The Chainlink

Megabus-- general experience?

I try to support Amtrak as much as I can but it's completely sold out for the dates I want/need to travel to St. Louis.

It looks like megabus is still available.  I've never used it.

Anyone have general tips, or juicy horror stories to share?

Do they just keep selling seats and add more buses as necessary?

Anyone ridden through the night? What's that like?

Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by MagMileMarauder on August 10, 2012 at 12:21am

Never been on a Megabus, but the cheap fares plus wifi do sound pretty good.


Speaking of Amtrak, I just booked a trip for late August on the California Zephyr to the Bay Area for $155. Costs the same as flying on Southwest, and takes about 52 hours (vs 4 on a plane:), but considering the scenery one witnesses, it seems like a bargain to me!

I'll be flying back:).

Permalink Reply by JeffB on August 10, 2012 at 10:54am

I wasn't even aware Megabus went to Madison.  I always use Van Galder, which is owned by the same company (Coach).  My experiences with them have always been good.  They run a regular schedule btwn Chicago and Madison and you don't have to buy tickets in advance (coming back, you do have to buy them in the student union bldg in Madison before boarding though).  The best thing is that you can bring your bike without boxing it; Megabus doesn't allow bikes at all.

Matt M. said:

My Megabus from Madison last year had a flat and the driver went all over looking for someone to repair the tire.  The driver continued until the tire blew, which was very unsafe, and we had to wait on the side of the highway for another bus to come from their Milwaukee depot.  The bottom line was the driver should have stopped and gotten another bus instead of going on a wild goose chase and endangering the safety of his passengers.  What an ass.  I mean, we could have been waiting at a rest stop instead, you jerk.

Permalink Reply by Logan on August 10, 2012 at 2:46pm

I did the night trip to St. Louis recently and it was horrible.

The seats are too far upright to be considered comfortable and the DVD player did not work.

Bring a good book as if you expect to sleep through the ride you are dead wrong.

The worst part was arriving in at 5am on a Friday as downtown STL was dead empty for a few hours.

Permalink Reply by Naomi Ruth Jackson on August 10, 2012 at 2:50pm

Megabus is harmless. I've taken it to St. Louis and back several times. It's clean, it's cheap, and makes several trips a day. I've even used it overseas as it contracts with the train and bus lines in and out of London. 

Permalink Reply by Matt M. 18.5KM on August 10, 2012 at 4:53pm
"Harmless" seems an exaggeration, if you absolutely need to get from point A to point B then I suppose you would overlook a few faults.

Van Galder is great by comparison but getting the bike to downtown Chicago on their bus is touch and go these days. Van Galder might ask you to take the O'Hare bus instead as they have started running double deckers to compete with Megabus. They still run the buses with large luggage compartments to O'Hare for obvious reasons. If that service goes I'm stuck riding a folding bike on my Wisconsin tours.
Permalink Reply by Matt M. 18.5KM on August 10, 2012 at 4:55pm
They allow folding bikes in a bag.



JeffB said:

I wasn't even aware Megabus went to Madison.  I always use Van Galder, which is owned by the same company (Coach).  My experiences with them have always been good.  They run a regular schedule btwn Chicago and Madison and you don't have to buy tickets in advance (coming back, you do have to buy them in the student union bldg in Madison before boarding though).  The best thing is that you can bring your bike without boxing it; Megabus doesn't allow bikes at all.

Matt M. said:

My Megabus from Madison last year had a flat and the driver went all over looking for someone to repair the tire.  The driver continued until the tire blew, which was very unsafe, and we had to wait on the side of the highway for another bus to come from their Milwaukee depot.  The bottom line was the driver should have stopped and gotten another bus instead of going on a wild goose chase and endangering the safety of his passengers.  What an ass.  I mean, we could have been waiting at a rest stop instead, you jerk.

Permalink Reply by Liz on August 10, 2012 at 5:16pm

Coach USA owns both megabus and van glalder.

Permalink Reply by Matt M. 18.5KM on August 10, 2012 at 11:31pm
Never had problem one with Van Galder. Frequently see the same drivers on the Madison-Chicago run.... You get what you pay for.


Cameron Puetz said:

Van Galder and Megabus are both owned by the Stagecoach group and operated by their Coach USA holding company. The differences between them are largely branding. There is even some sharing of equipment and staff between them, particularly at peak times when routes are selling out.



Matt M. said:

"Harmless" seems an exaggeration, if you absolutely need to get from point A to point B then I suppose you would overlook a few faults.

Van Galder is great by comparison but getting the bike to downtown Chicago on their bus is touch and go these days. Van Galder might ask you to take the O'Hare bus instead as they have started running double deckers to compete with Megabus. They still run the buses with large luggage compartments to O'Hare for obvious reasons. If that service goes I'm stuck riding a folding bike on my Wisconsin tours.
Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on August 15, 2012 at 1:55am
Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on February 1, 2014 at 7:56am

Thanks to the super-scary weather report, the $5 overnight bus I'd booked got cancelled, and I got to reschedule to a morning bus that was showing at $30 when I booked for no extra charge.

Hoping I'd know by now if it was cancelled too.....

Permalink Reply by Alex Z on February 2, 2014 at 9:11am

Old post, but this reminds me of my experience in St. Louis in 2007. I had a 4-5 hour "layover" between flying in and Amtrak-ing out. I thought, "Great! Will get to check out downtown St. Louis for a few hours!"

 

It was a weekday during the middle of the day, and there was like...nothing?...downtown? I was like, where do all these office workers eat lunch???

 

Maybe the Loop used to be like that in the 80s and has spruced up since then, but I don't think so.

 

(Since then, I have explored some of St. Louis's neighborhoods and they are lovely.)

Naomi Ruth Jackson said:

Megabus is harmless. I've taken it to St. Louis and back several times. It's clean, it's cheap, and makes several trips a day. I've even used it overseas as it contracts with the train and bus lines in and out of London. 

Permalink Reply by Andy J on February 2, 2014 at 9:22am

Just came back from a weekend in St. Louis last month - same experience. Great town: The Arch, City Museum, Meramec Caverns, all lots of fun, but downtown is a ghosttown. My understanding is that the area is ripe for gentrification and that number of 20-30 year olds is trending upward. Probably a good opportunity for real estate speculation.

Alex Z said:

Old post, but this reminds me of my experience in St. Louis in 2007. I had a 4-5 hour "layover" between flying in and Amtrak-ing out. I thought, "Great! Will get to check out downtown St. Louis for a few hours!"

 

It was a weekday during the middle of the day, and there was like...nothing?...downtown? I was like, where do all these office workers eat lunch???

 

Maybe the Loop used to be like that in the 80s and has spruced up since then, but I don't think so.

 

(Since then, I have explored some of St. Louis's neighborhoods and they are lovely.)

Naomi Ruth Jackson said:

Megabus is harmless. I've taken it to St. Louis and back several times. It's clean, it's cheap, and makes several trips a day. I've even used it overseas as it contracts with the train and bus lines in and out of London. 

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