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The Top Five Tips For Surviving Budget Bus Travel

It's okay to admit that you travel by bus, or even better—by $1 bus specials. The era of cool bus travel has arrived, when it just no longer makes sense to fly between New York and Philadelphia when the bus costs under $20 and usually takes under 2 hours, and it has free WiFi and power outlets. Take that, regional jets!

Not only are there new bus lines springing up every so often, like Megabus, Boltbus, TripperBus, and NeOn Bus, but even Greyhound is getting a makeover with the WiFi and outlet additions on select routes. With stops in 13 states and one Canadian province, Megabus is moving right along as the pioneer of cool bus travel. And with more people opting to take the bus, we feel the need to remind you of the bus code....

After the jump, our Top Five Tips For Surviving Budget Bus Travel

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Tags: Travel Snapshot / Greyhound / Bus Travel / Atlantic City Travel / → All Tags

Inside One Of Greyhound's New WiFi-Equipped Buses

This last weekend, while randomly hopping down to Atlantic City for the day, we did not expect to be treated to the plushness of one of Greyhound's new buses. We say "plushness" meaning it's pretty nice for a bus, you know.

According to the Greyhound website, the premium coaches—outfitted with free WiFi, outlets, more leg room, and fresh interiors—are only found on their NYC to Montreal, Toronto and Boston and DC to New York, Boston and Montreal routes. We got lucky and spent the 4-hour-long, one-way trip (thanks, Saturday traffic) charging our phones and napping. We now see potential for Greyhound to equal the amenities of Megabus and Boltbus, but they'd have to do it fleet-wide and therein lies the rub.

Related Stories:
· Will You Ever Go Back To Greyhound? [Jaunted]
· Greyhound Blows Out 95 Candles On Their Birthday Cake [Jaunted]
· Greyhound Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Jaunted]

Tags: Megabus / Bus Travel / Travel Deals / → All Tags

Megabus Unloading 50,000 Tickets For $1 Each

Who wants to take the bus to Albany?! We know, we know; no one really wants to do that. But now you can just for the hell of it, because Megabus has released some 50,000 tickets for $1 each.

The offer covers all of their US routes, with hubs in New York and Chicago, and works for travel dates from September 14 to November 19. Make sure to input promo code HOTDEAL for your best chance at the discounted fares. Atlantic City in late September is still warm, right? Cleveland from Chicago is a good bet for some Italian food and a long weekend away.

All you have to do to score the seats for almost nothing is log on to Megabus.com, choose your departure and arrival cities within the applicable dates (we found $1 fares available all over), and pay the 50-cent reservation fee. Therefore it is possible to score a round-trip bus ride for a total of $2.50 per person. Not bad, not bad at all considering that they've got WiFi now.

Related Stories:
· Megabus [Official Site]
· BoltBus To Baltimore For A Buck: A Success Story [Jaunted]
· Megabus and BoltBus Going Head To Head In Baltimore [Jaunted]
· Megabus Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Jaunted]

Tags: Bus Travel / BoltBus / Travel News / → All Tags

Boltbus Proudly Bolts Their Millionth Rider

Who remembers back in the day when every McDonald's golden arches sign sported the boast of "Over 1 Million Served?" Today most of the signs have been switched to the much more accurate "billion" or "trillion," but the fact that over a million others have eaten hamburgers before us never fails to impress.

Thus we were similarly shocked upon hearing that Boltbus can also join the movers and shakers club after transporting their millionth passenger.

In addition, they've also launched a real, live phone line for customer service. Calling 1-877-BOLTBUS between 7am and 8:30pm now allows those finicky about booking online to talk to an agent.

So now they have improved communications along with continuing to offer free wifi and in-seat power outlets. What more can we say other than "keep on truckin, Boltbus, keep on truckin."

Related Stories:
· Boltbus [Official Site]
· BoltBus to Baltimore for a Buck, a Success Story [Jaunted]
· Bus Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Bus Travel / Greyhound / Historical Travel / → All Tags

Greyhound Blows Out 95 Candles On Their Anniversary Cake

Let's all watch the above soothing video of shiny Greyhound buses in honor of the company's 95th Anniversary.

With a birthday as big as this, expect 2009 to be the year of deals from them, and we're going to go ahead and guess that they'll be coming from Twitter and Facebook, based on their statement that they'll be "sharing stories and images through social media channels while continuing to deliver on its longstanding commitment to offer the best in leisure travel."

In their press release alone, a short paragraph of the company's historical moments sheds light on how much they've been through in this almost-century:

During WWII Greyhound was a major carrier of troops heading to the East and West coasts. At the same time, Greyhound started to train women to drive buses when more than 40 percent of the U.S. workforce was called to military service. And, in 1961, Greyhound carried a group of civil rights leaders known as the 'Freedom Riders' into the Deep South to protest state-sponsored segregation in interstate transportation facilities. Later that year, the Interstate Commerce Commission outlawed segregation in all interstate transportation facilities.

It's difficult to think of a time when women didn't drive buses; boarding a bus these days just wouldn't be the same without a stern lady driver reprimanding us for not printing the right confirmation email. Here's to another 95 years, Greyhound.

Related Stories:
· 95 Years and Millions of Miles [Greyhound Press Release]
· Bus Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

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Megabus Upgrades To Double-Deckers

Megabus might be beating out their bus buddy Boltbus when it comes to the competitive New York to Boston route. Starting this week, the WiFi equipped coach service is upgrading all buses on the Big Apple to Beantown route with double-decker buses.

The new buses hold 81 passengers, which is about 25 more than the usual ones. Some of these new buses even feature a 51-inch-wide glass ceiling up top, so try to snag one of those skylight seats. No word on whether the extra availability will improve our chances of scoring one of those $1 fares.

The new double-deckers are also a little bit taller than the traditional coaches. The extra 18 inches in height means that they can’t fit in South Station, so their new stop will be at Back Bay Station. If you’re heading to New York you’ll be dropped off at Penn Station.

At this point, is anyone actually still taking Fung Wah?

Related Stories:
·Megabus Builds Up Buses On Busy Route [Boston Globe]
·Boltbus to Baltimore For a Buck: A Success Story [Jaunted]
·Bus Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Sidddd]

Tags: Bus Travel / Baltimore / Megabus / Boltbus / → All Tags

Boltbus to Baltimore For a Buck: A Success Story

Any day is a beautiful day when one can get from New York City to Baltimore for less than the cost of a can of soda. And indeed it was perfect sunny weather in the Charm City when on Saturday, we took our own advice and headed down the interstate for the weekend.

After boarding the nearly-full bus at West 33rd Street and 7th Avenue, next to a Sbarro's where tourists were, for some reason, eating breakfast, we settled into the bus' leather seats. Immediately we hooked onto the WiFi signal before the bus had even left, and we enjoyed a stable connection all the way down to Baltimore.

In our frenzy to get online however, we made the mistake of opting for an emergency exit row seat with perhaps an inch more legroom (laptop screen space). Why was this such a bad call on our part? Because the middle few rows on Boltbus do not have power outlets, unlike the other rows with their standard-size double plugs. Rest assured that we would not make this mistake again on the return trip.

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Megabus and BoltBus Going Head to Head in Baltimore

A clash of the cheap bus company titans is about to play out on the unlikeliest of East Coast soils: Baltimore, Maryland. It's to this seemingly average destination that Boltbus will begin routes tomorrow, throwing a huge wrench into the dominance of Megabus' own 32 trips a day between Baltimore and New York City.

Already both bus lines battle to be called "King of the Expressway" on routes to Philadelphia and Boston, but these cities are both larger than Baltimore and already significantly served by other seedier bus companies, which will remain nameless.

Who will survive the bottleneck of the Charm City, however, especially since BoltBus matches the Megabus promotional starter fare of $1 each way? There is a huge difference between the two already emerging, however: Megabus only offers the buck seats to the first few reservations on each route, while Bolt is stamping every seat of their 14 daily trips with the $1 fare between May 7 and May 10—even the Saturday and Sunday drives. Rest assured that we'll keep our eyes on this developing situation, even though it'd be way cooler if we were talking about high-speed trains.

Related Stories:
· Boltbus Launching Service: Baltimore to NYC for $1 [Baltimore Sun]
· Boltbus Versus Megabus, Round Two [Jaunted]
· Bus Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Boltbus photo: Baltimore Sun]

Tags: Bus Travel / Buses / Greyhound / BoltBus / Travel Deals / → All Tags

Get Unlimited Travel on Greyhound (Better Than It Sounds)

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.

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Tags: Bus Travel / First Class Travel / Thailand Travel / → All Tags

First Class Buses in Thailand Wake You At Your Stop

It's not just Japan where you can get a first class bus ride complete with tacky decorations. In Thailand, there's a whole system of government-run first class buses that will get you around the country in comfort and reasonably cheaply.

First class bus tickets include a meal, pillows and blankets, plus an attendant who'll wake you up when you arrive at your stop, letting you sleep as long as possible. As you can see, you probably will want to close your eyes to avoid staring too long at the frilly blue window treatments.

Apparently travel agencies will always try to book you onto expensive tourist buses, but the state-owned first class buses are a much better deal. Assuming it's safe to travel around Thailand, you can try to get info about the buses at the Transport Co. website – the English section doesn't seem to be working just now, but the music the site plays will get you in the mood for some Thai road travel.

Related Stories:
· Thai Transport Co. [Official Site]
· Pretty Seat Doilies Decorate the Limousine Airport Buses in Japan [Jaunted]
· Bangkok Protests Continue, Thailand Warnings Start Again [Jaunted]

[Photo: Travel Aficionado]

Tags: Bus Travel / Buses / BoltBus / MegaBus / Greyhound / Open Threads / → All Tags

Will You Ever Go Back to Greyhound?

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]

Tags: First Class Travel / Japan Travel / Airport Transportation / Bus Travel / → All Tags

Pretty Seat Doilies Decorate the Limousine Airport Buses in Japan

Airport transfers can be a bit of a nightmare, and if you're heading off to a first class flight you really should be in a limousine, right? Japan has a good compromise that even those without first class tickets can afford: the Airport Limousine Bus service.

Running at both the major Japanese airports--Tokyo's Narita airport and Osaka's Kansai hub--as well as at regional spots, the Japanese seem to have got this transport thing figured out well. Limousine buses are, as you'd expect, pretty comfortable buses, and they pick you up from major train stations around town to transport you relatively hassle-free to the airport.

The bonus is that by Japanese standards they're definitely not too pricey. For example, a typical fare from central Tokyo all the way out to Narita is 3,000 yen ($30). Compared to battling the subway crush or negotiating an expensive taxi ride, the Limousine Bus idea seems like a good choice. Plus you get to see these pretty crocheted seat covers close up (we never said the décor was great).

Related Stories:
· Airport Limousine Bus Japan [Official Site]
· Narita International Airport Is In The Future [Jaunted]
· Japan Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: s.yume]