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Lucky Star Bus
Rating Details »
Category: Transportation [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Chinatown, Lower East Side55 Chrystie St
(between Canal St & Hester St)
New York, NY 10002
(617) 426-8801
- Nearest Transit:
-
Grand St (B, D)
Bowery (J, M)
Canal Street (J, M, Z, N, Q, R, W, 6)
- Hours:
Mon-Sun. 6:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
38 reviews for Lucky Star Bus
I've used Lucky Star a few times on trips to visit peeps in NYC. I've also used Fung Wah Death Trap and prefer Lucky Star.
Its basically the same service but less deadly. The pick up and drop off in NYC are in a better spot, in my opinion than the FW pick up spot. The only sketchy thing I really encountered on here was picking up 2 random chicks at a rest stop. The thing is, I don't even think it was at one of the planned rest stops. Another reviewer mentioned people bringing stank ass food on, but since there are no written rules be prepared. Since you are being picked up in Chinatown its most likely that people will bring Chinatown steamy treasures on the bus with them to eat. Also, with any shady bus line, having a ticket never guarantees your acceptance into the dynasty so get there early and push, shove and scream and you will surely get a seat.
Of course, they are chaotic and semi-reliable and super cheap for a weekend or day trip to the big apple! I love it.
Pros: its a dollar online and always 15$ walkup price. it's also the quickest to Boston in my experience, and makes a food stop halfway for a bathroom and snack break.
Cons: don't even think about using the bathroom on the bus, it is one of the most disgusting things ever. the seats are often broken and dirty and gum is stuck in every nook and cranny. not the most pleasant ride, but the fastest and cheap.
I was taking the buses out of Chinatown to Boston since like 2001 or 2002. I started out with Fung Wah because they were pretty much the only operation in town, but once Lucky Star opened, I began using them and stuck with them for pretty much every trip. The price is right ($30 round trip) - cheaper than gas and tolls both ways for sure.
One of the things I LOVE about this company is that also like Fung Wah, they have a 2AM bus out of Boston, only it is FAR less crowded. Before I moved to Boston to be with my fiance, I used to commute back and forth every other weekend. This 2 AM bus was a lifesaver because it meant I could go straight to the office when it got to NYC at 6AM.
Some of the things I've encountered on this bus are (all true!):
-some people bringing food on that smells horrid
-bathrooms frequently have no TP or any semblance of paper (bring it with!)
-a breakdown in the middle of winter on a 2AM Boston departure (we sat on the side of the highway FREEZING for hours until another bus came to get us)
-a large woman spilling out into the aisle having a LOUD conversation about her 16 - YES! 16! - abortions
Some tips:
-Bring TP!
-Don't leave NYC on a Friday night unless you leave after 8 PM (you will sit in traffic until at least 8 and only be in Stamford, CT anyway)
-Waiting room is comfy, but don't wait til the last minute to use the restroom of you'll be the last to board and get the worst seat
-Combat nausea by sitting towards the front of the bus
-The BK bathroom has a Purell dispenser - use it rather than waiting for the sinks!
Lucky bus brings me back memories of traveling back and forth from NYC to Boston every weekend for half year!!
CHEAP.. it's approx 20$ or 15$ a trip VS greyhound it's dirt-cheap but price comes with quality as well. when you pay that little.. you can't really expect much..
It drops you off in chinatown NYC and boston bus station. Avoid major holidays + rush hours.. Occasionally the bus BREAKS DOWN too. happened to me probably 3 times within half year time frame!! when that happens. your 4 hours bus ride could turns into 10 hours...
I'm glad that I am no longer needed to take this bus... but if you need to travel and want to save $$ i guess this won't be a bad option.
If you purchase an online ticket, and there are any problems whatsoever, you may as well kill yourself immediately because you're definitely going to want to after calling customer service.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/8/2009
Minus one for the very obvious missed opportunity of not electing to play Madonna's "Lucky Star" as… Read more »
Well, they changed their rest stop to north haven, so this doesn't really work anymore
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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5/12/2009
I used to ride this bus twice a week when I had to commute. Loved it. The bus takes a rest stop at a… Read more »
The bus isn't bad for getting from NYC to various stops. I've only taken Lucky Star for Boston, but you can get tickets ahead of time online (I recommend this) as though usually they're available with the ticket window, you have to dart around the crowd and block corner to get to it. And it's easier to have a ticket ahead of time.
Price is cheap, as are all Chinatown buses. While the drivers aren't usually too crazy, they can go very fast at times. Only thing that stops this from being a three star is that Bolt has newer buses.
And yes, they stop at a Burger King in the middle, usually.
I have not been a fan of Chinatown buses for quite a few years. Out of convenience and price-sensitivity, I have used Lucky Star for my last few trips up to Boston. Much less scarier than a lot of its competition that I've ridden in the past.
They have a ticket office on Chrystie just a block away from the Grand St. subway station (BD). The flyer on the bus boasts a waiting area with wifi and restrooms which I have not had the pleasure of frequenting, and so help me yelp, I will never have to. The women behind the ticket counter aren't scary and aggressive like I have encountered with other C-town bus lines. The bus drivers haven't been rude or psychotic.
The buses have no wifi but for $15, I'll deal. The buses have been clean with plastic trash bags affixed to the arm rest of each row. I like that Lucky Star runs every half hour and they have left on time each time.
The only downside is that they have some sort of relationship with Burger King in Mt. Vernon, CT so there is always a 15-minute stop. Other bus lines will usually forgo the stop to get there earlier. On the other hand, I discovered the greatness of cheese-filled tater tots at this BK so for that I am grateful to Lucky Star.
I'd prefer Bolt Bus over any bus operator any day but Lucky Star has proven itself as a worthy alternative.
I have gone back and forth to boston about 30 times in the past year for family matters. I tend to take one expensive leg of my round-trip--limoliner or Amtrak and one inexpensive half-mostly Lucky Star.
GREYHOUND HAS A SPECIAL FIRESIDE RESERVATION IN HELL FOR THEMSELVES-SEATED NEXT TO HITLER.
Lucky Star is surprisingly efficient and mostly pleasant.
positives-
1-they leave on time
2-buses are clean-seem safe
3-they dont overbook
4-they arent super aggressive at south station or on crystie street
minor negatives
5-customer seem relatively sane! a nice mix of students-elderly-few small kids
1-had a few minor heating-or cooling issues
2-seats are by no means super comfortable-but adequate
3-the dreaded burger king stop--but hey--i remember going to a vile chinese buffet a few times on a bus line-cant remember which one-sorry.
If you need to get there-with minimal stress and not be grossed out--I know this is far from a rave-but hey-the price is right-and I dont think I have had a bad experience
WHERE THE DREADED GREYHOUND HAUNTS ALL MY WAKING MOMENTS!
Why would I ride you if I could ride Bolt Bus and get free wifi and drivers who speak english?
PS-I don't want to stop off at your family owned Chinese buffet on the way up to Boston. kthanxbye
Awesome. I took Lucky Star both ways on my trip to Boston this past week. I was able to show up a few minutes before the departure time and snag a ticket for $15. And we made the trip, both ways and including a 15 minute Burger King stop, in exactly 4 hours.
The bus left within five minutes of the stated time, and came bombing down the BQE with the reckless abandon of the craziest NYC cab driver to make sure we got back to Chinatown before sundown.
Sure, it's not the most luxurious bus ride ever, and there's no free internet, but the convenience of being able to get your ticket cheap even at the last minute is worth it. Who needs the internet anyway?
Great service coming out of NY. I prefer sitting down in their waiting area and watching news over standing in line at South Station watching the rear end of the person in front of me...unless it's a good one...i guess. Sunday morning at 9 AM, that bus may have been a little more than half full, but I had both seats to myself it was nice. I might give them one more star if they stopped at McDonald's instead of BK. I don't like the BK offering, so I ate apple "fries" and apple pie. I was so hungry by the time I got into Boston.
Also I thought I'd just share my opinion of $1 fare* in light of all the negative reviews of Fung Wah and to a lesser degree Lucky Star. Why are you willing to take a $1 bus ride? I'd personally rather pay the $15 to increase the probability that the bus is in good repair. At the very least, I'd like to know their justification for the $1 price.
Of the two Chinese bus companies that are right next to each other in the South Station terminal, this is the better one, in my opinion. They have a few buses that are new, sprinkled in the rotation with the stinky bathroom buses. It's $15, my biggest gripe is actually the passengers. Too often, people are appalled at the conditions of the bus, or the driver, or the efficiency of the bus operations. It's $15. It's like walking into Long John Silver's and expecting a 5 star meal. It's not rational. Keep an eye on your bags, put in your headphones, and hope you get to BOS or NY in one piece and within 6 hours.
I actually appreciate the lack of strict departure times. It allows last minute planning, and they have a ton more buses in rotation for many hours during the day.
I used to take this bus to get from Boston to NYC and it was convenient since my friend who I typically crash with in Boston lives in the Financial District which is within walking distance from the drop-off point in C-town.
The thing about these buses is they do not always depart on time. You have to be there 30 mins before actual departure as once the bus fills up, it goes...
$15 ticket is a steal especially when you're a student. They depart from real early in the morning till late at night.
PS: Make sure you don't have adverse reactions to incessant mobile chat by the driver the entire 4.5 hrs...
We were able to book tickets for this bus online, which give me piece of mind. The trip was simple enough and really took out the stress of flying and heading to the airport between Boston and NYC. I think this is actually a much cheaper option than Greyhound.
Cheap $15 bus fare from Boston to New York any time of day. That's pretty sweet. They stop off at a designated Burger King along the way. I've taken this bus line 3 times, and it always takes less than 4.5 hours - no matter the traffic.
Good drivers. Reliable.
Only unfortunate part is that they leave from Chinatown in New York. And there is no movie or free wi-fi during the ride. Otherwise - sweet deal.
S---eous. Yes, cheap, but Fung Wah is less smelly.
I took Lucky Star this past weekend and was quite happy with my experience. The trip there was smooth as was the trip home. I discovered that if you buy your ticket online you can get the price for even cheaper than the 15 they normally charge. I got mine for $12.50 and even saw an option for $8! Living in NYC means I am always on a budget and spending so little makes me happy.
It also didn't stop at the Chinese food buffet (i was a little scared after reading about it) instead both rides it stopped at Burger King (not much better but hey at least you know what you're getting).
For the price you are charged, I am very happy. A tank of gas would have been ridiculous, as would be the train.
EFF YOU, LUCKY STAR.
I had seriously THE WORST experience today with these doo doo heads. Traveling from Boston to NY always seems to be about a thousand times easier, because you leave from an actual bus terminal and therefore there's an organized cordoned-off line, a ticket counter, et cetera. Today on Chrystie Street I watched them move two buses back and forth, making them switch street parking two different times, in the middle of Memorial Day afternoon traffic. This seemed pretty pointless, especially considering that it was 4 o'clock and the 3:30 bus hadn't left yet. Meanwhile, people were cutting in line left and right and nobody was doing a thing to stop them, nobody was explaining what was going on/why the hell those buses were switching parking places, and everyone was hot and miserable and cranky.
Finally the bus started letting people on, and all these assholes who cut in line at the last minute got on ahead of me. I decided to wait for the next bus because I could tell the current bus was all filled up and I wanted to have a better seat option, but the ticket taker literally grabbed my ticket and shoved me onto the bus- leaving me, the last boarder, with that effing dangerous, scary-ass third seat in the back crammed next to the bathroom. And of course we had the driver from hell who was alternately speeding/slamming on his brakes every time he passed a state trooper on the side of the road, so with no seat in front of me to block my way I literally pitched forward onto the floor twice during the trip while I was sleeping.
Were I reviewing the Boston Lucky Star, I'd give them three stars. New York Lucky Star? You suck and Fung Wah kicks your butt. I hate you and will never take you again.
On the plus side, they seem to have abandoned that atrocious buffet in Connecticut and are now stopping at Burger King, so the bus smells a lot less disgusting for the second half of the trip.
It gets the job done. That is all I can say. Its cheap ($20 is the max price one-way). But its uncomfortable. However if you go during an off peak time, you can get two seats to yourself and attempt to lie down somewhat, which is nice. The cheapest ticket I've managed to get is $5. Now that there are so many cheap bus services, Lucky star and Fung Wah are both trying to bring down their prices as much as possible. I've taken Lucky Star more than 10 times.. possibly more than 16. What keeps me coming back is the cheap cheap prices. However I must mention there were two times that really had me miserable: one time during the winter the heat stopped working. I was VERY cold. Another time something was wrong with some kind of car part so smoke kept emitting from our bus and the breaks were acting up so we had to stay on the highway for an extra hour.
Friday nights = Horrible, don't do it. You'll end up in 6+ hours of traffic.
Dear Lucky Star,
I have a confession to make. I...strayed. I heard all these things about how the Bolt Bus was better than you, more accomodating, more comfortable. I believed them; I was wooed by their promises of wifi and their hip website. But turns out I never should have believed the hype. My experience with Bolt Bus was awful, and it left me yearning for you. I had tickets to return to Boston on a Sunday morning Bolt Bus, but with the snow and all, I was afraid my trip would be cancelled. So I went crawling back to you. And you took me back, letting me buy tickets for your 10:00 pm bus on Saturday night. And even though the 10:00 pm bus didn't really leave until 11:15 (it wasn't your fault that that crazy woman refused to get herself and her 'dying child' off the bus, but thankfully you finally called the cops, and they straightened out the situation), and even though it was snowing like mad, you still got me back to South Station in three and a half hours. I didn't think that was physically possible, but you proved me wrong. You never cease to impress me, Lucky Star. So I apologize to you for not trusting that you were the best fit for me. Will you forgive me? Can we still be friends?
Love,
Kelly
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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4/24/2008
So this was my first trip on the Lucky Star and I was lucky enough to snag the one dollar seat both… Read more »
Yes it is $15, but I don't care - one star. I took the bus to Boston on Friday and left at 1pm and got into South Station in Boston at 6:15.
On Sunday night the bus arrived in Chinatown at midnight and it was raining. I don't spend too much time in Chinatown, so I was trying to find out where the subway station was. The bus driver said he was busy and got in the bus and shut the door.
Unfortunately, I was in the last seat in the bus and was the last one to get out, so there was no one else to ask.
Lucky Star, you suck.
Never mind all the horror stories about the Chinatown buses operating between NYC Chinatown and Boston and other places... When it comes down to it, they take you there alive and fast, and for a mere $15, while Amtrak takes about the same time (if not longer) and costs close to $100...
I tend to like Lucky Star, which is slightly less crowded than the more popular Fung Wah. It's efficient and in about 4 hours you are at South Station in Boston. The buses have no frills, but they're not falling apart either. As mentioned by the previous reviewers, the buses stop for 15 minutes at a Chinese buffet on the way to Boston (scary... if you ask me), and usually at Roy Rogers on the way back (scary too... just my personal opinion). They leave about every hour on the hour (sometimes more often), and unless you travel at rush time there's no need to buy your ticket in advance: just show up at the bus stop a few minutes early and you should be able to get a seat.
Screeewwweeeddd me over.
I had missed a Fung Wah bus.. so I ran over to Lucky Star. They over sold the bus and because I didn't go Jean Claude Van Damme on everyone's ass.. I got elbowed and pushed out of the way. Rather than stand in the heat and wait for the next bus that I wasn't prepared to shed blood for.. I went to Penn and took an Amtrak to Boston. Amtrak may be expensive.. but it's reliable. And I won't have to give part of my clothing or sanity to survive a 4-5 hour train ride (see Fung Wah Boston review as well).
I was told this was the cheapest way to travel between Boston & NY, well either this or the Fung Wah Bus which I have yet to take. I took Lucky Star because they had an online special for $13 when you travel Monday - Thursdays which saves me $2 (hey student budget...)
The bus was clean and not fully packed. (but it was Thursday at 2pm) The bus ride was fairly ok - with the exception of a few bumps (i was at the back of the bus) and bad traffic on the 95. What was supposed to take 4 hours ended taking 5 because of the traffic (there was a car accident). We pit stopped at Kmart and some Chinese buffet place and arrived at South Station safe and sound.
I even used the toilet in the bus and it was surprisingly clean. Note to travellers: don't take too long or wander too far from the bus during the pit stop, the driver drove off almost leaving one of the Korean passengers behind. Needlessly to say she was dashing for the bus when she saw it start to roll off. I think the bus driver forgot to count the number of passengers, so after the girl breathlessly got on the bus, he proceeded to count the number of passengers on the bus and we were off!
09/17/2007 edit:
Took Lucky Star back to NY - it was seamless and on time! No stragglers left behind at pitstops and traffic on the Manhattan bridge wasn't too bad! One more star for that!
I've written a review for Fung Wah, which, as I mentioned there, I've taken pretty much every weekend since the summer (July). I've been thinking of taking Lucky Star, but I have to take another bus at South Station to get to my final destination and I was afraid of having a bad experience with Lucky Star and ending up missing the other bus. Anyway, one day I decided to try Lucky Star, but noticed that they jacked their price to $20, so I walked back to Fung Wah. Well, a few weeks later, I guess they noticed that no one liked the $20 fare, so they lowered it back to $15.
I decided to take it this past weekend and I have to say that so far I'm liking it. As someone previously mentioned, they're not as crowded as Fung Wah. I think FW has a choice spot near Canal and Bowery; they have a big sign and a the buses are visible from anywhere in that intersection. I think that may the reason why Fung Wah might be so popular. Lucky Star's located on Chrystie, kinda around the corner and behind it on a somewhat quieter street. Anyway, I like it for that reason. Probably not that good for business, but I like it because the buses aren't as crowded as FW.
The drivers seem to be better drivers than the FW drivers (I've only had two so far, but I've had a better experience here than with FW, so I'll probably be using Lucky Star more often). They don't step on the gas and then break abruptly (I hate that stop and go crap) and seem to be able to stay in lane.
The employees at Lucky Star seem to be nicer here. Neither company has a very large staff. Because FW is more popular, it probably gets hectic herding people this way and that, or checking tickets and stuff. I wouldn't say they're mean or rude or anything. I just think that at Lucky Star, they're just really nice. I suppose there's less pressure on them, though, being the less popular bus service.
Anyway, I'll update this again after a few more trips if I have anything else to add.
Update - 03/04/08 - I've taken Lucky Star a few more times with one trip with FW. Lucky Star has buses that leave every half hour, but only on certain days and at certain times (they said at the times when they're busy; the dude said at like 5:30 or 6:30, but I don't think that's every day). FW start their buses that leave every half hour earlier in the day, and I think they do this on the weekends. I needed to leave at 10:30 to catch my bus at South Station, so I walked to FW. Anyway, I've been pretty happy with Lucky Star so far. One thing I have to appreciate from FW is that they allow you to use your ticket for a later bus (I think they said it can only be used within a 3 hour timeframe), whereas Lucky Star does not. It can only be used for that scheduled bus. That's pretty much all I had to say so far. Other than that, I think I like LS better.
Update - 05/08/08 - I'm not really sure what the other more recent reviews were talking about with the buffet -- since I've been taking LS, we've stopped at a Roy Rogers once on one of my first few trips and then it was BK after that (I heard the driver say to the guys at BK that they're not going to RR anymore). So between the fall and my review, they stopped going to the Chinese buffet.
I'd like to take advantage of Lucky Star's online deals, but their policy is you can't use the ticket for any other departure, and sometimes I arrive too late and miss the bus I meant to take.
Update - 05/18/2008 - I've actually started leaving my house earlier when catching a bus to Boston so I'm not late for my intended departure, and having a set time to go back home, so I've been buying my tickets online. It's awesome. $15 one way already beats Peter Pan or Greyhound, but $5 and $8 tickets with Lucky Star = teh pwnage. They advertise that they also have $1 tickets (someone wrote a review about being lucky enough to get $1 tickets each way), but I haven't seen them yet. Also, there's a $.50 service fee for purchasing your ticket online, but still, that's uber cheap.
Anyway, so far, so good. No complaints from me.
My trips to NYC were never planned out, I would just wake up one morning and say: Fuck Boston and pack up a bag and go visit the homies in Harlem.
*Shout outs to my Asian homiez Pooty Tang, Tu, and Poosey Kao*
$15 each way, on a adventure with a super fast driver, so what if he didn't speak English, the Lucky Star Bus drivers always got us there fast within 4 hours. BAM yer in Nu York, smack in Chi.town right off the subway.
My only advice:
BEWARE OF THE CHINESE BUFFET IN CONNECTICUT, I was sick for 4 days after that awful rest stop!
You don't take a $15 bus from New York to Boston because you're rolling in dough. Let's face it, the primary advantage to this bus is that it is DIRT CHEAP compared to all other options (Greyhound, Amtrak, Jet Blue, car rentals). Otherwise, what does Lucky Star have going for it? It is indistinguishable from Fung Wah, except Fung Wah stops at a McDonald's and Lucky Star stops at a random Chinese food buffet in a strip mall. Same overly fast, erratic driving, mixed bag of co-passengers, and always longer than you expected trip. FIVE HOURS is too long to spend on a bus.
But I'm positive I'll end up on it again. Curse you, graduate school.
Another $15 New York to Boston bus line. Lucky Star doesn't have the history of disaster like Fung Wah does, so I really can't give them more than three stars. Because they're boring.
The few times I've taken Lucky Star there were no incidents or anything, but it was no better/worse than Fung Wah. They stopped at the infamous Oriental Buffet in Middle of Nowhere, CT. The trick is to haul ass out of the bus and walk down to the supermarket on the other side of the shopping plaza. You can buy a sandwich at the deli and enjoy your roast beef while other people attempt to guess what they are eating from the buffet. If your fear is needing to use the restroom during the 15-minute break, do what I do - don't drink anything the entire time! It works wonders.
Anyways, back to the point. Why I gave them 1 star was that the last time I tried to take them, I bought my ticket on their website - I was heading down to NY from Boston to see friends play in Brooklyn and had to work until 6 (on a Saturday). I had bought a ticket for the 7pm bus so I got to South Station at 6:45 and when I got there, the Lucky Star area was almost empty. "Wow!" I thought, "I may be on a bus where I get 2 seats all to myself!" I handed my ticket confirmation to the girls at the podium/kiosk/etc and they said "We don't have a 7 o'clock bus on Saturday - you can take the next bus which is at 9" ai;sewutga'4UIEG TYOGFJHAKJFDGN! NO!!!!!!! I was like, "So your website sold me a ticket for a non-existent bus?" and they said, "well you can take the 9 o'clock." I looked to my left - it was 6:55 by this point - the ladies at the Fung Wah desk were smiling at me, they waved me over, I handed over $15 and was on my way to NY at 7pm.
Cheap option to get to Boston, $15 each way. Should take about 4 hours or so, depending on the traffic. The operators do speak that much English, so take that into consideration.
There is a Chinese food restaurant rest stop, the food looks pretty normal, but I don't eat it, they have decent restrooms, private stall, and cleaned well. 3 Flushes
Typical bus restrooms, some are cleaner than other, it depends on the bus. Beware of the traffic patterns before you go! 2 Flushes.
Gets the job done. I was weary of exploding buses but everything went smoothly. I took this from Boston and it wasn't bad. I think the Chinatown buses tend to attract the screaming babies and pungent food smells which is why I prefer Bolt Bus. But this is a good bus because it has so many time options and is cheap. I paid $15 and that was peak July 4th weekend fare. It stopped at the BK/McDonalds on the way back which was nice. I thought we were going to stop at the Chinese buffet which I was Yelp-warned about but luckily we did not. Boston South Station was a zoo as well as the corner we were dropped off in NYC. But I got home safe and sound and will continue to take Lucky Star if Bolt Bus is unavailable.
For 30 bucks roundtrip, you get very good and reliable service, well at least for me when I ever go to Boston from NYC. The buses are relatively clean but don't use the toilet on the bus unless you really have to. You even get a discount on Chinese buffet at a buffet place at the midway point of your trip. I'm not sure if that's a good thing. Overall I recommend them over the other Chinatown buses that offer cheap fare to Boston.
$15. And the bus didn't hit anything, flip, or catch on fire. It seemed clean enough, was half empty and stayed almost completely quiet leaving you to ponder whatever you want on an endurance five hour bus ride. It stopped at a Chinese buffet on the way. The only problem was that the seats were ridiculously uncomfortable, as if an obsessed engineer had put in night after night of grueling design work to make sure it was absolutely impossible to relax against the seat.
When it comes to the Chinatown-Chinatown bus lines, Lucky Star is my choice. Sure, it's basically the same uncomfortable weird dirt cheap ride as Fung Wah, and it even stops at the same weird random Roy Rogers in Connecticut (I swear I've only ever been to Roy Rogers when stuck on some long bus trip). But Lucky Star is less well known, and thus less likely to be crowded. Also, the likelihood of being stuck listening to weird radio or Chinese opera for four hours seems slightly less.
Its website extols a fleet of "luxury motor coaches" from a "state of the art maintenance facility." At the same price as Fung Wah, I interpreted this to be a small step up in terms of cleanliness/comfort. Not so. The door to the dirty bathroom was held together with a bungee cord precariously attached to the seat in front. The driver was non-communicative, blasted the heat until someone asked him to turn it down and kept off reading lights until someone asked him to turn them on. On our way, the Bolt Bus passed. I knew then what I was taking for my trip back.
I seriously love Lucky Star. I'm not kidding. They get you where you need to be in good timing and make one rest stop. It's never really that crowded, people leave you alone and the stop in NYC is conveniently a block away from the subway. $15 - cheaper than Greyhound and Amtrak. Also, unlike Fung Wah.. Lucky Star has never blown up or went off a bridge.
Oh man. I have taken both Lucky Star and Fung Wah buses many times, and recently tended to chose the former over the latter, what with their many recent disasters. I thought I was doing OK, since Lucky Star hadn't crashed into a bank and most of the drivers seemed to speak English. Boy, was I wrong. Last night's trip back to New York from Boston was a nightmare. The driver was going at least 80 miles an hour the whole way, which I am sure of because I timed him between mile markers. Also he found it necessary to swerve all over the road, hitting the rumble strip many times, and throwing us all over the bus, as well as nearly hitting MANY other cars. I was praying for a cop to pull us over. And, my worst fears were confirmed when we finally got to New York- I got off the bus and collected my belongings, and heard someone else ask the driver "which way is Canal street?" He looked at her, dumbfounded. She asked again, and he tried to reply in Chinese, but the poor girl did not speak Chinese and just walked away. This makes me fairly certain that he did not speak a lick of English, which is dangerous at best for someone driving a bus full of people! Never ever again will I be on this bus.
