For my birthday, we decided to go to Washington D.C. However, Matt was going to stay for a week and I needed to return the following morning. Originally my plan was to drive back, but decided last minute that it wasn't a good idea. I looked at prices for Amtrak, the east coast rail line, and for $46 I could get from Union Station in D.C. to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia.
However, I was reminded by Matt that MegaBus just opened a hub at 30th Street Station, and, while I would have to leave much, much earlier in the morning, I could do the same trip for $3.
Also, right now, MegaBus is doing a a special, where some tickets are FREE when you use the coupon code "LUVPHL" on megabus.com.
I was very impressed with MegaBus, even for leaving at 5:30 a.m., the driver was very nice. The bus was quiet, and when I woke up, I had FREE wi-fi to check my e-mail and get directions back to home.
Each pair of seats has an outlet, so if you are on long bus rides, you can charge phones and laptops. Also, some of the seats are quads, where two seats face two other seats with a small table in the middle. This is great for traveling with children or in groups, as those traveling together can play games or work together.
The buses are also double decker, which gives lots of seats, so buses take longer to fill up.
I HIGHLY recommend MegaBus for your next journey - especially if you can find a cheap ticket. It is almost impossible to beat their prices - flying, with Amtrak, or driving.
In the coming months, Better Than a Travel Guide will be using MegaBus a lot - going to State College and to Pittsburgh. And, believe me, this is NOT the last time you hear about MegaBus!
Sounds like a much better option than driving! Do commuters use this bus as well? Is that why it leaves so early?
ReplyDeleteWell, there are various times that the buses leave. For the Philly-New York route, it leaves quite often for commuters to use. For Philly-DC, it probably isn't ideal for that.
ReplyDelete#Megabus is the worst bus service, EVER.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I rode Megabus from Washington, D.C. to Hampton, VA and back, it was late. When I say late, I don't mean five or ten minutes. I'm talking at least an hour. The last time I rode Megabus, I was leaving Hampton, VA to go back to Washington, D.C. The bus didn't leave because the bus driver couldn't get it backed out. There was something mechanically wrong with the bus and the bus driver attempted to "reset it," but a new bus didn't come for hours later. If you care to read my correspondence with Megabus customer service below, it's always the same thing, "we apologize for the delayed response," blah, blah, blah.
Unless you have zero regard for your time, I highly recommend you not take Megabus.
Chris
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Dear Christopher,
We apologize for the delayed response. In regards to your inquiry, while we deeply regret the service disruptions that have affected your previous trips, there are unfortunately unforeseen issues that can occur and cause subsequent delays. Of course, Megabus.com aims to provide our clients with affordable, dependable, and quality service expected and so we hope you will give us the opportunity to serve you again.
Thank you for using Megabus.com, your patronage is important to us.
Sincerely,
Jasmine
Megabus Customer Service Specialist
________________________
Megabus Customer Support
inquiries@megabus.com
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12/11/2012 09:22 PM
Subject: Every MegaBus experience is awful
To whom it may concern:
I continue to have the worst possible experience with MegaBus. You'll see from the below email trail that I have had on-going issues with your service, EVERY TIME I have used it. Because of these issues, I lose time and money. When I purchase a service, I expect to receive the service I pay for (perhaps I'm expecting too much). Nonetheless, some people have schedules and places to be. We cannot afford for buses arrive late or not even leave because they're broken down. This leads me to my most recent experience on 2Dec. As always, the bus is supposed to depart Hampton, VA at 5:40PM. I depend on this bus to leave on-time so that I can take the metro to another bus which stops running at 10:30 PM. Because this bus was broken, I had to have a friend drive me to DC which cost us both time and money.
I feel sorry for every customer you had on your bus because I received an email at 9:27 PM stating another bus should be arriving in an hour. REALLY!? The bus was supposed to leave at 5:40PM and another bus doesn't even theoretically arrive until 10:27? You left all these people sitting out in the cold -- I'm not sure how your company is still in business.
This is only my experience on the return leg of my trip. As I left DC that earlier Friday, 30Nov, they had to bring in another bus because there was a mechanical problem with the bus that arrived. We didn't actually leave D.C. until probably close to 10 or 10:30PM. It appears there is a trend with Megabus being unreliable and mechanically unsound.
I told myself I should never use your service again. However, since I have two complimentary round-trip tickets because of my most recent problems, I'm considering booking the 8:45PM bus leaving Washington, D.C. to Hampton, VA on 21Dec and returning at 5:40 PM on 25Dec. Although, what guarantee do I have that my bus will actually leave and return? I'd rather not be late for Christmas festivities and I cannot afford not to show up to work on the 26th. I have no faith in your service and I need some assurance I will actually get to where I need to go.
Christopher S.