We don't rave about Greyhound much around these parts – we're much more partial to their shinier little sister, BoltBus. But we were checking out Greyhound's twitter feed today and stumbled upon something kinda cool.

Greyhound just announced a big price drop on their Discovery Pass – an option we didn't even know existed. Turns out Greyhound offers the option of Eurorail-style unlimited travel – you can buy a 7, 14, 30, or 60 day pass, which gives you unlimited rides throughout (most of) the U.S., Mexico and Canada. ]]> BS 2009-04-22T16:26:42-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/4/15/144137/660

We're pretty big BoltBus advocates around these parts, and when they don't have a cheap fare, we generally go with Megabus or a Chinatown line. Even though we travel between New York, DC, Philly and Boston pretty frequently, it's been a long time since we've been on a Greyhound.

So we're not sure how we feel about Greyhound's new buses—they've got free WiFi, power outlets, and more leg room—basically everything Bolt has minus the $1 fares. We know we shouldn't feel weird about considering taking Greyhound again—after all, they (very quietly) own BoltBus, so what's the difference? But there's something about it that just doesn't sit right with us. Thinking about going back to the Port Authority Bus Terminal and waiting in those cramped underground lines just doesn't seem as cool as picking up Bolt on the curb, even though we know our money is going to the same place.

Has anyone tried the shiny new Greyhound buses yet? Will you go back or are you also addicted to Bolt? Let us know your preferred method for bus travel in comments below.

Related Stories:
· Wanna Ride Greyhound? Tell Them in 140 Characters or Less [Jaunted]
· Handy Search Tool Helps Navigate the Cheap-o Bus Wars [Jaunted]
· Bus travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Greyhound] ]]> BS 2009-04-16T13:09:55-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/4/9/183921/5880

We can't decide whether to file this one under "best travel search innovation since Hopstop," or "damn! Why didn't we think of this first?"

The savvy folks over at the new Bus Junction realized the only thing wrong with all these cheap-o Northeast bus lines is that it can be time-consuming for cheapskate riders to browse all of them in search of the cheapest of the cheap fares. So they created a Kayak-like search engine—just plug in your date and destination, and they'll show you all of your options, including the Chinatown lines, BoltBus, MegaBus and Greyhound.

They don't seem to have it worked out perfectly yet. Most notably, there's no Washington Deluxe, one of the most reliable lines for DC to NY rides. But even so, this totally just doubled our cheapskate travel productivity.

Related Stories:
· Bus Junction [Official Site]
· BoltBus versus MegaBus, Round Two [Jaunted]
· Bus travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: kenudigit] ]]> BS 2009-04-10T08:41:35-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/4/6/9442/37185

Have you thrifty travelers noticed cheap-o Northeast bus lines BoltBus and MegaBus have been getting a little less crowded (and a lot harder to get those $1 fares on) lately?

Yes, Jaunted's 2008 Best Travel Newcomer and its double-decker competitor are now very much on the MSM radar. The latest to check them out is ABC Baltimore, which ran a BoltBus vs. MegaBus comparison in anticipation of BoltBus' upcoming Baltimore-to-New York service, where it joins MegaBus, already running an astounding 32 trips a day between the two cities.]]> BS 2009-04-06T13:31:32-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/2/12/9720/47058

The crazy traffic around Madison Square Garden and Penn Station gets even more crowded starting today as another discount bus service starts running the popular NYC - Metro DC route. Our friends at NewYorkology have alerted us about the birth of TripperBus, an independently owned and operated bus line which will compete with the already established Megabus, BoltBus, Fung Wah, and Lucky Star buses for a few dollars from frugal New Yorkers looking for a quick weekend in the nation's capital.

As usual, more competition means lower ticket prices and better service, and it looks like TripperBus is ready to join the bus big leagues with free wifi and fares from $1 to $25 each way. Just don't start clicking to book just yet; they are circumventing the typical Washington DC traffic by stopping instead in Bethesda, Maryland and Arlington, Virginia. As a result, they will probably become the choice bus of overnighters headed to see friends or family who live in the Metro DC area. Since we're still keen on the big city life and attractions of downtown DC, we'll stick with BoltBus until someone ponies up with free snacks.

Related Stories:
· TripperBus [Official Site]
· TripperBus Offering $1 Fare Between NYC-DC Area [NewYorkology]
· Bus Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[View from a Megabus double-decker: haaaley]]]> JetSetCD 2009-02-12T10:16:03-05:00 40.7397820 -73.660387 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/1/16/1256/43265

When Megabus announced back in November that they'd be giving away 100,000 free seats to anyone who could book them fast enough, we were quick on the button and managed to nab the deal. It's a travel deal fairy tale with a happy, economical ending; a 50-cent reservation fee is all it takes to get us from NYC to Philadelphia and back for the weekend. We know we should have gone farther, but we played it safe booking in November for a random trip in January.

Deals this hot, with so many free trips at stake, have us wondering if most of Megabus' seats for the next few months will be full of other escapists hip to online travel alerts. When you book a bus trip, if you occasionally forgo airplane travel, are you more motivated by the need to be somewhere or the desire to take advantage of the $1 specials?

We hope Megabus gets a kickback from some of its destination cities, because it seems that they benefit the most from these random visitors and their tourist dollars. We'll withhold a final judgment until after this weekend, when we see how much of our money Philadelphia demands.

Related Stories:
· Free Tickets All Around [Jaunted]
· First-Person Bus Reviews: Megabus [Jaunted]
· Buses coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Stagecoach Group]]]> JetSetCD 2009-01-16T10:00:49-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/12/30/131849/41

For years the East Coast has had more cheap buses than it knows what to do with, from Fung Wah to Megabus. But until 2008, hardly anyone was willing to take low-budget rides between Boston, New York and DC, fearing accidents, boarding chaos or the sort of horror that can only befall the perennial punch line that is Greyhound.

But 2008's Best Travel Newcomer, BoltBus, made taking a coach classy, with clean seats and bathrooms, on-board WiFi with the power plugs to match and ingenious branding to lure an iPod generation. (That gas was over $4 a gallon this summer helped BB's triumph, too.)

At a time when you can't even check a bag for free, it's a thrill that a bus company will ferry us from NYC to Philly for less than the price of a beer.

Related Stories:
· First Person Bus Reviews: BoltBus [Jaunted]
· Fare Wars: Buses Battle for Your Stripper Money [Jaunted]
· BoltBus Doing DC to NYC for a Buck [Jaunted]

[Photo: ursonate]]]> Jaunted 2008-12-30T14:00:40-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/