![\"Megabus](\"https:\/\/www.getrichslowly.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/3971786441_0b22986b43.jpg\")
<\/a>Maybe you can see why I love the Megabus<\/a>, which originated in the United Kingdom and has been providing cheap bus travel<\/a> in the United States since 2006. Currently the system operates as far west as Missouri, as far north as Boston and as far south as North Carolina, and also serves Ontario and Quebec.<\/p>\nBus 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<\/i>), who are afraid to fly, or who can’t afford either planes, trains or automobiles.<\/p>\n
Your mileage may vary, but for me the Megabus worked incredibly well \u2014 even after my plans changed due to Hurricane Irene.<\/p>\n
<\/span>How Can It be That Cheap?<\/span><\/h2>\nMegabus 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.<\/p>\n
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<\/b> \u2014 but again, you could pay a lot<\/i> less, especially on short trips.<\/p>\n
Bus travel has a lousy reputation in this country. I’ve heard dire tales about \u201criding the dog,\u201d i.e.<\/i>, 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.)<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
For me, saving money is usually more important than saving time.<\/b> 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<\/i> me for Internet use.<\/p>\n<\/span>Comfortable and Frugal<\/span><\/h2>\nI’d used the Megabus once before, during my trip to the United Kingdom<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\nTrain travel is expensive on this side of the pond, too. As of last week, here’s what Amtrak would have cost:<\/p>\n
\n- Philadelphia to New York City, between $49 and $150<\/li>\n
- New York to D.C., $78 to $209<\/li>\n
- D.C. to Philadelphia, $48 to $170<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Obviously, buses move more slowly than trains. But not much<\/i> slower, sometimes:<\/p>\n\n- Philly-NYC: 2 hours by bus; 75 to 98 minutes by train<\/li>\n
- NYC-D.C.: 4 hours, 15 minutes by bus; 2 hours and 47 minutes to just under 4 hours by train<\/li>\n
- D.C.-Philly: 3 hours, 10 minutes by bus; 88 minutes to just under 2 hours by train<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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!)<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
I always assume that any<\/i> form of transportation won’t work as expected. That way I’m never disappointed, but often pleasantly surprised.<\/p>\n\nMega Tip: <\/b><\/i>The Megabus isn’t the only cheap-seat carrier out there. Other options include:<\/p>\n\n- Greyhound is partnering with Peter Pan Bus Lines on Bolt Bus<\/a>, which runs to eight cities on the East Coast. Tickets can be as low as $1 plus booking fee.<\/li>\n
- A company called GoToBus.com<\/a> provides booking for inexpensive bus trips in the Northeast and South and on the West Coast.<\/li>\n
- So-called \u201cChinatown bus\u201d companies, such as New Century Travel, Apex Bus<\/a> and Chinatown-Bus.org<\/a>, operate in numerous U.S. cities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Having never used any of the above lines, I cannot vouch for them personally.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/span>Cutting My Losses<\/span><\/h2>\nAs 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Note:<\/b><\/i> I asked Dad to buy the ticket because using my credit card over a wifi connection would have invited credit-card fraud<\/a>. 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 \u2014 and maybe a little interest.<\/div>\nThough 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Eating the cost of a $1 bus ticket, on the other hand, was nothing. Ain’t no collateral damage like frugal<\/i> collateral damage.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Comfortable and Frugal<\/span><\/h2>\nI’d used the Megabus once before, during my trip to the United Kingdom<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\nTrain travel is expensive on this side of the pond, too. As of last week, here’s what Amtrak would have cost:<\/p>\n
\n- Philadelphia to New York City, between $49 and $150<\/li>\n
- New York to D.C., $78 to $209<\/li>\n
- D.C. to Philadelphia, $48 to $170<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Obviously, buses move more slowly than trains. But not much<\/i> slower, sometimes:<\/p>\n\n- Philly-NYC: 2 hours by bus; 75 to 98 minutes by train<\/li>\n
- NYC-D.C.: 4 hours, 15 minutes by bus; 2 hours and 47 minutes to just under 4 hours by train<\/li>\n
- D.C.-Philly: 3 hours, 10 minutes by bus; 88 minutes to just under 2 hours by train<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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!)<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
I always assume that any<\/i> form of transportation won’t work as expected. That way I’m never disappointed, but often pleasantly surprised.<\/p>\n\nMega Tip: <\/b><\/i>The Megabus isn’t the only cheap-seat carrier out there. Other options include:<\/p>\n\n- Greyhound is partnering with Peter Pan Bus Lines on Bolt Bus<\/a>, which runs to eight cities on the East Coast. Tickets can be as low as $1 plus booking fee.<\/li>\n
- A company called GoToBus.com<\/a> provides booking for inexpensive bus trips in the Northeast and South and on the West Coast.<\/li>\n
- So-called \u201cChinatown bus\u201d companies, such as New Century Travel, Apex Bus<\/a> and Chinatown-Bus.org<\/a>, operate in numerous U.S. cities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Having never used any of the above lines, I cannot vouch for them personally.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/span>Cutting My Losses<\/span><\/h2>\nAs 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Note:<\/b><\/i> I asked Dad to buy the ticket because using my credit card over a wifi connection would have invited credit-card fraud<\/a>. 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 \u2014 and maybe a little interest.<\/div>\nThough 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Eating the cost of a $1 bus ticket, on the other hand, was nothing. Ain’t no collateral damage like frugal<\/i> collateral damage.<\/p>\n
Train travel is expensive on this side of the pond, too. As of last week, here’s what Amtrak would have cost:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Philadelphia to New York City, between $49 and $150<\/li>\n
- New York to D.C., $78 to $209<\/li>\n
- D.C. to Philadelphia, $48 to $170<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Obviously, buses move more slowly than trains. But not much<\/i> slower, sometimes:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Philly-NYC: 2 hours by bus; 75 to 98 minutes by train<\/li>\n
- NYC-D.C.: 4 hours, 15 minutes by bus; 2 hours and 47 minutes to just under 4 hours by train<\/li>\n
- D.C.-Philly: 3 hours, 10 minutes by bus; 88 minutes to just under 2 hours by train<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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!)<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
I always assume that any<\/i> form of transportation won’t work as expected. That way I’m never disappointed, but often pleasantly surprised.<\/p>\n
\nMega Tip: <\/b><\/i>The Megabus isn’t the only cheap-seat carrier out there. Other options include:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Greyhound is partnering with Peter Pan Bus Lines on Bolt Bus<\/a>, which runs to eight cities on the East Coast. Tickets can be as low as $1 plus booking fee.<\/li>\n
- A company called GoToBus.com<\/a> provides booking for inexpensive bus trips in the Northeast and South and on the West Coast.<\/li>\n
- So-called \u201cChinatown bus\u201d companies, such as New Century Travel, Apex Bus<\/a> and Chinatown-Bus.org<\/a>, operate in numerous U.S. cities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Having never used any of the above lines, I cannot vouch for them personally.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/span>Cutting My Losses<\/span><\/h2>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Note:<\/b><\/i> I asked Dad to buy the ticket because using my credit card over a wifi connection would have invited credit-card fraud<\/a>. 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 \u2014 and maybe a little interest.<\/div>\nThough 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Eating the cost of a $1 bus ticket, on the other hand, was nothing. Ain’t no collateral damage like frugal<\/i> collateral damage.<\/p>\n
- A company called GoToBus.com<\/a> provides booking for inexpensive bus trips in the Northeast and South and on the West Coast.<\/li>\n
- Greyhound is partnering with Peter Pan Bus Lines on Bolt Bus<\/a>, which runs to eight cities on the East Coast. Tickets can be as low as $1 plus booking fee.<\/li>\n