Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Air travel should be 20-30% more, if not cheaper. A lot of it depends on your origin and destination.
You may be looking to fly out of a very small airport, and into another small airport. If that's the case, your air travel could look very expensive. Instead, catch a shuttle to a major airport, fly to the closest major destination airport, then catch a shuttle or bus to your final destination. It'll probably be the same price. You will arrive in hours, too.
The bus is useful for travel to small towns and other destinations where air travel is either not possible, or prohibitively expensive. It's not a not a very cost effective or efficient way to travel long distances where origin and destination are large cities. Rail is even less cost effective, but can be very interesting.
Traveling coast to coast by bus will test your ability to not go postal. If you are lucky the person wedged into the seat with you could either be someone that weights 400 pounds or is a single parent traveling with 2 or more kids that will misbehave the whole way. If you are not so lucky, your seatmate could either be someone that uses every meal stop to stay stoned or a homeless person who has not seen a bath or clean clothes in several weeks. Many meal stops will be at diners that do not have the staff to serve everyone before the driver says it is time to go. The only thing nastier than the restroom on the bus is the restroom at the bus stations. If you decided to forgo eating at the diner in order to use their restroom, chances are 20 other passengers will have made the same decision. If you board the bus somewhere that does not have a full service station, the driver may or may not make the effort to tag your luggage and load it in the baggage compartment. More than once I have had to lug everything on the bus, leaving my suitcase in the asile for everyone to trip over. I wish I had something positive to tell you, but I just can't think of anything.
True..Also, not too, too terribly long ago, smoking was still allowed on Greyhound buses. I remember my clothes smelling like smoke, bathroom disinfectant and lord knows what else after a long trip. The buses just had that "smell" that was hard to shake.
I forgot to mention earlier that I took a Bolt bus to NYC recently, and that was a pleasant experience. Granted, it is owned by Greyhound, but the comparison between the two is like night and day.
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
26,689 posts, read 41,605,204 times
Reputation: 41323
I actually traveled from KY to NC and back on a Greyhound bus a few weeks ago. Surprised to say, on GREYHOUND'S end they did everything pretty well. Mind you these trips only lasted 12 hours each way. The bus did a pretty solid job of arriving at stops on time and the drivers were pretty professional. It's the people riding the bus who are going to really give you h^&#. One girl started a tussle with a Greyhound employee at the Nashville terminal and at the Atlanta terminal one guy was a punk about taking up two seats until a country guy from FL help me drive him away. Also, if you route takes you through Louisville or Bowling Green in KY be prepared for Amish folks.
Also the new blue buses are much more comfortable than the older buses. They say they are only on the Northeast Routes but I caught one in KY through Atlanta.
I don't know how far your are going and I've only traveled by Greyhound once. It was the most miserible experience and I wouldn't do it again! The bus stops in every little town along its path and the stations in large towns are many times in the worst areas of the city. There are 2 bathrooms at the back of the bus and they get stopped up pretty quickly. Hold onto any valuables you are carrying tightly as you will be traveling with some pretty unsavory characters. I'd really suggest you looking into an alternate way to travel.
I'm glad I've never been on the busses you have. I've taken Greyhound several times and wouldn't hesitate to do it again. I can tell you haven't been on an bus in quite a few years. Greyhound, trying to save money, cut out most of the small town stops a long time ago. Closest bus station from here is about 60-70 miles away. The toilets on the busses are just about the same as the porta potties, so how can they get stopped up? Some people can't stand to hear people say good things about some things so they have to make stuff up.
I actually traveled from KY to NC and back on a Greyhound bus a few weeks ago. Surprised to say, on GREYHOUND'S end they did everything pretty well. Mind you these trips only lasted 12 hours each way. The bus did a pretty solid job of arriving at stops on time and the drivers were pretty professional. It's the people riding the bus who are going to really give you h^&#. One girl started a tussle with a Greyhound employee at the Nashville terminal and at the Atlanta terminal one guy was a punk about taking up two seats until a country guy from FL help me drive him away. Also, if you route takes you through Louisville or Bowling Green in KY be prepared for Amish folks.
Also the new blue buses are much more comfortable than the older buses. They say they are only on the Northeast Routes but I caught one in KY through Atlanta.
I do agree most drivers are professional. However I have had drivers that were totaly clueless when it comes to customer service.
Okay, so, during my move I'll be traveling by Greyhound bus. Now, I've traveled by bus before,but not Greyhound. What can I expect?
My experience with Greyhound is that the ride itself will be fine, IF the bus actually shows up at the depot and IF it leaves on time and IF there isn't a breakdown and IF Greyhound hasn't arbitrarily changed the bus schedule without letting anybody know.
I would love to be able to trust Greyhound enough to be able travel by bus.
Okay, so, during my move I'll be traveling by Greyhound bus. Now, I've traveled by bus before,but not Greyhound. What can I expect?
Depends how far you travel. You can probably expect crowding. I've traveled from Billings, Montana to Minneapolis, Minnesota and vice versa many times. I lived in Montana for years and would get on the bus headed east every few years to visit my family in Wisconsin.
I would start out in Great Falls, Montana on the Rimrock, which is like their local bus line. Cushy fuzzy seats, often sparse as far as number of people traveling with me.... nice. Then I would get to Billings and have to switch to the eastbound Greyhound. (I can't remember if Minneapolis was the end of the line for my eastbound Greyhound or not. The sign on the bus also may said "Chicago" or something, if it was going further east after. Hard to say. But for the trip back to Montana, I would always get on the bus that said "Seattle.")
Greyhound seats aren't terribly comfortable. I would be sure to bring a good book, an iPod (for the purpose of ignoring people, if anything), a neck pillow, a jacket or a blanket, as it gets chilly at night, anything that'll occupy you. Something with a clock on it, so you can keep track of the time during stops.
They don't show a movie or anything like that. Once they showed Shrek on the Rimrock line to Billings, but they don't do that on Greyhound. There's a tiny bathroom at the back of the bus, but I prefer to wait until the bus pulls in to rest somewhere. When the bus pulls in to rest somewhere, it's usually a gas station or truck stop. The driver tells you how many minutes you have there, and he means it. If you're going to use the bathroom, buy some snacks, have a cigarette, etc. don't putz around. You wouldn't want to be stranded. They're not going to wait a terribly long time after the wait time. Passengers on my trips have always been really good about being on time though. Guess no one wants to take any chances on being stranded . I actually bring as many of my own snacks as I can, in a backpack, so that during stops I can simply use the bathroom, get a bottle of water, fill up the empty bottle I already have if there's a water fountain, etc. (I try to avoid sugary drinks on long trips, but that's my prerogative.) A few stops are longer than others. Sometimes you'll be somewhere 1/2 hour to an hour, on long cross-country trips. The driver will let you know.
You may get some weirdos. Once a guy in the dead of night while the lights were down and people were sleeping/reading, etc.... this guy just started singing at the top of his lungs. LOL That was a rare treat. But things like that could happen. You never know. Usually the crowd is fairly decent though. I saw a lady travel with her one-year-old baby once. The baby was actually very good the whole trip, but that still has to be hard.
Overall it's not so bad. Main things - just watch your time at stops, prepare to make yourself as comfortable as possible. Warm clothes, something for your neck, music, book, etc. And I don't think I've ever had a bad driver myself. All were pretty decent and informative.
I've also traveled from Great Falls, Montana to Denver, Colorado and back before. Same scenario. Rimrock to Billings, then Greyhound the rest of the way to Denver. I think their main long layover was in Gillette, Wyoming (??).
I have rode the Grey dog many times from Bristol, TN to Vermont. Its cheap - if you buy a tickey 21 days or more in advance its $87. The new buses in the NE runs have Wi-Fi and the seats are a little bigger. Best place to try to sit is in the forward half of bus. Yes if the bus is full it can get a little tight and like ANYWHERE else there are always a few idiots/complainers. I've met good and bad folk onthe bus but then there are bad folk everywhere. The trips are fairly quick and if ya take a small pillow and lite blanket it is'nt that uncomfortable. Food wise most stops its fast food and the stops range from 10-45 minutes except on tranfers like in NY city then it can range up to 2-5 hours. All in all it aint perfect but I like it and in fact am heading to Vermont in a few weeks via the ole Grey Dog myself. If your picky, don't like people and got plenty of money next choice Amtrak.
Best place to try to sit is in the forward half of bus.
Agreed. I've never understood the people who intentionally gravitate toward the back of the bus, near the crapper. Maybe their logic is that they like to be close to the bathroom so they don't have to walk the aisle. But I think that's also where the rowdier characters like to hang, too.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. I actually bring as many of my own snacks as I can, in a backpack, so that during stops I can simply use the bathroom, get a bottle of water, fill up the empty bottle I already have if there's a water fountain, etc. (I try to avoid sugary drinks on long trips, but that's my prerogative.) A few stops are longer than others. Sometimes you'll be somewhere 1/2 hour to an hour, on long cross-country trips. The driver will let you know. 
