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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
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: 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]
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.
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: Travel Contests / Twitter / Budget Travel / Greyhound / Bus Travel / → All Tags
Wanna Ride Greyhound? Tell Them in 140 Characters or Less
Travel contest groupies get your witty Tweets ready! Budget Travel and Greyhound Buses have partnered up to give away free round-trip bus tickets via Twitter.
The promotion is part of Greyhound's celebration of its new routes out of New York City to Boston, Montreal, and Toronto along with its plans to replace older buses with new models that have free WiFi, three more inches of leg room, and power outlets for charging all of your travel gadgets.
To win the tix, you gotta join Twitter (duh) and follow @GreyhoundBus and/or @Budtravel. Then you need to post a tweet (in 140 characters or less, of course) talking about how excited you are to try out the new Greyhound buses. Don't forget to include @GreyhoundBus in your tweet along with the hashtags: #NewBus! @BudTravel and the link to BudTravel's post about the contest.
Greyhound will pick one winner each day but only for the next two days. The contest is open to anyone in the US and Canada (except Province of Quebec residents) and the round-trip tickets are good for any Greyhound route in the U.S. and/or Canada. However, you must be 18 years or older. So this is not your ticket to run away from your parents. But running away from the economy is totally acceptable.
Related Stories:
· Travel Contests [Jaunted]
· Greyhound gets fancy new buses and gives away tickets via Twitter [Budget Travel]
[Photo: Greyhound Bus]
Tags: Bus Travel / Buses / BoltBus / MegaBus / Greyhound / Washington Deluxe / Bus Junction / Chinatown Buses / Search Tools / → All Tags
Handy Search Tool Helps Navigate the Cheap-o Bus Wars
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]
Tags: Bus Travel / Buses / Budget Travel / Greyhound / → All Tags
Old and Busted: The Jet Set; New Hotness: The Bus Set
There's nothing like flying to cover long distances in a flash, and train travel is a smooth, hassle-free way to get around as well, but for many Americans, it's time to take another look at the bus. Long the preferred mode of transport for bums, winos, and the recently paroled, the economic meltdown has made Greyhound and other bus lines a serious option for the traveling masses whose transportation budgets have evaporated along with so many jobs. Seeing an opportunity to capture a new market, Greyhound has rolled out what it calls a Travel Stimulus Package, with serious savings on service to its more than 2,300 destinations. The package includes a variety of deals, from Friends and Family Companion Fares, where up to three companions can travel at up to 50% off with the purchase of one standard walk-up fare, to Deeply Discounted Advance Purchase Fares, with savings of up to 75% with a ten-day advance purchase.
Take it from me, a notorious cheapskate and bus aficionado: these are good deals. But I've got to warn you, if you've never before stooped to taking an interstate bus trip, your ego might take a hit at first. Bus stations like New York's Port Authority are notoriously scuzzy places, and your seatmate's personal hygiene habits might not measure up to your high standards. In many ways, however, Greyhound is competitive with the more elite methods of travel. The cheapest Amtrak ticket between New York and Washington, D.C. is about triple what you'd pay for the bus, and it barely saves you an hour. Flying is a lot faster, of course, but both airports are far from the city center. So swallow your pride, collect the change that has slipped beneath the couch cushions, and get traveling. You can use the money you saved to drink away the unpleasant memories of the journey when you get to your destination.
[Photo: Bargain John]
Related Stories:
· Greyhound Introduces New 'Travel Stimulus Package' [PR Newswire]
· Greyhound [Official Site]
· Bus Travel Coverage [Jaunted]
Tags: Greyhound / Bad Seatmates / Crime / Buses / → All Tags
Terrifying Travel: Bus Beheading Trial Moving Forward
Remember earlier this summer when horrified bus passengers in Canada watched as a guy allegedly stabbed and decapitated his 22-year-old seatmate? Well, a Manitoba court determined that the suspect in the case, Vince Weiguang Li, is mentally fit to stand trail.
While Li, who's been charged with second-degree murder, will see his case return to court on November 6, a defense attorney says there's more to it than just this psychiatric assessment:
I agree that he is fit to stand trial, but the issue is whether he is criminally responsible for his actions. My position would be in court that he's not criminally responsible for his actions and he did not know what he was doing was wrong.
It will be for a court to determine whether that's correct or not.
Related Stories:
· Canada Bus Beheading Suspect Can Stand Trial [AP, via Google]
· Staycation Travel: The Ultimate Bus Horror Story [Jaunted]
[Photo: Stephen Rees]
Tags: Greyhound / Bad Seatmates / Crime / → All Tags
Staycation Travel: The Ultimate Bus Horror Story
Your bus was late? The bathroom wasn't working? Your driver veered from lane to lane? We don't wanna hear it anymore. Nothing can compare to the horror story told by passengers on a Greyhound bus in Manitoba: They watched as one passenger decapitated another as he slept leaning against a window.
Tags: Greyhound / Budget Travel / Bus Travel / Buses / → All Tags
First-Person Bus Reviews: Why I Actually Paid Greyhound More Money Than Necessary
Jaunted's own Ellen Wernecke just got back from a bus trip. Don't worry: She's recovering.
You know how they always say not to throw good money after bad? Nowhere can the adage be more keenly felt than at the Greyhound desk at the Port Authority in New York, where I decided to try out the veteran bus service's new "Priority Seating" offer.
For $5, I would get to board my bus to Boston first and stand in a special line and... that's it. So why would I pay for something I could just get if I waited long enough? Because I'm a sucker, and I will probably be a sucker again. Why would paying what amounts to a 20 percent surcharge on my already overpriced bus ticket be a good idea?
Tags: Bus Travel / Greyhound / BoltBus / Buses / Deals / Budget Travel / David Leach / → All Tags
Greyhound CEO Promises to Save the Day as Buses and Stock Prices Crash
It's been a rough month for Greyhound. The bus line has been hit with multiple accidents, stranded passengers and money problems. Meanwhile, Greyhound CEO David Leach says that his company is going to be A-OK despite a plunging stock price and rising fuel costs--because the recession is a good thing for bus travel. Leach also thinks Greyhound has nothing to worry about despite rising competition from low cost rivals because he's got a "secret" new marketing strategy.
