Is Greyhound always this awful? (rent, airports, best, Amtrak)

[nightbird47]

I went back to cali for Thanksgiving and went to a convention over the weekend. In order to get back where I was staying I had to take the Greyhound.

Never never never again.

I followed reccomendations and took a cab from Union Station in LA to the bus station and went inside... It was packed. Bought a ticket and paid an extra five dollars for a reserved seat. I went to get some food.

There were two people working. One looked at me and I ordered. She looked at me again and went to the next person babbling on in Spanish. Eventually the other woman ask if I'd been served and I said I though... the first one threw up her hands and apparently doesn't speak English. A sign of things to come.

Ate my food and waited for the bus. Okay, I understand that its the heavist travel day and busses would be late, but when its been two hours a polite response would be nice from the guy in the yellow vest. But universally, except for the woman who sold me a ticket, everybody was exceptionally rude.

The bus was five hours late.

95 precent of the people there were hispanic, but this is a national carrier and we were not in Mexico. But people who spoke English to ask things were in short supply.

Finally the bus arrived, and I'm pointed toward the bus. People are already climbing on. Apparently I wasted my five dollars. The bus is old, smells bad, things are rattling and the seat I picked didn't recline. So I moved back to one that shook but at least it wasn't so uncomfortable.

Lots of noisy conversation (in Spanish) and mp3 player not charged

Bus rattles its way onto the freeway. Goes for a bit and pulls over. Eventually someone says in English to me that it has a flat tire and they are sending a new bus... sigh...

Everyone seems to think its funny but me.

I'm not paying attention and people start getting off. Something had been said in Spanish but I don't understand it... got a translation from a passanger that the second bus was there. As I got off the bus asked the driver if he spoke English. He said "um pocito".... told him if he's driving a bus he should speak both...

Second bus was better, still dirty but didn't smell. It was still one the transit district would put out to the farm. Way late got there and got back.

Will never ever take Greyhound again.

So, just wondering if I picked a bad place to take it of if they are all as bad just in case I'm stuck some time.

[Erma]

I'd rather rent a car than take a greyhound. I guess it's the best way of travel for those who don't drive long distances or fly.

[jtur88]

Do you speak English? Good. Then start riding Greyhound all the time, and persuade your English speaking friends to ride Greyhound, and then there will be people speaking English around the bus station.

[scarletneon]

oh i think everyone on my greyhound that i took for thanksgiving spoke english, so we're ok there, but there was newly released convicts that got on the bus about a quarter of the way through the trip.

i guess i'd rather hear spanish from people that are minding their own business in their own conversation, than have newly released convicts (english speaking though) hovering over me because they oversold the bus.

to each their own.

[CHIP72]

I've ridden Greyhound a couple times for short (about 100 mile) trips, including one yesterday (Washington to Richmond; I used Amtrak for the return trip). I didn't have any problems either time I used Greyhound. However, I did try to use Greyhound once back in 2005 and I found out they can and will oversell the bus, so if you aren't near the front of the line you might not get on and they'll have to get another bus or you'll have to wait for the next one. I really don't like that setup.

In addition to Greyhound, I used one of the Trailways providers (Capitol Trailways of Pennsylvania) for a Harrisburg-New York roundtrip on the Friday between Christmas and New Year's Day in 2007. That trip (about 170 miles one-way) wasn't bad either, though on the return leg we waited and waited to get on the bus; it turned out they were concerned the bus might break down, so we transferred buses at one of the scheduled stops on the way back. Of course, no one told us while we were waiting in line there was problem or why there was a problem.

For relatively short-distance travel (under about 4 hours), scheduled bus services aren't bad to use, but I wouldn't use Greyhound or Trailways for long-distance travel unless I was financially destitute.

I should note I have also used both Megabus and BoltBus for travel between Washington and New York and both are fine, though I prefer BoltBus. (However, Megabus usually is a bit cheaper than BoltBus and has a better schedule for a late night return from New York.)

[Huckleberry3911948]

its not great however one giant advantage unlimited stop over privileges.

[driftwoodpoint]

My husband had to take the bus several years ago. I can't really remember why. He said, never again, also. He said it was dirty and smelled and would do anything before he would take a bus again.

[babigyrl5]

Its a hit or miss. I would rather have non english speaking people than the convicts I used to get. One time, the guy sitting in front of me turned around and stared at me for 3 HOURS STRAIGHT. There was almost a fight on another bus and someone did #2 on another. Now I use megabus. Its like 75% cheaper, they show movies, the seats recline and they only make 2 stops, if that, and one is always a rest stop so you can get food and drink. The good thing is you can ONLY buy tickets online so that seeds out most people. (megabus.com) and if you know you are going to be traveling in advance (months) you can get a ticket for as slow as $1.50 ($1 roundtrip, 50 cents booking fee). I have traveled atleast 6 times rountrip to chicago from cincinnati for this price

[Gil3]

Buses are hit or miss for me. Service also depends on your point of origin and terminus as well. You think it smells bad now. You should have seen, er, smelled the buses when smoking was allowed.

As Chip mentioned, the Bolt/Chinatown buses are a great alternative, and a somewhat saner crowd.

[VegasGrace]

Many chose bus lines as they don't have ID to get thru security at the airports.

I've taken the bus in the past but won't ever do it again. Seems I can always find airfare to equal a bus ticket/food for the days it takes to ride the bus/etc.