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To Megabus or BoltBus? That is the Question

July 12, 2010 at 1:31 PM | by | Comments (3)

In a desperate bid to escape the humid, 95+ temperatures of a summer New York City, we spent this last weekend two hours south in Philadelphia, where it's about three degrees cooler. It was a last-minute decision, and after seeing that Amtrak wanted $45+ per person for a one-way, two-hour ride on a non-Acela between the cities, we immediately turned to the budget bus options, because they at least have WiFi.

So, the dilemma: to Megabus or BoltBus?

Both lines have their serious perks for paying $8-$10 per tickets: we're talking free WiFi, centrally located departure and arrival points, at-seat power outlets and all around nice service. This said, there are two areas where Megabus and Boltbus greatly differ: routes and loyalty programs. Boltbus only operates on the east coast, whereas Megabus has hubs in both New York and Chicago for Eastern and Midwest routes. Thus, we are frequent Megabus riders from Chicago. However, BoltBus offers a loyalty program—Bolt Rewards.

With both companies offering comparable times and ticket pricing between New York and Philadelphia, which do you think we then chose?

The answer: BoltBus, because their loyalty program tipped the scales in our case. We actually earned a reward thanks to this trip, and that makes all the difference. Here's hoping Megabus devises a loyalty program of their own soon.

So which budget bus line do you prefer? Megabus or BoltBus?

[Image: Jaunted]

Comments (3)

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Megabus

I've had trouble on both but I prefer Megabus since they have more outgoing cities leaving from Philadelphia. Plus the double decker seats just seem cooler :).
ecortes on July 13, 2010 at 11:29 AM #Permalink

Bolt Bus!

Not sure why but I prefer Bolt Bus. It seems that the line is cleaner than MegaBus... at least in my experience.
JasCortez on July 13, 2010 at 12:43 PM #Permalink

Don't trust Bolt to show up

I booked a ticket on a 6:30am bus from NY to DC. Arrived 6:10am. 6:15, no bus. 6:30, no bus. 6:40, it starts to rain. Everyone is outside on the street with no cover, getting rained on. No bus. 6:50, no bus. 7am, it's now pouring. No bus. Someone finally tracked down a rep from this lousy company - there was no one at the bus stop - and they claimed they "combined" the 6:30 and 7:30 busses. Meaning they cancelled the 6:30 and never bothered to tell any of us that got up at 5am or earlier to make this bus. By 7:40, the 7:30 bus had still not shown up and I spent $136 on Amtrak to get me to DC for important meetings. No idea when a bus finally showed up. I highly recommend booking anything BUT Bolt Bus. I would never trust them to get me where I needed to go. They showed a total disregard for customer service. To cancel a bus - at 6:30am, no less - and not notify people is inexcusable.
janedoenyc on August 3, 2012 at 10:54 AM #Permalink

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