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Megabus Experiences: Is Cheaper Better?
High airfares and high gas prices have had many people feeling like they are stuck in a corner. Or at least stuck at home. For me, a Twin Cities resident with friends and family in Chicago, the $100 round trips of the past (AirTran and NW) made it easy to call The Windy City a second home. Likewise, my Cubs-loving acquaintances were only an hour or two away from watching a team that has actually won the world series in the past 100 years. But, rising fares have recently made the two neighboring cities seem farther away than in the past. A drive is still doable, if you have a car that gets good mileage. But there is an even cheaper alternative: Megabus. A ride between MSP and Chicago averages around $25, depending on when you buy your ticket. That's cheaper than one tank of gas. But is it worth it?
Most college students and budget travelers had a certain reverence for the bus line, which is owned by Coach USA. You can't beat the price. But there were a few negatives:
1. The buses arrived later than scheduled. Every. Single. Time.
2. They offered free wi-fi but it often didn't work.
3. If you don't have headphones, you're in for a noisy ride.
4. The drop off point in Minneapolis is a bit dodgy, especially late at night. Basically, it's under a bridge, next to a vacant lot.
And, to be fair, the good:
1. Price
2. Dropped off in central locations
3. Price
4. Reasonably comfortable
5. Price
Filed under: Transportation, Budget Travel
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Lampbane Oct 9th 2008 9:17PM
As someone who's traveled via Greyhound and Chinatown bus many, many times, and found MegaBus vastly superior:
1) It may not have come on time, but it was more consistent than Greyhound and Chinatown, which can be a toss-up.
2) You're guaranteed a seat, which is marginally true with the Chinatown buses (they'll try their best to get you on a bus) and impossible on Greyhound (even if you buy a ticket for the 4pm, you likely won't get on a bus until 5 or 6pm).
3) Cleaner than the other buses.
4) Yes, some of the pick-up/drop-offs suck. In Baltimore, they leave you in the middle of a suburban parking lot.
BEVERLY Nov 12th 2008 2:02PM
I have taken megabus twice--once from cleveland to chicago for a day trip; and once from cleveland to minneapolis for a weekend. The buses were clean, and of course, the price was right--only $26 rt from cleveland to minneapolis. For the most part, the bus left and arrived on time; except one driver to chicago; I think that she was in training and she drove slow and jerky, arriving in chicago almost an hour behind schedule. I definitely will be useing megabus many more times in the future.
Stacey Monroe Dec 2nd 2008 8:16PM
Neon bus, one of Megabus' competitors is giving out free roundtrip tickets to Buffalo, Syracuse and Toronto. My sister has taken the Neon bus to Toronto. She says that the bus is comfortable with tons of legroom. It's awesome that the bus has outlets to charge cell phones and laptops and the wifi helps too. The free tickets are given out by the Neon people around penn station. The neon bus stops on 34 street and 8 avenue. good luck scoring tickets