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I'm traveling/moving from Greenville, SC to New Orleans, LA. It's a 14 or 15-hr. bus ride, or 9 hour car drive. If I take the bus, it's about $111.50, each way, with all taxes & fees included. About $223 total, round trip. If I rent a car from Enterprise...the smallest 1 is $25 per day. (Looks like now $40/day.) I don't have my own car or car insurance, so I have to buy THEIR insurance. Another $25 per day. So, about $50 per day for both insurance & car, & more money for additional fees & gas. If I rent the car, I plan to have it for 3 days.
I don't have patience to take the bus because I'm tired of rude bus drivers, poor customer service, & employees losing my luggage. But I'm kind of scared to rent a car because I only drove a little, within a span of 10 or more years. I still have my license & the skills to drive. I'm just scared because I haven't done a lot of driving. I rented a car & drove earlier this year, & did fine with driving in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was scary, but I made it.
Also, the Greyhound bus station is about an hour & 20 minute walk for me, from the nearest public transit bus stop with all my luggage, & the taxi drivers act like they don't trust picking people up from the Greyhound station or the airport. Also, the public transit buses don't even go near the airport. I'm in a quite complicated situation. The Amtrak is about 20 minutes walking distance from my house, but it costs $100 more for round trip than Greyhound. It looks like I have no other alternative, but to rent a car. I'm probably moving with no furniture, but if I take my bed, I may have to rent a cargo van. I'm thinking about taking my bed with me to move, but I'm not sure yet. Many people STILL suggest I take the Greyhound. I'm disabled & on fixed income. There's no way I can lug all my stuff to the Greyhound station, & the Greyhound station here in Greenville isn't even a 24-hour one. I think my stuff is too much for a small taxi. If I rent a car, it probably would have to be a full-size big one or an SUV if I don't take my bed, but if I DO take my bed, I would have to get a cargo van. Maybe a pickup truck.
If any of you had to be in my predicament, what would you do? Thanks for the advice, in advance.
Ask for a seatbelt extension from flight crew. That might be your only issue.
I may have to leave my bed behind & look into the inflatable mattress. That way, I probably may not need to rent anything. How would I need to go about shipping my important papers, extra clothes, & other valuables that couldn't fit with the buses or trains? With all my stuff, the amount I would pay for shipping through Greyhound or any other shipping company, I may as well rent a vehicle? I may have to rent a big car or an SUV.
You can UPS/FedEx stuff to yourself. That's what I did.
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The Greyhound bus station is no longer downtown. It's WAY on Woodruff Rd., where the transit buses don't go.
Oh yeah.. forgot about that.. There was a big hoopla about that when it happened a couple years ago. It's just the Greenlink station downtown now. The hoopla was about residents there being annoyed at the quality of people hanging around the bus station.. Which probably should factor into your decision about whether to ride the bus.
so, you're within walking distance of Woodruff, not downtown.. Ick.. That makes Amtrak more difficult.
Yeah.. well, i'd say my advice holds. If you're going and not moving things (there's so many going back and forth on this I'm uncertain if you have any trips like this).. Then even getting an Uber or cab to the train station is not going to be much extra.. I think the '3 day rule' holds true.
As many HORRIBLE drivers there are on the road, I can't believe how many people trying to make like I don't have the mentality to drive. You don't even know me! & I don't have "lack of" experience. SMH! How do you expect someone to GAIN experience?
I'm sure nobody here knows you personally. This is a public forum and you asked a question to strangers you don't know. I wasn't being rude or funny, I just gave you my opinion, and sound like you are taking it personally. I'm prior military and I have driven all across this country , and I have seen some pretty bad things out there. But do what you want, just be safe.
The clientele who ride Greyhound can be really sketchy, so I'd say either ride Amtrak or rent a car. And of course, sell off or give away items you don't need anymore before your move. You always could possibly rent a U-Haul for your stuff, and do that one way to New Orleans.
Amtrak is at the mercy of the freight railroads, and delays due to it being held up on a side track to let a freight train pass aren't uncommon. Freight railroads usually let their trains pass first over Amtrak long distance trains, in my experiences. But if you don't mind the delays and that it won't always strictly stick to the posted schedule, it's a very fun and relaxing way to travel.
Amtrak is at the mercy of the freight railroads, and delays due to it being held up on a side track to let a freight train pass aren't uncommon. Freight railroads usually let their trains pass first over Amtrak long distance trains, in my experiences. But if you don't mind the delays and that it won't always strictly stick to the posted schedule, it's a very fun and relaxing way to travel.
So, a few things I noticed when I went to the Greenville Amtrak to pick up the boy on Friday.. His train was about 3 hours late because they wound up stuck in Anniston with a broken down train in front of them. Didn't make up a lick of time. Still spent 30 minutes sitting in Atlanta.
There is bus service to the Amtrak station in Greenville. So, could ride the bus to get to the train.
Almost have to expect the train to be late. Since Friday it hasn't been LESS than an hour and 45 minutes late on the Northbound side.. Going south, which is what OP would be doing, seems much better. Between 30 and 60 minutes most days.
Box the remaining stuff, then mail the boxes to your destination.
Take two carry ons plus two other boxes on Amtrak. Uber to new digs.
Or pay a henious amount to rent a car, ONE way. Put your stuff in the car, don't stay in hotel overnight with your stuff in full view. Unload car at your new place, fill tank up, return car in new city, ask them to take you home.
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