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I UNDERSTAND IT'S CHEAPER, but I personally wouldn't do it. A plane ride there would have been about an hour or so!
Each to their own but I paid $100 for the bus ticket. The round trip on Delta was $450. Not a chance I'm paying that much of a difference. Also, if you fly (at least in Atlanta) you have to be there 2 hours early. So the time of the actual flight is short but even a 45 minute flight puts in a longer day for flying with requirements of being there early... Just not for me.
I'm glad you had a good trip with no problems, but lets be realistic here.. Just under six hours is an extremely short trip.
I did Greyhound from California to North Carolina once. It took 10 days, and was anything but efficient.. 12 hour layovers in the middle of... somewhere with nothing to eat but the $10 bus station hot dogs, a 16 hour ride on the next leg, with another 10-12 hour layover at the next stop.
Yes, it was an uneventful 10 days so I can't really comment on the other people on the bus, but efficient it was not. Again, congrats and I'm glad you enjoyed it, but keep that in mind if you might be thinking about a longer trip..
Agreed. I'm not sure I could do a cross country trip on the bus. It would be tough.
Chinatown buses usually are the cheapest and the least sketchy of the options, which is a huge plus
As I wrote earlier in this thread, Chinatown buses have a past history of mechanical and safety issues from cutting corners and have been forced to suspend service in past. Myself, I won't use them.
I've found that riding the buses that make every stop are better than the ones that are going to the next significant route point. Maybe it's just the route I usually take, but the express route has been stopped a number of times because human traffickers were riding it with the people they were trafficking, while the bus that made every stop was usually taking military reservists to/from their station of duty for their weekend service.
I've taken Greyhound and other intercity bus lines (BoltBus, Megabus, Peter Pan Lines, some Trailways providers) a handful of times, most recently last Friday (2/3/17), and never have had a problem. Mind you, I prefer Amtrak over intercity buses, but quite frankly buses are more comfortable than airplanes nowadays (at least if you don't pay extra to sit in a better seat). Just don't use the "restroom" on a bus unless you absolutely have to.
Chinatown buses usually are the cheapest and the least sketchy of the options, which is a huge plus
I agree with the first part (regarding cost) but definitely not the second part (sketchiness). With the issues various Chinatown bus carriers have had with maintenance issues, I refuse to ride them.
Each to their own but I paid $100 for the bus ticket. The round trip on Delta was $450. Not a chance I'm paying that much of a difference. Also, if you fly (at least in Atlanta) you have to be there 2 hours early. So the time of the actual flight is short but even a 45 minute flight puts in a longer day for flying with requirements of being there early... Just not for me.
The bolded is an important point when comparing flying vs taking a bus (or train). Last Friday (2/3/17), I took a bus from suburban DC to NYC, and I literally showed up a little less than 10 minutes before the scheduled departure time. That was cutting things a little closer than I like, but giving myself 15-20 minutes leeway is common, especially if I'm using the bus station within walking distance of where I live (as I did last Friday). With Amtrak I generally like to give myself a minimum of 30 minutes if possible, but I'm willing to cut that to 15 minutes if necessary. By contrast, with flying I generally like to show up about 75 minutes before the scheduled departure time, and that buffer has cut things a little tight a couple times (i.e. boarding process has already started or will start within 5 minutes).
The biggest negative with buses (besides the restrooms) is that it is very hard to get up and walk around, even compared to flying in an airplane. Amtrak is much better than either buses or airplanes in that regard.
My friend is a Greyhound bus driver and he does it for the free Mcdonalds/Subway/etc food (freak) He loves driving long stretches of highway where he doesn't have to think. He likes being called in unexpectedly, he loves being the hero. He gets a lot of lifes purpose out of that, always bringing it up, knight in shining armor. Greyhound stops often for breaks so you can get food. You can run to the grocery store and buy something healthy. Megabus and Amtrak don't stop.
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Originally Posted by prospectheightsresident
Megabus does has layovers, as does Amtrak.
Most Amtrak trains also have a cafe car (though the food in the cafe car is usually terrible and overpriced - of course, that's no different than the airlines).
One other thing - if you ride from a relatively large (i.e. high volume) Amtrak or Greyhound station, they usually have at least one shop at the station that sells food and drinks.
megabus, bolt, chinatown buses are both cheaper and better quality than greyhound or peter pan.
FWIW, BoltBus is owned/is a subsidiary of Greyhound and Peter Pan Lines. (Additionally, Megabus is a subsidiary of CoachUSA, which operates commuter bus services in various U.S. locations, in particular the NYC area.) IMO, BoltBus is better than Megabus and the best of the point to point bus carriers, though their schedules don't provide as many options as Megabus.
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