Best bus NYC to DC?- Page 2

[jordangirl]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 3:43pm

Bolt's schedule is very limited, which is why they rarely get business from me, as well as they absurdity of boarding based on when you got your ticket.

I haven't done Bolt yet ~ as I said I am next weekend because of MegaBus having their rates at $45 going to DC from the moment they went on sale for the 17th (highway robbers!!) ~ but why is boarding based on when you reserve a ticket "absurd"? Why shouldn't someone who booked way in advance have a chance to pick their seat over someone who bought at the last minute? Actually, the one thing that annoys me about MegaBus is how a line will clearly be formed, but people will a) decide on their own that the line is obviously going backwards and you were in the front and all of a sudden a critical mass of people have decided THEY are the front before others who were there longer and/or b) come up at the last minute as the bus pulls up and just jump the entire line. It's less likely now that they've moved their stop, so you can't really have a two-way line, but that is annoying. Boarding in the order tickets were purchased would eliminate that confusion IMHO. And at least with MegaBus it's easy to tell ~ it's the first number in the reservation. (And the $1.00 fare is not necessarily for the first 10 seats. I've been the 6th purchased seat and paid $5.00. I guess it just depends on the time.)

That said, since MegaBus and Bolt Bus leave from the same area in DC and I'm obsessively early for my bus, I've seen plenty of Bolt boradings, and it has not appeared to be in any order other than how people go up to the door.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 3:57pm

I never book them in advance. I always buy them in the bus parking place in the street.
They do accept credit cards..if you guys want to know...

Jordan- is that $45.00 one way? if so, that's a lot!

J*

[jennamajig]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 4:00pm

You can always be put in the "Group A" boarding if you just simply sign up for Bolt frequent travelers (on the right side of their website). Also when you ride 8 times (I think) you quality for a free ticket!

The one time I took MegaBus, the bus was not full. I booked rather last minute and paid $12 each way from Boston to NYC. Can't believe they are overcharging to DC just because of Obama! In this economy, rip-off...just add extra buses (Greyhound does this on Thanksgiving weekend, for example) and make more $$ that way.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 4:00pm

Yeah. I guess they figured they might as well jack up the price since so many people want to go for the inauguration. The rates back up were about normal. But it was still cheaper to go with Bolt.

I'm not sure about Bolt, but I know you can't buy them on the street for MegaBus in DC ~ someone tried to one of my most recent trips. (In NYC there is a little office across the street from the stop...but I'm not sure its hours.)

[Anakela]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 4:05pm

(In NYC there is a little office across the street from the stop...but I'm not sure its hours.)

You can buy Megabus tix from the guys on the street if/when that office is closed- I've done it for the 8:30am NYC/Boston run.

[hockeynut2]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 4:27pm

I take the bus from DC a lot because I record podcasts and do interviews in NYC for DC Theatre Scene. Because I try to see two shows in the same day when I go up - usually on Wed and Sat and Sun - I take DC 2 NY up from Dupont Circle - it's my favorite bus and the friendliest - or Bolt Bus from Metro Center Station-both in DC. After the late show, I take Megabus back because it has a 11:59 PM bus or Greyhound at 1:45 AM, because it gets me back to DC's Union Station right before the Metro Train Station opens. The last time I took Megabus, I had to wait 80 minutes in the cold before the Metro Center Station opened because nothing was open where I could sit and wait, and it was freezing. I like Bolt because - as you see from those wonderful pictures - they have outlets where I can plug in my laptop and do some work. I like to write after I see my shows, while it's still fresh in my head - so I wish DC 2 NY or Vamoose, which I also like, and take from Bethesda, MD, near where I live, or Megabus had later buses and those outlets. Don't take the Chinatown buses! They are filthy. The drivers are rude and on cell phones all the time while they are driving and they have accidents all the time. When I went up before Christmas, 35 people were injured while the bus was hanging over a guard rail near Philly. We are lucky we have so many cheap bus choices from DC to NYC.
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[jordangirl]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 4:33pm

FWIW, Mega and Bolt both leave DC from just around the corner now ~ at the MLK library. So there's at least shelter now ~ more than up at MetroCenter.

Hockeynut, was the bus late or were you just early? I agree that there's not a lot of places to wait (if any) inside at odd times or on weekends, but they don't exactly promise you inside waiting. :) (And I understand if you were early ~ I'm obsessively early too. It's weird if it was late though as I'm assuming you were on the first bus out since you said you had to wait for the station to open ~ in which case early seems the correct answer?)

[hockeynut2]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 4:50pm

The last two times I took the 11:59 PM megabus, they got to DC an hour early and we asked the driver if we could sit on the bus until the metro opened. He refused and threw us off the bus,leaving us in the cold.
My Podcasts With DC, NYC And Philly actors

[jordangirl]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 4:54pm

OH! I see. I missed that it was the TO DC bus and was a little confused. I think 11:15 is the latest back from DC. NOW it makes sense. :)

[jennamajig]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 5:10pm

The last two times I took the 11:59 PM megabus, they got to DC an hour early and we asked the driver if we could sit on the bus until the metro opened. He refused and threw us off the bus,leaving us in the cold.

Ouch! Sounds like the same mean driver I dealt with on my way back to Boston from NYC.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 5:47am

I was curious about this Bolt boarding based on when you buy your ticket, so I went to their website to look it up. What their policy actually is is this:

1) Their Loyalty Club members get to board first.
This makes sense ~ airlines do it all the time. Why shouldn't those who use the service a lot and are loyal to it get to go on first?
2) People who bought tickets in advance.
3) Walk-up fares.
This order also makes sense. Back before MegaBus or Bolt Bus, when the only option was the Chinatown line, I was almost bumped a couple of times in spite of having a reservation because they just sold tickets to whoever was in line before verifying how many people had reservations. They never made tick marks or never had a sheet on which they were checking off people as they got on. At least three times I was lucky enough to already be on the bus, but they were having to call another bus in to handle the overflow because they sold too many tickets. It is only fair to let pre-ticketed passengers on board first. I don't see what is "absurd" about that at all.

(That said, as I said earlier, it always seems like chaos at the bus door when I've watched one pull up ~ a big old clump ~ so I have no clue how they enforce the differentiation between the first two.

[jennamajig]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 8:37am

^^In Boston, Bolt leaves from the Bus Station and they have three separate lines for Groups A, B, and C (have ropes, etc, since it is inside). I've never taken Bolt from NYC, so I think the lines are not as organized there.

[danceallnight]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 9:29am

In NYC, most of the time there is someone there to handle the boarding who calls out for all "A" tickets first. After that, any one who has preticketed can get on (B's and C's). People trying to pay for tickets at the site have to wait until everyone else has boarded and they see how many seats are still left. (They won't hold seats if you are late.) So, even if you are a Loyalty member or have booked in advance, if you are not there at the time they allow the first group on, you will have to board with the rest of the B or C ticketholders. It makes sense to get there early. I think they usually say they start to board 15-20 minutes in advance, but I've been there in really bad weather where they began to board almost a half hour in advance so people don't have to stand outside. I've never really found the boarding to be a problem. I'm a big fan of Bolt Bus.

[hockeynut2]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 9:37am

The Bolt ticket policy is just fine. They are very organized in DC and they usually come early and let you on early. The friendliest of all of them is DC 2 NY. I recommend both of these companies. The fact is, you ahould always come early anyway. all of the bus lines tell you that if you are not there atleast 15 minutes before, you can lose your seat to a walk on person.
DC's Liveliest Theatre Websiite

[jordangirl]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 8:29pm

Oh I have no problem with it. Someone else said they thought it was "absurd" that you're allowed to board "in the order you purchased your tickets". I think that's how it should be actually.

And like I've said, I'm always obsessively early anyway.

[Spider Woman]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 7:47am

My experience with Greyhound is a bit different than what I have read here. We have made the trip several times and have found the drivers to be courteous and professional. We have arrived early ( the day before Thanksgiving, we arrived 45 minutes ahead of schedule - and no, he wasn't driving like a bat out of hell). The buses themselves have been clean. I love the flexibility in that as long as I have a ticket, I can get on any bus going to my destination. I am not locked into a time. Using the discount boxes on their homepage, I recently got 2 RT tickets DC to NY for $22.95. They don't have wifi, but I usually read, so it is not a big deal.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 7:53am

I think the biggest issue with Greyhound is that they make so many stops.

Mega, Bolt, DC2NY, etc. are non-stop or maybe have one short stop.

[Spider Woman]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 7:26pm

We have always taken non-stop from the station down the street from Union Station (First Street)to Port Authority. I take that back, once we made one stop in New Carrolton.

[jennamajig]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 7:37pm

I think the biggest issue with Greyhound is that they make so many stops.

Mega, Bolt, DC2NY, etc. are non-stop or maybe have one short stop.

Jordangirl, Greyhound doesn't go non-stop to DC from NYC? Where do they end up stopping? I was under the impression they offered non-stop, but never having taken it, I must have been mistaken.

Either way, Greyhound's lines are sooo long. I took them from NYC to Boston on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend (gah, hate that day) and spent the extra $5 for a guaranteed seat. I had to book last minute, so other buses were sold out. Best $5 I ever spent, though. Got to bypass a line of at least 250 people. Still was the bus ride from hell, but that is another story.

[Mamie]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 7:41pm

It's been a while but I've taken Greyhound from DC to NY and it was non stop. My problem with Greyhound is on the return trip. You do NOT want to be caught at that station late at night in DC. It's scary.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 7:50pm

Oh, I was under the assumption that it was the standard Greyhound type thing where they stop in every little town between here and there. Guess occasionally they do realize people have places to be.

I'll still stick with Mega or Bolt.

[jennamajig]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 9:13pm

^After taking Mega, Bolt, and Greyhound, I would agree. Mega and Bolt are so much nicer. And the Wifi is just icing.