Taking Greyhound: A Gadling blogger’s thumbs up experience (mostly)

by Jamie Rhein on

As airline fares go up, or your favorite route gets canceled, don’t push aside the possibility of taking Greyhound. I’m serious. This summer, due to high airfare costs, I traveled with my six year-old son to New York from Cleveland, Ohio on the train. (see post) We bused it back to Columbus because that was more convenient.

Although the train had a bit of panache, and felt like a grand excursion, (it doesn’t take much to please me), the bus was good enough for getting home. Fun even.

For my son, Greyhound was an adventure that was almost as wondrous as the train. Our one-way tickets from New Paltz, New York to Columbus cost $180 total. (Children’s tickets are 40% of adult fares.)

Advantage of bus travel:

  • I didn’t need to know our exact travel date or departure location until last minute. Although buying a bus ticket early can save a few bucks, it’s not so much money that you need to plan ahead. I shuffled our travel plans a few times and enjoyed the flexibility instead of being held to a travel date and time.
  • We took loads of snacks and drinks on the bus without problems.
  • There wasn’t a fee for the first checked bag for each of us. I carried our bags to the bus myself so there wasn’t a chance of our luggage going to the wrong destination or being left behind.
  • Upon arrival we didn’t need to wait at baggage claim, but snagged our suitcases right as we got off the bus.
  • My husband could meet us right at the bus so he was able to help carry our bags, a big help since our son had fallen asleep and had wobbly legs.
  • I was able to read to my son, read my own books, and enjoy my son’s company.
  • There were three rest stops and one dinner stop which broke up the journey. Rest stops were about every three hours.
  • The service plazas where the bus stopped had a variety of food, generally much less expensive than airport eateries. We bought lunch to eat on the bus at one service stop and ate dinner at the Pittsburgh bus station. The meatball sub was actually pretty good.
  • We could watch the scenery go by. Granted there’s not a lot of variation with highway travel, but there is a sense of movement.
  • We did not have to go through security.

Disadvantage of bus travel:

  • It took us 12 ½ hours. If we flew it may have been half that long, but then again, with a delay or a canceled flight, it could have been the same.
  • Changing buses in Port Authority in New York City is a pain if you don’t know what you’re doing. In general, airport signage is easier to follow. (Part 2 tomorrow.)
  • Bus stations are not as snazzy as airports.

Tips for bus travel:

  • Because there are various route options, check carefully beforehand so you don’t end up arriving later than you want, or making unnecessary detours. We were almost routed through Cleveland which would have been STUPID. Very STUPID.
  • If you can purchase priority seating, do. For $5 extra for each ticket, we were able to board the bus first at Port Authority in New York City. This meant we were able to get first dibs on the seats. This option is not available at all stations.
  • Sit close to the front of the bus. If you sit too far back, you’ll notice the bus’s movement more. Also, sitting close to the front meant we could look out the bus’s front window.
  • Bring a lightweight jacket, sweater, shawl or some sort of cover-up. The air-conditioning can feel nippy.
  • A neck pillow can help you sleep more easily.
  • Wear slip-on shoes. Taking shoes off when seated feels more comfortable than leaving them on.
  • When you get off at a rest stop or for dinner, leave your belongings on the bus in order to save your seat.

What we didn’t have which I didn’t miss, but would bring the next time just in case:

Something to listen to music.

What we did have that lasted just long enough:

A laptop so my son could watch a DVD until the battery became too low.

What my son played with most:

Silly Putty

Sick of High Airfares? Bus It

by Josh Lew on

“Greyhound” is considered a curse word in some travel circles. With its share of horror stories, America’s most famous bus line has earned a bit of a bad reputation.

I mean, imagine being stuck in a plane for two hours next to a crying baby or someone who thinks you want to hear their life story. Then imagine similar circumstances on a bus where the travel time is multiplied by ten. Bus travel is not for everybody.

Fortunately, Greyhound and others are offering things that are for everybody: cheap fares and free WiFi. Greyhound has launched a budget service called Boltbus. Its competitor, Coach USA, has also put its budget brand, Megabus, on the roadways.

These buses only offer curbside pick-up, a model begun by so-called Chinatown bus companies. This cuts down on costs associated with maintaining a terminal.

Most of the action is on the East Coast where a battle royale is beginning. Boltbus has been offering $1 fares between some cities and Chinatown carriers and Megabus are primed to respond. The result is that it’s cheap to travel up and down the Atlantic Coast by bus. And it’s a hell of a lot easier to put up with crying babies or talkative passengers when you paying such low fares. Maybe you could spend some of your newly saved dough on a good pair of headphones so you can tune everything out.

A travel story when the traveler doesn’t have a clue

by Jamie Rhein on

My mother told me this traveler-doesn’t-have-a-clue story yesterday morning after I picked her up at the Greyhound bus station in Columbus, Ohio.

I posted about this yesterday, but I’m still shaking my head and wondering where the woman is today and what she has found to eat. Perhaps she’s in Missouri?

It has reminded me of other travel stories when there is nothing else to do but keep on keeping on–and hopefully, eventually, you’ll get to where you want to go. It’s also to make you feel better if you’ve ever made a travel mistake. I’ve made mistakes, but not quite like this.

Here is the recap:

“Where are you going?” My mother asked the woman who got on the bus in Newark, New Jersey.

“Los Angeles,” the woman said.

“My!” said my mother. “That’s far. When will you get there?”

“Tomorrow.” The woman, according to my mother, sounded confident.

“Tomorrow?!” my mother exclaimed.

Mind you, they are on the bus on the east coast. The U.S. hasn’t shrunk.

The woman nodded, still sure.

In Pittsburgh, the woman discovered the truth. She won’t arrive in Los Angeles until Saturday, I think sometime tomorrow night. It is a looooonnnnnng ride.

My mother said that the woman spoke with an accent , so perhaps she misunderstood the details, or she never asked for the details. I wonder if her ticket gave her an inkling that something was amiss? Regardless, she’s somewhere the middle of the U.S. by now and by tomorrow night she’ll be in L.A.

This reminds me a little bit of the problem when planning international travel that involves crossing the International Date Line. When we lived in Asia I always double checked to make sure I understood exactly what day it would be when I would arrive somewhere. Missing a day can wreck havoc on plans if you’re not careful.

Or there are the mistakes where you head east instead of west or the other way around. I know someone who was driving to Washington, D.C., from Columbus, but didn’t discover he had gone the wrong way until he hit Indiana or thereabouts. He had recently immigrated to the U.S. which added to his sign reading difficulties and reluctance to ask for directions.

Are we in Los Angeles yet?: A Greyhound bus story

by Jamie Rhein on

My mom just arrived back in Columbus this morning at 7 a.m. from her trip to New York City on a Greyhound bus. The bus was one minute early. Wow! I thought that she’d be late due to the wicked thunderstorm that tore through here all last night.

When I pulled into a non-parking space in front of the station (there was just enough room to maneuver behind another car actually parked at a meter), there she was with her small pull behind that she was allowed to carry-on. If she had checked it there would have been no charge.

One more point for Greyhound.

As I posted previously, my mom took the Greyhound because it was cheaper and easier than flying at the time she found out she needed to get to New York. That still seems to be the case.

Unless, you are the woman my mother told me about who got on in Newark, New Jersey.

“Where are you going?” My mother asked her.

“Los Angeles,” the woman said.

“My!” said my mother. “When will you get there?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?!” My mom wondered how that could be.

That couldn’t be. When they changed buses in Pittsburgh, the woman found out she didn’t have a clue. She won’t arrive in Los Angeles until Saturday.

My mom said she had an accent, so perhaps when someone explained the trip details, she missed something. Obviously.

I hope she didn’t have much planned for the next couple of days and thought to bring a good book with her–or several. If nothing else, she snagged the best travel mistake story I’ve heard in awhile.

(In case you’re wondering. If you go from New York to Los Angeles, it will take 2 days, 12 hours and 25 minutes minimum and you would have had to make one bus change. Some schedules take longer with two transfers.You will have traveled 3072 miles. It costs $192 if you don’t want a refundable ticket or $215 if you do. There is one ticket left for today’s bus that leaves at 11 a.m.)

Greyhound in a pinch: It’s cheaper and it gets you there

by Jamie Rhein on

This past Sunday I put my mother on a Greyhound bus. She agreed to get on. I didn’t make her. This was a last minute trip. Last minute on an airplane would have cost $600 plus for round trip between Columbus, Ohio and New York City. Greyhound was $208, tax included. Planning ahead would have made this cheaper than that, but this was last minute.

After considering the price of airfare, the hassle of going through airport procedure nonsense, the chance that a flight would be delayed or canceled, and the added cost of getting from the airport into Manhattan made a plane ticket seem totally not worth it. Without a direct flight available, the trip could have taken several hours anyway.

Driving was nixed because she would be driving by herself which would require many stops and possibly a hotel stay somewhere. At the time we found out she needed to go, it was late afternoon. Plus, there is paying for parking in New York City and the cost of gas. So, Greyhound, in its convenience and thrift, won out.

Here are the pros and cons of the decision to hop on Greyhound in retrospect.

Pros:

  1. Putting her on the bus was easy. She had bought her ticket the day before thinking that she needed to go on Saturday, but it seemed like she didn’t need to go after all after she paid for the ticket. Since the ticket is good for a year, she held onto it.
  2. Once we found out she did need to go, she was packed and at the bus station two hours later ready to take the 7:00 p.m. bus. Although, her ticket was for the day before, she didn’t need to change her ticket or pay an extra fee. She didn’t need to pay for baggage either. She had a carry-on size, a purse and another small bag. All went on the bus with her. If she had checked her bag there would have been no charge.
  3. There was no stress. I got her to the bus station at 6:20 PM in a quick 15 minute drive from where she lives. There was parking right out front, and since it was Sunday, the meter is free.
  4. There was not a TSA experience to deal with or a long trek to a gate. She could keep her shoes on. She had a full water bottle and regular sized tooth paste. She didn’t have a snow globe, but no one would have stopped her if she had.
  5. The bus goes right to Port Authority Bus Station near Times Square so there’s not an extra cost or hassle getting into Manhattan. From Port Authority there are plenty of ways to get to where you need to go. She took a cab.

Cons:

  1. Sleeping on the bus was not easy or restful. My mom said it made five stops and each time, they had to get off.
  2. Although she doesn’t need a car in Manhattan, if she goes to upstate New York like she is planning to, she’ll need a car once she’s there. Plus, there’s the bus trip back.

Solutions to the Cons

  1. She’s planning on taking the bus back during the day since not being able to sleep at night is something she doesn’t care to repeat.
  2. I may drive her car to New York the beginning of next week and use her bus ticket to come back if that’s possible. If not, I’ll get my own one-way bus ticket. I was planning on going to New York later this summer, but I could go now. That way, she has her car and I can take the things she was planning to take if she drove. Otherwise, she’s driving to New York again later on.
  3. She rents a car after she takes a bus to Kingston, takes the Greyhound back here, and then she and I can drive to New York in August when I was planning to go any way. Hmmmm. Now, that’s an idea.

The reason why it is still good my mom didn’t take the plane.

Her return bus ticket is for June 4. She can’t come back June 4 so she would have needed to change her ticket. The bus ticket change costs $15. The plane ticket change would have been at least $100, and probably more as Grant has pointed out.