service and piece of mind (many of the recent bus accidents have been on these discount carriers).
I prefer Bolt to Megabus for 2 simple reasons: more leg room and guaranteed seats. Seats on Megabus are closer together than on Bolt. Megabus also oversells their buses and you must arrive ~30 minutes early to get in line to get on a bus you already have a ticket for. Bolt never oversells their buses. Conversely though, because of this, you can get on a Megabus at the last minute if you book online and get in line early enough.
A note about internet – it’s a joke on all of these bus carriers (including Bolt). It’s extremely slow and don’t even think about streaming any sort of video.
I continue to use them because they are cheap alternative to taking the train.
I never expected to stream any video — just to check e-mail, approve comments on my website and maybe do a little surfing — so I wasn’t disappointed.
Definitely do what works for you with regard to convenience and comfort. I’d be getting in line half an hour early anyway because that’s just how I am.
A business traveler who cannot afford to be bumped on an airline would choose a pricier seat. Since I am not usually on a super-tight schedule, I can afford to be flexible.
While the Megabus is great, you also need to remember it is subject to traffic and breakdowns. Between myself and my girlfriend, we have taken the bus 8 times in the last 6 months with 3 breakdowns during that time and not one of the remaining 5 buses got there on time (on time being within 30 min of original arrival time). During that same time frame we have used Amtrak 10 times and 9/10 arrived on time without incident. I like saving money, but if I need transit for a weekend trip from DC to NYC, I’m going to pay the $70 for an Amtrak. just my 2 cents
Definitely not for everyone, in every situation — just as a super-cheap overnight flight with two layovers won’t work for someone who has health issues. In such a case it would be worth it to bite the bullet and pay for a daytime non-stop flight.
As I pointed out in the piece, bus travel isn’t for everyone. Do what works for you.
I wish Megabus traveled to more interesting places from St. Louis! The only big cities we can go to are Chicago and Memphis. For me, the only bad thing about bus travel would be motion sickness for hours on end.
Generic, non-drowsy Dramamine?
Or try the elastic bracelets with acupressure dots. They worked great for my husband’s seasickness.
those bracelets are only as good as your belief in homeopathics. i was supplied with a pair on the beginning of a boat ride, my sister was sure to snap a photo of me puking over the side of the boat, all over the bracelets and everywhere.
sorry for the gross mental picture, but we thought it was funny. it’s cold hard pills for me from now on.
Acupuncture, not homeopathics. But the point stands, I think.
Scopolamine patches are the answer. Prescription item. They last 72 hours. They are the only thing that consistently works for me. Side effects Sleepiness, dry mouth and blurry vision. Transderm Scop brand name. Well worth it. Nobody in my family will travel with me unless they know I am patched. Yeah, I am that bad.
If you have a doctor willing to prescribe it for you or have some on hand (like I do) from pregnancy, Zofran is far and away the best anti-nausea medication I’ve ever taken. I think it was originally meant for chemo patients (hence why it is ridiculously expensive), but that stuff works.
I hear ginger can help, try some of the crystallised stuff, you can get it from health food shops.
Whenever possible, we avoid chemical drugs/medications and opt for herbal supplements. We’ve used ginger capsules for years for motion sickness, upset stomachs, and swelling. It works for us. We get all our vitamins and herbal supplements at a reputable on-line site, but for those in the CONUS, this site has brick and mortar stores. Just be sure to buy quality products.
I think that this can be a great alternative for certain trips. I have not had a chance to use one of these yet (have never met my schedule or was not the cheapest way to go) but one should always look at all the alternative ways to get where you are going.
Jake
[rant]
PS Amtrak prices are generally horrible which is part of the reason they loose so much money every year. That difference is made up by you and I: the US taxpayer. [/rant]
No, I think Amtrak is required to make its own costs or turn a profit. It is a corporation set up by the federal government, but it is required not to run at a loss, meaning that it is NOT subsidized.
Please feel free to correct if I am wrong about this.
No, Amtrak has, according to what I can find, NEVER made a profit since it was founded in 1971. I hate referring to Wikipedia pages, but this isn’t bad and it is cited:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amtrak#Public_funding
I was able to find another source, but the data was old. This source showed that the only line that made profit was the Washington to New York line. Anyone who has tried to fly between the two knows why 🙂
Jake, as a taxpayer I also pay for roads, highways, bridges, police officers to police those roads, highways, bridges, etc. Car based transportation is not free, either.
When people bring up Amtrak “never making a profit/living off of tax dollars” it always seems to imply that somehow this isn’t the case with all the ways in which we subsidize car travel. Not to mention that as of now, the true cost per mile of car travel- including things like pollution and public health issues- are not currently factored into how much we actually pay. On top of the fact that gas is artificially much cheaper for us than in other westernized countries due to government subsidies.
I’m not arguing one is better than the other, I’m simply saying that complaining about Amtrak because it is funded by taxpayers is an argument that can also be extended to roads. My partner and I go on a LOT- I mean thousands of miles a year- of road trips. And when we’re in some desolate, empty stretch of Utah, or a one horse town in Wyoming, or a no stoplight town in Texas, Oregon, California, Idaho, wherever, and we see miles and miles of beautiful, slick, fresh roads, perfectly marked, no pot holes, maintained, nice shoulders, we often talk about how much taxpayers are subsidizing these roads so that the 25 people who live in that town can get to school or work. Personally, I’m fine with that, I like our excellent highway system, but the point still stands. My partner and I are also train nuts, and we love Amtrak. Far more comfortable than flying, you meet nice people, and it’s the most green option per passenger mile.
It’s cheaper to fly Boston to Philly than to take Amtrak (between $80 and $200 round trip for airline and $200 to $300 on Amtrak).
Thanks for the article, I live in the Philly area and will be going to the Boston area sometime in the near future for a wedding. If its feasible, I’m going to look into this.
Mazel tov to the happy couple. Hope the bus works out for you.
I just love bus travel. The variety of people on a bus provide great stories and hours of eavesdropping pleasure.
The key to cheap travel (and all of life)is that everything is about the attitude, isn’t it?
I’ll definitely check out Megabus. It sounds very interesting.
I agree that the people-watching is primo. 🙂
Attitude IS key. Not everyone is cut out for bus travel, but part of that is perception: The people are low-rent, you have to sit for hours, etc.
Well, I’ve sat next to some pretty annoying folks — and sat still for hours — on airlines, too. Granted you can’t go as far as fast by bus, but I’d be OK with sitting for four hours to get to D.C. for a dollar vs. paying for lots more for an airline ticket that required me to allow extra time to get myself to the airport and to add on an extra hour-plus to get through security.
Again: Not everyone would. But not everyone has to — it’s a free country.
Ain’t that the truth — rich people on public transportation are EASILY as vulgar and annoying as poor and middle-class people; if anything, more so.
I’d rather have to deal with a couple of loudly chattering preteens (they were sitting in front of me) than with an airline seatmate who’s had too much to drink or is complaining loudly because the Internet is down.
Another option from Philly to NYC is the commuter rail. It’s a longer trip but a lot cheaper than Amtrak. My husband would take Septa from Philadelphia to Trenton then switch to a NJT train to NYC. It was under $25. Unfortunately you can go south to Delaware by septa then there is a gap to the MARC train. There is a long term plan to connect the MARC in Newark which would mean the commuter system could get you from DC to NY and further north which would be fantastic.
Here in the UK (home of Megabus (not sure where ‘the’ came from 😉 ), you need to check very carefully when booking with them.
In Scotland specifically, they are run in conjunction with a firm called Scottish Citylink (who actually undercut them on a lot of the routes they offer).
So while it’s definitely cheaper than the bus or train most of the time, it’s not necessarily cheaper than the non-mega bus (if you see what I mean).
I commute by bus every day and will happily take a bus if the journey is less than 3 hours or so. More than 3 hours on a bus can be quite hellish and even in the little UK, it’s perfectly possible to find 9 hour bus journeys!
While in London earlier this year I met a Scottish actor who’d come down on the overnight bus (10 hours) to audition for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
He planned to head back on the bus after auditioning — and he’d brought along a bag of sandwiches. Not to carry the starving-artist or frugal-Scotsman stereotypes too far…
I once made the same trip in the same time period. A nightmare!
Then again, I’m from the school of travel that prefers less trips where I can spend a little bit more, as opposed to lots of affordable trips. No doubt because I’m a homebody 🙂
My BF and I use Megabus to go home for the holidays. It’s usually a little more expensive then, and for Christmas we have to pack light to make room for gifts on the way back, but other than that it’s never been a problem.
Megabus also offers WIFI on most of their busses. We did have one trip where the AC went out on the bus (in June!) but the company sent another bus to pick up passengers and we were followed to our destination by the bus with our luggage.
I’ve only ever been on one bus trip (not Megabus) where I felt unsafe; it was a privately chartered bus to take a group of students to a camp in Denver, and I’m fairly positive the bus driver fell asleep at one point. Megabus is really great about having stops for their passengers, which I’m sure also benefits the alertness of their drivers.
Donna,
Thank you so much! I have seen the Megabus pickups on the streets of DC while there on business. I have often wondered how they worked and how much they cost. There have been a few times when I have considered a day trip to NY during an over-the-weekend stay in DC. I figured there must be some kind of a catch to Megabus and you have just cleared the air. Now I will try Megabus thanks to you!
I hope it works as well for you as it did for me.
@Donna – Thanks for the article. Another option from NY to DC/VA is Tripper Bus. I like it better than Megabus since it picks up by Penn Station and drops off in Bethesda rather than Megabus which picks up near B&H 3 avenues away from Penn Station and drops off a few blocks away from Union Station.
I agree that from a price perspective, buses definitely win, plus free Wi-Fi is a great bonus. From a reliability, convenience, and “gotta-be-there-on-time” perspective, I prefer the train.
Thanks for the article.
We did a full comparison of all the methods for my husband to commute into NYC from CT, a trip he makes regularly through the year. We took into account mileage driven, parking costs, gas costs, and transit fare. On short-term travel (ie single-day trips), Megabus was the cheapest option, though not necessarily the most convenient. For longer stays, the costs of parking in the urban areas where they operate out of compared to parking for free near some of the more convenient local train stations quickly wiped out the savings of the $1 ticket.
Thanks for another thought provoking article Donna! Having been a full blown, car drivin’ Angeleno for quite a long time now, I will admit that I have been a ‘bus snob’ practically my entire life, as in I would never ever consider riding the bus. Until now, that is. In the UK, my mother has a bus stop right outside of her house but she has hardly ever used it, preferring to drive everywhere instead. I WISH I had that kind of public transit service here where I live in the high desert but, alas, nothing of the sort. We are car dependent out here.
When I went to Boston last year, I rode the bus for the first time in years and I absolutely mean YEARS. I loved it. In fact, after that experience of being able to get everywhere around Boston and Cambridge very cheaply, I began to think about getting rid of my cars. When I came home, I sold the family truck! I’m going to Boston again in a couple of months and I’m really looking forward to it, to being so mobile without ever using a car. Maybe I’ve been in the high desert too long and perhaps those who live in Boston will think I’m a little nuts, but I think their public transit system is great.
Now that you’ve mentioned the Megabus in the UK, I am going to plan our excursions around its service as much as possible. I haven’t been home in years so much has changed but I plan to be spending more time on the home front now that the kids are off and gone into the world!
When my daughter and son-in-law were planning to move from Seattle to Phoenix two years ago, I realized I was keeping my car only so that they would have reliable transportation. (My daughter has a chronic illness.)
So I gave them my car when they left, asking only that they remember it when they were picking out my nursing home. 😉
I’ve been car-free ever since and it’s a huge load off my mind. No more car to park, insure, gas up, get repaired and worry over. It helps that everything I need (library, bank, post office, supermarkets) are within 1.3 miles and that there are several bus lines close by that will take me to farther-flung places. Not everyone has that situation.
Me? I like the bus.
My husband and I did our Pittsburgh-DC move on Greyhound and it was reasonable and relatively inexpensive.
More recently, our family of four took Greyhound from Vancouver, BC to Kamloops, BC in order to meet family for skiing (we didn’t feel equal to the icy mountain driving). The Vancouver Greyhound/train terminal is quite lovely and comfortable, although the smaller BC bus terminals we saw were more what you think of when you hear the word “bus station.” It was very affordable, compared to the train prices for the same route, which are insane. The kids (age 4 and 7) did fine, and of course the mountain sightseeing was much better through the bus’s big window. And we had a scheduled stop near Tim Horton’s!
I wouldn’t really recommend the bus (particularly with kids) for trips longer than 6 hours, but it’s a comfy solution for mid-range trips. It takes longer, but it’s so much more comfortable than a plane. I don’t love the bus toilets, but plane and train toilets aren’t that great either.
I agree about the toilets. Wound up having to use it on the way to Cardiff. And I thought airline toilets were claustrophobic…!
The motion of the bus didn’t help, either.
I learned my lesson: Before getting on the bus in Philly I limited my fluid intake.
Members of my family have been extensive users of Megabus for years – mostly travelling between Minneapolis and Chicago. When it works, it’s cheap and wonderful. But then, there are the other times such as:
1)My son was enroute from Minneapolis to Milwaukee when the Megabus broke down 2 hours into the trip. Eventually a driver brought a new bus. The riders transferred to the new bus and then the bus turned around and took the driver BACK to Minneapolis before restarting to Milwaukee!! This added 6 hours to a 5 hour trip.
2) I brought my daughter to the bus stop 15 minutes early. As we were taking her bag from the trunk of our car, the bus pulled in and then pulled away from the stop 10 minutes before schedule and drove away. We were shocked! Luckily we were in a urban area with lots of stoplights so we chased the bus half a mile (in the rain) and banged on the door until the driver opened it. When he came off the bus to load baggage for my daughter and the other passenger who had also been left behind, he offered no apology or explanation.
3) Just last month another of my daughters made a reservation for a trip. She was only emailed the credit card charge, but not the reservation. When she noticed and called Megabus, they said that she had been charged, but she had NO RESERVATION and now the bus was full. Since she was unable to make the trip on an alternate day, she asked for a refund. They said “we don’t give refunds”. She is still fighting to get her money back on that one.
These are a few of my megabus mishap stories. I would say that 75 – 80% of the time we use the bus without incident. But when they screw up it’s a real pain!
In the case of your daughter not getting her reservation e-mailed: She should have contacted them and said, “What’s up?” before the trip. Live and learn, alas.
But the other stuff you described? I hope you complained not just to the company but also to the NTSB and anyone else who would listen. I miss the old days of newspaper “Action Line” columnists who could get these things straightened out by embarrassing the companies in print.
Oh, the Action Line columnists haven’t gone away, at least in Chicago. The Sun-Times has The Fixer, which would be perfect for this sort of problem. The Tribune may also have a similar columnist as well.
The Tribune has The Problem Solver. Very illuminating!
I’m not a fan of Megabus.
4/5 times I’ve taken the Megabus it’s been over 30 minutes late. Once, the power steering went out on the bus. Another time, the bus was overbooked and a quarter of the people in line to get on the bus had to wait 4 hours for the next scheduled bus to arrive. A friend of mine had the bus driver fall asleep and start veering onto the shoulder of the road before someone yelled at them to wake up. Did the bus driver pull over so that they could be relieved? No. Someone had to call the cops to stop the driver. It took over an hour to find a replacement, and NO REFUND was given after this was reported. On top of this, no trip from Ann Arbor to Chicago can be booked for less than $25 each way, even months in advance, the last time I checked. If you want to be treated like cattle and risk your life, go ahead.
I’m sorry you had such an awful experience. I hope that you complained long and loud to the company and/or the NTSB.
i am such a fan. I have taken the megabus from DC to CLT for less than $50 roundtrip. It is clean, the passengers are nice and clean as well. Okay the free wifi doesnt work well. I also like the bolt bus.
How is $1 a trip a sustainable fare for Megabus? I wondered that when I first saw that it ran from St. Louis where I live to Chicago. That was a few years ago. I just assumed the $1 fares were teaser rates to get people on. I guess not. I just don’t understand how a company can survive with such low fees. Even $20 for a regular fare is pretty low.
I thought the same thing the times I traveled Ryanair or other discount airlines in Europe. But in that case they got you on baggage fees and other hidden costs. How is Megabus making money?
Low overhead: No terminal to purchase, pay taxes on, heat, cool, clean or maintain, and fewer employees since you book your own ticket online.
On one trip there was advertising before the videotaped safety lecture, so that’s another income stream.
Donna, I live about 100 miles North of St. Louis. I have often wondered if I could pick up the Megabus bound for Chicago (about 200 miles North from where we live) at an interstate exit. Do you know if that is possible?
The bus picks up and drops off only at very specific places. I’d check Megabus.com to find out where those places are in your neck of the woods.
I know nothing about Megabus, but based on the post above, there is one possibility.
A bus line usually is obligated to have a bus on the route regardless of whether there are any passengers on board, and the cost of a bus running a line is mostly independent of how many passengers they have. Thus, the cost of running the line is a sunk cost and should not be considered (except when deciding on the schedule).
The pricing is sustainable if the average fare multiplied by the average number of people on board is enough to cover costs, and thus it doesn’t necessarily matter if some individual fares are below average cost.
One possible reason for offering an ultra-low fare is to fill a seat that is likely to be empty otherwise. Even a dollar is better than none.
Another reason is to reach different people. A person who is booking at the last moment is likely to have a compelling need for the seat and is likely willing to pay extra. If you don’t charge a premium for such late booking, you’re losing potential revenue. But you can’t charge everyone the premium, or you’ll lose those who are not compelled to take that particular ticket. Thus, there you already have two fares: regular and late-booked premium. But the premium means your average is higher, and that gives you the room to offer below-average-cost discounts. Those discounts will make travel affordable to more people, and you may be able to fill more seats, offsetting the low individual price.
It is also worth a lot for a company to be known for ultra-cheap fares. Thus it makes sense to sell one or two ultra-cheap seats on all trips and just eat the cost as part of the marketing budget.
Well, that’s enough speculation for today 🙂
I like traveling by bus. I made a Vegreville-Vancouver and back trip three times in two years, which took around 24 hours each way, each time. You need to be fine spending that long on the road, of course, and I was (I actually enjoy being on the road, it reminds me on road trips back when I was a kid), but it’s cheaper than driving there if you take into account the fact you save on a hotel overnight.
If you have more than one driver and can take turns at the wheel, it’s probably cheaper by car, though, and presumably faster since you don’t have to make the planned stops and you can use the itinerary you want.
Anyways. As I can’t drive, I’m used to buses for short in-city distances as well as long trips, and it can definitely be a cheap option, although it requires more planning than having a ride (or driving yourself).
Nice to see another Albertan here 😉
Since I’m in Edmonton I pick ViaRail over Greyhound for my Vancouver trips, costs more, and takes longer, but the VIEWS – and the legroom make it up 🙂 But the train is so far south of Veg that probably wouldn’t make sense for you.
But the “express deals” can be very, very good. I’m travelling Edm to Vac in October, in sleeper class (upper berth) for $182 – taxes in. Cheaper than I could fly!
$10 says tomorrow’s post is on cheap train fare or how bicycles save money over driving.
So what if it is?
Cars are expensive, and getting more and more expensive to buy and run. They’re fuelled by a finite resource, they’re made out of materials that are in demand in the manufacturing nations (India and China), and they have to be insured to the hilt in case you bump someone.
Some people can’t drive. I can’t even afford lessons. Insurance for me here in the UK- well I just looked up a quote on my parent’s car and it was £1450 (~$2350), which would wipe out all the money I make over the summer. Then there’s fuel, which is £1.32 PER LITRE.
If you don’t like posts about how sustainable transport is also usually cheaper, then don’t read them.
I was not expressing disapproval but rather remarking on the similarilty of yesterday’s post and today’s.
J.D. seems to have paid attention to us :). Yesterday’s article was about air miles. Since not all of us use air miles, we have frugal bus travel today!!
FYI: if you’re in a hurry and driving yourself isn’t an option, taking the Amtrak ACELA may actually save you time over taking a flight, because you don’t have the LOOONNNNGGGG pre-check-in wait at the airport (not to mention *getting* to the airport).
From Newark NJ to DC, I found that the travel time was about the same as driving (and that was on the cheapest trains, not the Acela).
Like airline prices, the price depends on how far in advance you book (it seems to be 4, 2, and 1 week intervals). They also have a frequent traveler program with special low fare dates; it might be worth checking into.
When I lived on the East Coast, I used BoltBus or DC2NY all the time. It was really so much more convenient and often faster than taking the plane. Look at it this way:
Flight from DC to NY:
If you can fly from DCA, awesome. But if you can’t, it’s going to be an hour to the airport, where you have to give yourself another hour, get through security, find your terminal, etc etc. Then once you get there, you have to get through the airport again, and it’s probably going to be another hour to get to your final destination (either taking a bus and a train, or waiting – maybe in the cold – for an overpriced taxi).
All that can easily take four hours without any delays.
DC2NY bus:
Take the bus that left outside my door to Dupont Circle (10 minutes). Get on the bus. Read or sleep while it’s moving. Get there in four hours, unless there’s a delay (which was rare in my case). Take the subway to my destination (maybe 20 minutes).
Takes a little more than four hours, but with so much less stress.
There’s another bus company called Vamoose which is good too. 🙂
I have mixed feelings on MegaBus. On an Chicago to Milwaukee trip, we encountered a closed off-ramp and the driver soon became lost on the way to the Milwaukee stop. The driver started asking around for directions from anyone on the bus, which was not exactly confidence inspiring. This was a few years ago, are there GPS units on the buses these days along with the WiFi?
I love the Megabus! We don’t have a lot of options in the Midwest (basically, fly, or take Greyhound, until Megabus came along – Amtrak costs 100s of dollars and won’t let you book trips that include an overnight, which they all do.) I’ve taken Megabus Minneapolis-Milwaukee several times, and it’s always been quiet, clean, and fast. Cost is less than the tank of gas it costs us to drive, which makes it cheaper than a plane ticket and WAY cheaper than Amtrak. Plus it leaves from a more bike-and-transit accessible spot downtown than Amtrak does.
Sounds like a great alternative! It is probably most effective in an urban area like the Northeast.
I’ve used the Chinatown bus (Fung Wah, in my case) to get from Providence to NYC, and from NYC to Boston. The only bummer was standing outside FREEZING my butt off in Providence – be sure to time your arrival at the bus stop carefully if the weather isn’t great, as you’re standing on a corner until the bus arrives.
It didn’t occur to me to check bus schedules when I was in the UK two years ago – I got swept up in the romance of the rails, but I bet I would have saved a bunch of money if I’d thought of Mega Bus. Thanks for the reminder!
I did ride the bus in Greece from Athens to Marathon. Of course I hadn’t intended to go to Marathon, communication barriers got in the way, but it all worked out in the end!
When I took a second side trip, to Cornwall, I rode the train. The Megabus goes to a town near where my hostess lives, but it wouldn’t have arrived until midnight. Since she and her husband were kind enough to invite me to stay for a few days, I wasn’t about to impose on them to come and collect me at that hour.
The train was nice, both coming and going.
Donna,
I don’t understand why you talked about the bus costing $1 and then later your dad paid $15. Was it a different trip?
Thanks.
The $15 one was a same-day booking when I changed my plans due to the impending hurricane. The original plan had been for me to take a $1 trip to Washington, D.C.
just a piece of advise, as others have said Bus Trips are not indeed for everyone, if you want to test yourself, I strongly suggest take the Bus trip that goes to Niagara Falls, the bus that comes from Chinatown in NYC, seriously if you will not have any complaints/ regrets after then i can say that you can survive cross country buses. I took a greyhound from Dallas to NY and i’m fine but this nigara trip….Good Lord
I travel all the time between Boston and NY and all of the methods have been horrid — 8 hours in traffic on the bus, canceled flights, overbooked trains with no seating at a cost of $150 one way. I have never been able to get on Bolt because it books up quickly, but I will try it in the future. I have always had good luck with Fund Wah, but I don’t like feeling like I’m taking my life in my hands and its just a matter of time before a bus fire or something.
Discounted bus lines are AWESOME. I used a similar line to travel from NY to VA recently. It was under $30 each way and featured personal electric outlets, WiFi, and a personal TV screen. The seats were comfortable and there were no smelly travelers. 🙂
I, personally, like to drive and see the country, so this was a great option for me. Obviously, if you value your time more than I do – maybe a plane/train would still be better for you.
Remember the old slogan? “Go Greyhound — and leave the driving to us.”
I like it when someone else drives, too. But I understand why some people prefer to fly or take the train. Do what works for you personally.
I rode Megabus from New York to Boston last year and I would have to say that if I have to ride a bus again, I would take Greyhound (which I have also taken from NY to Boston). Here are the reasons why:
1. Our bus left 2 hours after the scheduled time. (Greyhound left on time)
2. The Megabus wifi was not consistent and kept going out, and finally stayed out. We did get some wifi from a BoltBus ahead of us, since we were stuck in traffic.
3. Unless you get one of the four seats at the bottom of the bus with the tables, seats are no more comfortable or roomy than what you’d find on Greyhound. It was very uncomfortable and tight to sit with the laptop in a regular Megabus seat – that is, until the wifi just stopped working period!
4. I don’t know how people get these $1 deals, but our tickets were $20+, which was the same and perhaps even more than Greyhound. We bought our tickets several days in advance too.
Megabus – never again!
As a recent college student who went to school in Boston and lives outside of Baltimore, I’ve been using Megabus for years. It worked great at first…$6 round trip fares (of course I did have to go Baltimore to NY and NY to Boston at the time) but over time the service quality and overall comfort on the trips has gone down. Traveling at holiday times (which was pretty much all I was traveling) was usually packed. I’m glad I don’t have to use them regularly anymore, but I would use them again in a heartbeat. You just can’t beat the $1 fares.
These discount chains don’t operate much at all where I live. The one or two that do have some routes are more expensive than flying so that seems pretty pointless.
I took Greyhound a lot in college and won’t do it again by choice. If Megabus is significantly better quality/service then it might be OK for some shorter trips. But it seems several people here have had bad experiences… even worse than I ever had on Greyhound.
If I only had the time…..
Very interesting! I only wish that Megabus was through out the country. Maybe one day!
My husband took Megabus from Mpls to Chicago and back and hated every second of it. They played violent movies despite little kids on the bus and had loud music he hated. I think he was “only” an hour late to Chicago. Coming into Mpls, the driver didn’t know how to deal with construction (that had been there for weeks) and had to ask riders how to get to his destination, which he did poorly and took forever.
We were not impressed and won’t be using Megabus again. My frugal self loved the idea, but the execution was just so awful.
Yikes! There weren’t any movies on the shorter rides that I took. Just a safety info lecture.
Re lateness: The driver not knowing about the construction is pretty inexcusable. Supervisors need to inform their employees about any possible challenges on the route.
But as for it being an hour late, travel is always subject to late arrivals. In the past year and a half I’ve been on a fair number of flights that were late due to equipment problems, weather, etc. Car trips can also be longer than expected due to wild cards such as accidents that tie up traffic.
I think it’s best to be flexible.
(But I would have complained to the company about the choice of video fare.)
This is great information! My four teenagers and I can go to Chicago for $21. We could take a trip to the museums that we otherwise couldn’t afford to visit. I had no idea such a thing existed.
I’m kinda suprised at the mix of posts here! Some people seem really negative about travelling by bus. And again upset that people are suggesting alternatives to cars. I look at it pretty simple. If you want to try bus travel, try it. If you want to fly, fly. In the end, if you save money – great – but it boils down to how comfortable you are. For example: no amount of savings is going to make me dumpster dive for food but if other people are ok doing it — more power to them!
You’re playing my song: Do what works for you and let others do what works for them.
Have travelled on a Megabus between Glasgow and Preston in the UK and certainly can’t complain about the cost.
One thing that I’m not sure that has been mentioned is the legroom. I’m 6’3″ and it was a bit cramped, but then I tend to find most coaches are.
If you’re aware of it I don’t think it is a problem, but thought it should be fare to mention it so nobody as tall as I am is unprepared.
Just remember, you get what you pay for. Low fares don’t necessarily pay for great maintenance and high quality parts or for the best drivers. I never worked for one of these discount companies but I did hear quite a bit about them from their drivers at stations and stops.
@almost there (#119): Have you priced a cheesesteak lately?!?
Besides, I spent 75 minutes this morning helping him hoe weeds in a Christmas-tree field. I’m driving him and my stepmom to New York this weekend. And I’ll make him at least one batch of rice pudding using my great-grandmother’s recipe.
Things even out. 😉
“Although the conference I attended was in New York City, I flew to Philadelphia because it’ll be easier for me to get back there after I’ve hung out with family and friends.”
Why didn’t you fly into NYC and out of Philly??
I had the idea that it cost more to fly into one airport but out of a different one.
Apparently that’s not (always?) the case: My ticket to the SaveUp 2011 conference, booked by a travel agent, has me going Seattle-New York, and then Philly-Seattle, and it cost only $340.
Live and learn.
Thanks for this article. I used to enjoy occasional bus rides from Philly to NYC, and was actually thinking of doing it again. The last time I did was in 1991 and it was a horrible experience (middle of a heatwave and no AC on the bus!). 20 years later, I have decided that I miss it and would rather not have to drive. With modern amenities such as wifi, it certainly sounds enticing.
I took Bolt Bus last year to NYC from Boston and it was great. It cost me $20-25 round trip. The bus was within a half an hour of its scheduled arrival time. I drove to NYC this year and it cost me two tanks of gas and $40 parking. Also, traffic was awful. I coasted until NYC then I hit the worst traffic jam ever.
Thanks for this topic in your article. I wondered about these buses after seeing them in DC a several months ago. They were leaving from a plaza near the HI hostel I stayed at there.
I just want to add that on a trip to New Zealand in the past few weeks, I saw that a similar bus service has started there now going from Auckland to Wellington and back. An alternative to the excellent Intercity buses.
See…..thenakedbus.co.nz
Im on a MegaBus right now from Nashville to Atlanta. I booked my ticket last night and the ticket + the fee only cost me $10.65. Gas in my car with good mpg still would have been approx. 22 dollars. Great deal! And super nice driver.
Wish I could give it negative 5 stars. Booked a roundtrip from Reno to Sacramento a month ago. Two weeks ago I got an email stating my trip to Sac had been cancelled, but if I clicked on a link I could reschedule at no cost, which I did. Schedule had only CHANGED – by 20 minutes. Not sure why “cancelled”?? Today I get email saying trip from Sac to Reno is “cancelled” and to follow links. No links provided. Took over an hour to find a phone # to call, finally reached very rude customer service who said the refund had been processed and I would HAVE TO just re-book – so nooooo, I don’t HAVE to do anything – cancel the whole trip. Again, the trip wasn’t cancelled, just the TIME changed by 20 minutes!! They refused to cancel the other leg, and won’t refund me for the booking fee. They also REFUSED to allow me to speak with a Supervisor! This is THEIR fault, and it is costing me?? I think not. Do not use these crooks!!!!! I have disputed the charge on my credit card and filed BBB and DOT complaints.
I used the Megabus from Chicago to NYC. Normally, it costs me $25-$40 each way which is a lot cheaper than a plane anyway. I travel quite often for work on planes but when I travel for leisure I take the Megabus. It might take 17 hours to get there but it sure beats dealing with rude and inconsiderate TSA, high prices on check in luggage, and hassle of airports.
Thanks for the information, I in the past have only rented cars or used Red Coach, both have been great. If I was better at leaving early enough to handle a 1-2 hour delay then the bus would be great. I may have to give it a try one day. Thanks.