Megabus to New York

Just got back from a long weekend in New York. We took Megabus and were very pleased. The bus was clean and the drivers were fine. I like the fact they drop off/pick up outside Penn Station. We left Boston at 7:30 and got into New York around 11:30. On the return side, we left at 5:40 and got to South Station at 10pm--we hit some traffic leaving New York on a weeknight. If I were doing it over again, I might have left on a later bus, figuring we%26#39;d miss that traffic. All in all a good experience.

Megabus to New York

I%26#39;m travelling on Bolt this weekend so we%26#39;ll have to compare notes next week!

Megabus to New York

Very useful feedback. How far in advance did you book?

I bought the tickets online about three weeks in advance. Everyone in line had a computer printout. I wouldn%26#39;t want to buy tickets there. It was plenty crowded when we showed up at 7:00 for the 7:30 bus.

I%26#39;ve been on too-fast buses to New York---one in particular (Fung Wah) was literally terrifyingly fast. We got there in record time, but it left me with that, ';I don%26#39;t want to do that again'; feeling.

Those express busses would scare me too. How much is Mega return?

I rather walk than take Fung Wah.

The Bolt Bus is $18 (or less for some seats) each way, or $36 return. I think the Mega Bus is around the same.

Queenslace: Thanks for your report. We just did Greyhound (cheaper total from Maine to Boston to New York). We were NOT impressed. I%26#39;m also looking forward to forgotmypword%26#39;s report on Boltbus.

Your statement: ';The bus was clean and the drivers were fine.'; is good info. From what we experienced, we have decided that no one likes working at Greyhound. We only encountered one pleasant person. Most were disinterested at best, downright unpleasant at their worst. Thanks also for your timelines. We only had one leg of our roundtrip riding that departed remotely on time. There were also additional stops on every leg.

Megabus prices vary. We paid 15- each way. I think it depends on what time the bus leaves. We would have paid less had we left later in the evening. The details are on the megabus website.

OK ... I%26#39;ve been home for a few hours, and I%26#39;m almost recovered from my BOLT trip ...

BOLT boards like Southwest airlines --- you get A, B or C boarding passes, but unlike Southwest, they don%26#39;t put you in number order, so within your category it%26#39;s first come first served. At south station they have 3 lines and load A%26#39;s then B%26#39;s then C%26#39;s.

I left Thursday morning on the 7:30 bus. We had %26#39;B%26#39; boading passes and all was good. I dumped luggage next to the bus and boarded w/ my daughter to grab seats, leaving my husband and son to put the luggage under the bus. Driver told us as we were leaving that there was a bit of traffic and travel time would be 4 hours, 15 minutes and it turned out to be about 4 hours and 18 minutes. The seats weren%26#39;t the greatest. Many people who sat down (me included) tried to pull them into the upright position only to find that they were up as far as they would go, which was slightly reclined by most people%26#39;s standards. But other than that, no issues.

I came home today on the 2:30 bus. PURE TORTURE! First, like here, it was HOT in NY. There was a hockey playoff game at Madison Square garden so the area was just jam packed. Then you load from a street corner ... no organized line, no idea when the bus pulls up if it%26#39;s for Boston of Philly. We got there just at the 2pm bus was leaving.

The 2:30 bus pulled up about 3 minutes later and we were getting conflicting information about where to stand, etc from the Bolt staff on the sidewalk. Finally the driver got off the buss and took control and thinks moved smoother. We got on the bus, and saw near the front. The bus seemed newer than the one from Thursday, w/ leather(?) seats that were upright.

The bus filled, the driver gave his little speil .. .saying traffic was heavy and that he usually stopped about 1 1/2 hours outside of Boston and would do that if we wanted to ... general consensus was ';yes, stop';. OK ...

Then he mentions ... a/c seems to be struggling, hopefully the rear of the bus will cool once we get moving. Up near the front there was air coming out of the vents, and it was somewhat cool, but not traditional A/c.

We start going ... traffic is HORRENDOUS. We%26#39;re hardly moving ... driver is on the phone with somebody who tells him, there%26#39;s a %26#39;reset switch%26#39; ... he actally pulled over o nthe side of the freeway, opened the ceiling escape hatches to let in air and turned off the bus. He got out, opened some door to hit the reset switch and started the bus again. Cool air! He closed the hatches. He%26#39;s still on the phone ... something wasn%26#39;t right. He repeated the process. Then we started to go .. but he must have had some indicator that somemthing was wrong cuz he asked passengers to open the hatches again.

we crawled. Since I was up front, I did have some air from the hatch and hte vents. Every so often the vents would shut of for a while and I%26#39;d get really hot. Then they%26#39;d start up again. Then we started going for 20-30 minutes w/ no ventilaiton. He stopped at a rest area in Connecticut before crossing into Mass.

In the line for the restroom I heard that people had already sent nasty emails to Bolt -- when the internet connection was working.

The driver tried again to %26#39;reset%26#39; the a/c ... again we got vent air for a short period, but I%26#39;d say it was off for the last 45 minutes of the 75 minute trip from the rest stop.

When we arrived in Boston .. .no appologies, nothing.

You know ... they make buses with windows that are SEALED SHUT ... you have no alternatives. I know I felt overheated an nauseous for good portions of the ride, and others were complaining at the rest stop of the same issues ... this is SO WRONG! If we were dogs, the MSPCA would be all over them, but since we are humans who can make our own choices, we suffer. And really what choices did we have once the bus left Manhattan? I couldn%26#39;t get off on the side of the road and get home!

So ... that%26#39;s my story.

As for price, we I think paid $65.50 to buy 4 tickets to NYC and $60 for 4 tickets home.

BUT ... I%26#39;ve already told my dh next time it%26#39;s train and if it means we need to cut our stay a day short to use the hotel money to pay for train tickets, so be it!

Forgot... what a horrible experience. Are there any bus companies that have windows that open? I never thought about that.