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Megabus
Rating Details »
Category: Transportation [Edit]
Neighborhood: University City30th St & Market
Philadelphia, PA 19176
(800) 340-6434
32 reviews for Megabus
I have had slightly better luck with BoltBus than MegaBus. I feel the problems I witnessed on my MegaBus ride could be solved with just a few adjustments:
1) No Old City stop - this double-decker bus is just too ungainly to navigate one-way streets for the sake having two Philly stops. Not necessary.
2) At the "baggage claim", don't grab every damn bag and ask "whose is this?" That's really inefficient. Why the driver thought that was the way to go is beyond me. He must have heard passengers yelling, "that big one you skipped was mine/you're actually sitting on mine/hurry up" Either put all the luggage out on the curb or just let people fetch it from the bus themselves.
3) Have clearly marked lines for the various destinations. The Penn Station departure point is like the fall of Saigon. A few signs would do the trick.
4) Keep your passengers in the loop. If you stop to fix something, tell them why you're stopping and how long you estimate it will take.
5) Assigned seating
My three experiences with Megabus:
1. Freezing cold and everyone under blankets and pulling out clothing from their bags as the AC is broken and flooding the bus. But bus was somewhat on time and the journey was overall fine.
2. Bus breaks down 15 minutes from Philadelphia. Incompetent bus driver does not explain anything to anyone over the 2 hours we are stuck by the side of the road. The bus does not have the required spare tire so we had to wait for another Megabus to make the trip from New York and pick us up (although again, the bus driver didn't tell us that this would be the case). Numerous passengers had people pick them up at the side of the road to finish the journey. Wrote a letter to Megabus hoping for at least an apology, but no response of any kind. Oh and none of the outlets worked on the bus so after 4.5 hours and no way to charge a cell phone I was pretty much screwed.
3. Did not ride the bus this time, but went to drop a friend off for her bus. The bus arrived an hour and fifteen minutes late and left approximately 20 people out in the rain with no word.
Basically, if you can take Bolt Bus you should and if you have the funds you should take Amtrak or even fly. I will keep Megabus on my list of cheap travel options when in a pinch but I think I have officially given up on the quality of this line.
I had no major problems with the MegaBus. I used it because BoltBus departures at the times I wanted were sold out.
The bus arrived and departed reasonably timely, within ten minutes of the scheduled time. It was clean and comfortable. The wireless network worked. The bathroom was sufficiently pleasant that my five-year-old had no complaints about it, which is mighty pleasant indeed.
My only serious complaint is that the electric outlets in my part of one bus did not work.
The MegaBus pickup and dropoff points in Philadelphia provide more shelter from sun and rain than do the BoltBus pickup and dropoff points. Unlike BoltBus, MegaBus makes a stop in Old City, which may be more convenient for many people than the 30th Street stops.
Megabus and Susan G. A love story.
Once upon a time there was a woman...who always overpaid for bus travel. Then on her last bus trip to a far away land called Beantown, she again settled for riding on a very expensive, very dirty doggy. On this doggy were many other patrons over paying for a ride. One of those patrons was a creepy troll woman...who kept putting her feet into Susan G's personal space. The doggy also looked and smelled like no one had washed it in it's lifetime! It was a nightmare.
Then suddenly Susan G's fairy god-friend Kimberly P. suggest that she ride Megabus back to her home town of meanieadelphia.
So Susan G...purchased tickets from megabus...and it was 10bucks for the trip, (the mean old dirty dog charged her 60bucks!) AND the Megabus offered free wifi!
Her ride home was nothing short of magical! She barely noticed the 6 hour trip because she could work and play along the ride, in a clean and comfortable environment.
And then she lived less grumpily ever after.
:)
Nice, clean buses (double decker a plus!). But the wi-fi doesn't work, they blast the AC, and the zoo of a boarding process is NOT cool.
I fully appreciate Bolt Bus' numbered boarding process (a la Southwest Airlines); MegaBus severely lacks organization. Plus, they started blasting the AC with 30 minutes left in the trip, so everyone (on the top level, at least) was FREEZING. I had a fleece jacket on, and I couldn't go back to sleep because I was literally shivering.
It was a decent ride, a few steps below Bolt Bus, but worlds apart from the ghetto Chinatown bus.
Why do I give megabus 1 star? The buses are nice; double decker, clean, apparently new...
However I waited 25 minutes for a late bus at 2:40 in the morning. Standing on the street wondering if your ride is coming in a city you are unfamiliar with is not a good feeling. Especially since the bus stop is off the main street (Market).
Then when the bus finally came (with a sigh of relief), he didn't even go to the bus stop... he stopped on 30th St. and honked his horn to flag us down. He made me walk to him to get on the bus. What the flying F. Then when I got on the bus, it was full of people (though not completely full) and I had to scramble around the dark to find a seat. You can at least turn on the lights for me. Damnit.
I'm taking bolt bus from now on. Megabus was my only choice so late at night, which is why I took it.
When 20 minutes passed by waiting, I called the megabus phone number, but of course they were closed since it was the middle of the night.
The reviews about Megabus' schedule problems are spot on: my scheduled 4:45pm bus from Philadelphia (30th & Market) to NY left 2h50m late due to a broken luggage door lock. My luggage travelled on another bus too. If you have a schedule to keep, don't rely on Megabus. There were no alerts on the web site either.
DO NOT take megabus ever! You risk a 25-75 chance of getting either 5-star or 1-star service. First time I took Philly to NYC no problems. The second time from Philly to NYC, the bus driver got lost and we got to NYC 3 hours later and I missed my next bus on megabus from NYC to Boston. Third time was same problem.
I was suppose to depart Philly to NYC at 9PM depart and arrive 11PM just enough time to catch another megabus from NYC to Boston trip (11:30PM depart).
In Philly the bus arrived 15 min late but then the driver spent more than 30 min arguing with a customer who just got off the bus and lost her bags. The bus driver was rude and allowed this one disgruntled lady to hold up 50 other people on the bus. I called customer service and had to wait at least 15 min to finally speak to a real person after having had to hang up and call the number for the northeast service, which is in NJ. Lady was NOT helpful and told me to call back in half and hour and she will find out. Told me I did not give myself enough time to catch the next bus. Why do they schedule the bus to leave at 9pm if they do not leave until 10 pm or why do they schedule the arrival for 11pm if they will not arrive at 11. I argued with the lady and told her that megabus should not publish on their website the departure and arrival times if they will not follow the schedules, what's the fucking point. And I asked her for a refund since I will miss my Boston bus because of MEGABUS's untimely service, not my own mistake. Lady would not budge and did not care and from the sound of it this sort of thing happens all the time.
I hate megabus! The fact that they do not even give you a refund for their poor service and mistakes...this is the worst type of customer service I've ever encountered.
Because I've missed the the 1130 PM I had to pay an additionally $23 bucks to take greyhound and have completely lost the $13 paid to Megabus. It's not much but it's the poor quality service and my time they have wasted.
As for the drivers and customer service reps: in these economic times people who can't do their job should be fired and replaced! There are plenty of people who will take the job and do it right!
So iff you have to be someplace important and on time DO NOT take Megabus. I wish I had read the reviews prior to booking-I will never book Megabus and will follow the recs for Bolt bus from now on. Boycott this bus.
This 5-star review is solely for the bus ride THERE (to NYC, from 30th St. in Philly). The bus ride back is another story, maybe a 2-3 star story...but I'll get to that.
The bus there was a double-decker and probably 10 times cleaner than anything I've ridden on SEPTA. Free WiFi, comfy seats, and we only shared the bus ride with one other passenger (and the speed-demon driver who got us there in under 2 hours). I felt like I was on a roller-coaster sitting in the front seat, on the top row-- or it at least brought back memories of being on those horrifyingly fun double-deckers in London.
I bought my tickets over a month in advance, because I knew when I was going to go. It was a dollar, and 50 cents for the fee. I was sure there'd be some scam and I'd never get to New York, but nope, everything was fine. Which led my boyfriend and I to wonder how this company stays in business...and we decided it has to be drug trafficking (kidding, Megabus, kidding).
The ride back picked me up from some inconvenient and annoying location in New York that required a long subway ride including a transfer from Penn station. And, that bus was cramped and smelled like cat urine. But for a dollar I can't complain too much.
They've dropped from 4-stars, to 3-stars and now to 2-stars.
Boo Megabus!
Why? Last night I booked myself on their 9:45pm bus from NYC's Penn Station to Philadelphia's 30th St. Station. At this point, I've been doing this commute for weeks. Usually, I choose BoltBus because they're simply better.
Now BoltBus is sold out almost all the time during peak hours. Because everyone KNOWS they're better, I was forced to book on MegaBus if I wanted to get back that night. So, even though MegaBus was over 30 minutes late one time I took them before, I took a chance. I needed to get to Philadelphia on time because there was one more train heading out to the suburbs from 30th Street Station.
When the bus wasn't on time, I called. The women I spoke to knew nothing and couldn't look anything up (or didn't bother to). What she told me instead was it was probably just 5 minutes late, so wait. Um, okay, but the last time that happened the damn bus wasn't just five or ten minutes late. It was "miss the train" late. However, that time it was early enough in the day where I could just hang for an hour or so and wait for the next train. It sucks but waiting happens.
This time, however, there wasn't another train.
I explained to her that my options were 1) leave and just ask a friend if I could crash another night (possible but a pain in the ass because I'd packed and dragged my bag via subway from NYU to Penn Station), 2) I'd have to call my friend in Philly to ask if she could drive 40 minutes from the suburbs to pick me up, or 3) I'd be sleeping in the station until the first morning train. Crap options all around. However, the woman on the phone couldn't find out how long it would be. She couldn't help me, so I said a fake "thank you" and hung up.
Finally, one of the men that are there to check reservation numbers and load bags said the Philly bus was going to be 30 minutes late. This was after the 9:45. According to my phone log I called Megabus at 10:03. So the bus was already 15 minutes late and we had to wait 30 more. I called again and asked for a refund explaining that this wasn't the first time Megabus had been late.
I also stressed that this (and the lack of plugs on some Megabuses) is just bus line I don't bother with if I can avoid it. This only locked it down. The customer service rep took my info, but a day later I've heard nothing from them. It seems like they did contact the driver. Instead of stopping downtown first, she stopped at 30th Street first. However, en route I remembered that 30th St has three ZipCars. Zipcar has a nighttime discount fee of $34.00 for the night, so I just sucked it up, and made a reservation. It was either that or sleeping overnight in the station...um, no thanks. The bus driver didn't make an announcement that she was alerting the route. So little good them switching did me because they didn't bother to tell me.
Oh, BTW, I will be calling my credit card company and stopping payment on that charge if they don't contact me for a refund. It's either that or they pay me for the ZipCar rental.
Clearly, Megabus needs to loosen up the schedule. They're on the same schedule as BoltBus, but BoltBuses don't go into downtown Philly. They stop at Cherry Hill and that's on the way to NYC. That's at least part of the problem. They're doomed to run late because they're not giving their drivers enough time to get from point A to point B. The buses are nice, clean and actually you get more space because they run double decker buses. But I can't rely on them to be on-time, so I'll pass. Unfortunately, they'll continue to be my backup because the alternative is an expensive Amtrak train, but I won't be happy about it. Then again, I might just throw all caution to the wind and start experimenting with the Chinatown buses. I took one once for $3 and it was clean, on-time and had wifi too.
2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
I would not use the words "Megabus" and "AMAZING" in the same sentence, unless the sentence were to be "the time we drank a bottle of champagne on the top floor of the Megabus between NYC and Hartford was AMAZING." That bus ride was awesome, but that's because we were awesome...the bus itself was a half hour late.
That half hour late was not nearly as bad as the hour and a half I waited on a sidewalk in Hartford, CT for the bus to even SHOW UP. There were only a handful of passengers, since the bus swings through Hartford on its Boston to NYC route. A few of us called them. For the first hour that the bus was MIA (and not in a badass Sri Lankan rapper way), the Megabus people told us that there were "no reported delays. The bus should arrive soon." THANKS. A LOT. Finally, they said they were able to contact the driver (shouldn't this be easier?) and were able to give us a timeframe to expect the bus's arrival.
Whatever. I've also taken them between NYC and Philly. The buses themselves are kept really clean. Free wifi. Plenty of space. They're just so disorganized and perpetually late.
If you're taking a trip somewhere that would be conducive to some shenanigans on the way there, I'd suggest Megabus solely for the upper level where nobody is going to hassle you for mixing cocktails and you aren't really being monitored by any of their employees.
For all other purposes, take Boltbus, for the love of all that is good. They're so much more efficient and trustworthy.
sometimes megabus is on time. sometimes it's not. a lot of times it's not, actually. unfortunately too many people are catching onto the fact that bolt bus is better, and bolt gets booked faster. plus, ever since megabus merged with a chinatown bus company, sometimes you get stuck with a crap chinatown bus instead of a nice new clean megabus. however if you book a week in advance for a weekday, it's sometimes a dollar. that's nice. real nice. especially since i go to NYC several times a month.
in conclusion - megabus used to be good. now it's not. i wish i knew why. but...i mean...wait. mega is great. take it! bolt bus sucks!
WOW!
I LOVED THIS!
I took the bus from NY to Philly...and later in the month I'll be going Philly to NY and back...but, with my initial expectations revolving somewhere around my experience with the Chinatown Bus (boo), I was more than pleasantly surprised!!
I had some issues with the loading of my confirmation initially..but the personnel were very quick to respond and send me my confirmation via e-mail.
And the bus was a double decker! Very clean. Also - when I took the late night bus (which only cost me $1!), there were only about 10 people aboard. Typically they have a 1 bag/person policy as there is not storage beyond underneath the seats, but with that few people, it wasn't an issue at all. I'm not sure how crowded the daytime buses are.
Later this month a friend and I are going to New York and back - for both of us round trip it cost $10! You can't beat that. For serious.
The first time I took Megabus from Philadelphia to New York, it was fabulous, both directions. A five star experience. It's been downhill since then. The ride itself is always fine-- the bus is clean, air conditioned, there's free wifi, the bathroom is useable. All good. So what's the problem? The second time, the bus was an hour late. Actually, I bailed after an hour and took a very expensive AMTRAK train because I was meeting people and had to get to NY. The third time, the bus was also an hour late. They had re-scheduled and never told the passengers. On the return trip, I called to confirm and found out that the bus from NYC had a) been re-scheduled and b) they'd moved the stop from way downtown to Penn Station. Good thing I called. Next time, I try Bolt.
over an hour late. freezing in a storm. when i called to find out the status (if i knew it was going to be a while, i could find shelter). no answer. wtf? how can that be? i was wet and frozen by the time it got there. we see it. get excited. then we have to wait for everyone to get off and get their belongings. still freezing. getting wetter. get on. have to sit up top. the heat wasnt on. all of us, cold, wet, annoyed. now an hour and 15 behind sched.
what is the point of having a schedule if you are not going to be on said schedule. i see this is a running theme. the ONLY reason i took megabus was because bolt bus was booked. and they run almost every 45 minutes. BIG RED FLAG that megabus is failing at their job.
if you cant make the scheduled time, have someone answer the phone so we can get an idea of the wait. no one wants to wait outside in inclement weather. only to sit on a cold bus for 2 hours.
there are many places in the area to get out of the cold. grab a coffee or a cocktail. but being paranoid of missing your ride makes you stand there like an idiot. boooooooooooooo megabus.
the 2 stars are for the driver. he was super sweet.
Philadelphia to New York in 21/2 -3 hours at $20 or under! I love the double-decker feature, especially if I get to sit in the front row. Website is easy to work, but the no cancellation or change option (within 24 hours) is a little annoying, considering the bus isn't full during the week.
FINDING the bus is the only problem. There isn't good signage anywhere and vague descriptions on the ticket print out. Make sure you write down where the bus drops off and picks up before you leave or else you'll have to wait to see where the bus is driving to park and run after it.
I will definitely choose Megabus over Greyhound any day.
SLOW SLOW SLOW
SUCK SUCK SUCK
I don't want to be harsh, but I feel it's necessary after just getting back from the worst trip of my life.
My 10:30 scheduled Megabus left at 11 AM from Boston. It arrived in New York at 7:30 PM, as opposed to the 2:50 PM scheduled arrival. Needless to say, I missed my 3:45 scheduled bus to Philly. The next bus wasn't scheduled to come until 9, but it didn't get there for about another hour or so later, but it was too full, so had to wait until the second bus to come around 10:40.
It was cold, rainy, and not fun.
I am now back safely in my dorm at 2 in the morning!!
You can blame the delays on the holidays and the traffic all you want, but tell me why my sister leaves from Boston, via Chinatown bus, around noon and gets to New York before I do!?
And even if Megabus can't control the delays, those who were put through the tortures of arriving late should get 1st preference for the next bus.
But nope, we're sent to the end of the line. BOOO
I wish I could write a more coherent review right now, but I'm exhausted after like 20 freakin' hours of unnecessary travel.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/27/2008
I prefer Bolt Bus over Mega, but my experience with Mega so far hasn't been too bad. Though it is… Read more »
I have one word for Megabus - IMPRESSIVE!
I traveled from NY to Boston on a 1PM Thursday ride; left on time and got to Boston 7 minutes early.
From Boston, the bus was a half hour late but they explained why (driver had an emergency), quickly boarded us, and we got to NY only 10 minutes late.
The total cost of the two rides was $2.50 for booking in advance and it was worth every penny.
Buying a ticket on the spot will cost you $16 which is the max. I did this when I continued my trip from NY to Philly; left on time and got there on time.
The wifi didn't work on the way to NY, but it did work on my ride to Philly. I guess its a hit or miss. The drivers were really nice and the bus was clean & quiet.
What more can you ask for?
I was really impressed with this transpo.
My sisters and I took Megabus from Philly to NY.
The ride was about 2 hours. We took the ride on a weekday/early morning so we were kinda stuck in traffic for a few minutes when we got to NY. But, not bad.
My sister, who lives in Philly paid for the trip. And from what I was told that it was less than $10 per person...I believe around $7?
Pretty good deal for having free wi-fi, clean/neat bus, double decker and great service.
We were dropped off in the middle of the Garment District, right smack front of F.I.T. (Fashion Institute of Technology).
It would have been 5 stars, but according to my sister the Bolt Bus (rival company?/ will review later) not only has free wi-fi but also a built-in plug (to charge your ipods/laptops/cell).
My Megabus journey to Boston and back was unmemorable. God, you don't know how great it feels to say that. I have HAD it with eventful East Coast travel. In the past five years I've been in two Greyhound accidents, gotten slammed with unexpectedly doubled "peak fares" on Amtrak a bunch of times, been stranded on a street corner at night by an oversold Coach 2000 (Chinatown) bus...
Megabus was smooth though. I looked at the map on their website which showed exactly where to get on the bus (you're already on the site buying tickets, people, just read a little further), showed up on time, and away I went. I didn't have to worry that I wouldn't get a seat. The bus itself was comfortable enough, cushier than Greyhound, pretty clean. I bought my tickets about six weeks in advance (for Labor Day weekend, which I knew would be crowded), and each leg of the journey ended up being a different price. All told, it cost $42 round trip to Boston--excellent when you consider on Amtrak it would have been anywhere from $160 to $366. The bus stop in New York is right in front of Madison Square Garden (aka on top of Penn Station NYC), which literally could not be more convenient. The stop in Boston is at South Station; again, the major transit hub for the whole city.
With all those benefits, it seems mean-spirited to even mention that the wifi didn't work, there was no movie, and that the seats didn't have power outlets. For heaven's sakes, you couldn't even *drive* to Boston and back for $42, given the current price of gas! I'm not going to be an ingrate about not being able to charge my phone, jeez.
Couple of tips: check out the map to make sure you know exactly where to get the bus. It leaves really, truly, precisely on time--this isn't Septa, folks, so be there a full 15 minutes before you think you need to be. And try and avoid sitting in the far back, not only because of the bathroom facilities (adequate and not too scary), but because it's a rear-engine vehicle and the back is noisy.
As far as bus transportation from Philly to NYC goes, Megabus is a top notch way to travel (Thanks for the tip Kirk)! There are two convenient stops in Philly - 30th Street Station & Independence Mall. Most of the buses are double-deckers and the buses run hourly (for the most part). The buses are clean, the drivers friendly, and the ride convenient! Oh did I mention the price?! It's anywhere from $11 - 20 round trip to NYC!
My review would be simply "AARGHHHHH", but I realize that isn't terribly helpful. Let's just say this is one of those cases in which it seems like a supreme injustice that it's not possible to give a business zero stars.
My nightmare experience was riding Megabus to NYC from Phila/30th St. The 1:30 bus departed an hour and a half late, arrived more than two hours late to our destination. Repeated calls to Megabus customer service line while waiting for the bus to arrive yielded nothing helpful--as I watched at last two Bolt buses depart from a spot a few blocks away. I was informed that Megabus doesn't even register a bus as late until it's at least a half-hour behind schedule. And once they did concede that the bus was in fact late, they really didn't seem too concerned about it.
I won't go into the many repercussions that the delay had on my personal life, but I'll say that I will NEVER be riding Megabus again.
I just had an experience with them on Friday. All my paperwork said 2980 Market st. Which didn't seem valid. After waiting about 10 minutes, I called the customer service line who confirmed the bus will be at 30th and Market within 15 mins or so.
Kept waiting, other people were starting to join me in the wait. We see a megabus go by and not stop.
So I called customer service again who again told me 30th and Market. I asked if there was anyone in Philly I could talk to. She connected me to an office in Jersey. The rep there very rudely told me the stop is at 29th and JFK!
She told me the bus had already left and I wasn't supposed to be where I was and they will put me on the next bus...at 7:15 pm.. It was 1:30 pm when I called.
I just went off on her when she told me she could give me a credit. Everyone I spoke with besides her said 30th and Market. Sorry but there's a huge ass TRAIN STATION in the way and I magically can't see a Mega Bus sign a block and a half away..
She ended up refunding my $$ but now I was stuck without a ride. Another passenger and I decided to just say eff it and take the train. I left Philly @ 2:11 and got to Hoboken @ 6:3!!!!
On my way back Sunday, I decided I couldn't go through all the trains again, I would hang myself, I took Amtrack, which is really nice and REALLY pricey but the whole trip was 53 minutes..
So that's my experience with Mega Bus. Eff them and they rude ass customer service!!!
I took the megabus a couple of months ago to go to the comic book convention in New York. The ride was extremely pleasant and we were lucky enough to have a bus with Wi-Fi! I think I will take regular trips to New York using them! Better than driving myself! the drivers were nice, bus was clean!
Hurray for Megabus!
The bus was a little bit late, maybe 5 minutes. And we got held up because a few people argued with the driver because they didn't have their registration numbers and therefore couldn't board. DO NOT forget your number. Or you'll be riding the Chinatown bus.
The bus is pretty empty and everyone is spaced out. It's nice and cool and we're moving along smoothly. Oh, and I'm on the internet because they have free WiFi. I honestly didn't expect it to work, but here I am.
Alright, nap time. :D
As a regular traveler from NY-PHL (and back) for many years for both personal and work-related trips, I can now say that Megabus is my pick for the best option when weighing both speed & cost.
-Amtrak (the fastest and most dependable) will run $80-120 round trip and take anywhere from 1 hour to 1.5 hours depending on the train.
-NJ Transit/Septa runs about $40 round trip and takes 2.5-3 hours, including the transfer at Trenton (which is a pain and doesn't always work out to connect)
-Megabus typically costs $20 round trip (or as low as $2 round trip if you book way in advanced) and takes 2 hours.
I took a Friday 6:30am bus leaving Philly, which departed at 30th & JFK (right where the LUCY buses leave near the Septa Station across the street from 30th St. Station). They also pick up at 6th & Market. Since it was a super early bus, it wasn't crowded at all, we left on time, I fell asleep, and before I knew it, we were at Penn Station (31st & 8th ave) exactly on time at 8:30am.
Returning to Philly, I took at 7:45pm bus from Penn Station. It's definitely way more crowded and confusing at Penn Station since there are multiple Megabuses leaving around the same time but for different cities (DC, Baltimore, Boston). People tend to make their own lines, but the real line is behind the small Megabus sign closer to the corner of 8th Ave. I do wish they were a little more organized with the buses leaving outside Penn Station so you knew more easily what line is what, but the Megabus people are very nice and will direct you to the right line if you're not there already. The ride back was exactly 2 hours again and the driver was polite and helpful.
My only complaint from my trip was the constant chatter from a very talkative passenger (who happened to be on both my trips and could not stop talking) could be heard through the whole bus. But that is to no fault of Megabus.
Final thoughts...
I'll still take Amtrak when traveling for business since there aren't as many possible delays from traffic, but for personal trips, Megabus is my new way to go.
Leave it to the Brits to have a short, pudgy, button cheeked, yellow clad man as their icon for lowcost bus transit.
I just heard about this option from a friend. Luckily a few days before I had to go to NY last week.
You schedule online (Philly only runs to NY right now), record your registration number, get on the bus, and show it to the nice man. I found I didn't even have to print off a page on the way back. The rates vary, it's .50 cents to reserve online. I paid $6.50 to get to NY. Waited to see when I needed to return and paid $6.50 again.
The buses are very nice with WiFi (didn't have my computer so didn't search for outlets) On the trip there it only had 20 people. On the way back the whole bus was packed. There're bathrooms but I can not go for two hours so didn't use em.
It says two hours but definitely schedule longer. That Lincoln tunnel gets you every time. It got there in three. Two back to Philly.
Booked the 6:45pm bus from Philadelphia to NYC. The bus arrived an hour and 15 mins late. We watched while several Bolt buses came and left in a timely fashion. Save yourself the hassle and take Boltbus.
just take bolt, mega on the top floor is just evil
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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7/28/2009
If Bolt is booked take mega. However cough up the extra few bucks and take bolt. Mega just doesn't… Read more »
First time using megabus was last week. THE DRIVER NEVER SHOWED UP. Which is a shame, as previous to my experience, I'd heard great things. It toko another hour for a new driver to make it to the bus, by the time we left 30th st, we were nearly an hour and a half past ETD. Took us 4 hours to get to NYC instead of the usual 2, then the driver asked the bus if any of us knew where thd ropoff point was. Not sure if he was trying to be funny - if so, it fell flat. We'd been on the bus for nearly 6 hours at that point, nobody wanted to joke about how we couldn't get off of it.
The only thing saving this trip (and giving it 2 stars instead of 1) is that when I emailed my complaint to Megabus the net day, the promptly issued me a full refund. I can't argue with great customer service.
I'd probably give them another shot, if the price were right, but sometimes you just can't get over a terrible first impression.
I'm writing this review as I'm waiting on the phone to speak with a Customer Service Representative. I've been on hold for 25 minutes (so far). I might as well be efficient as I wait...
I recently took MegaBus for the first time on Sunday, 21 September--the 9pm bus from Manhattan to 6th and Market in Philadelphia. I had a pretty bad experience, and I don't believe I'll be taking the bus again anytime soon unless Bolt bus/Chinatown/Amtrak/any other form of transportation is unavailable or sold out (which is why I took MegaBus in the first place). My bus was 30 minutes late, and the reason for the tardiness became apparent shortly after our bus started moving... and started breaking down. We embarked on the trip back to Philadelphia almost an hour late from our scheduled departure time, and the bus started breaking down every 2-3 miles. We broke down inside of the Lincoln Tunnel twice (scary), and continued to do so until we reached the first exit onto the NJ Turnpike. Through the ordeal, the bus driver didn't make any announcement, no explanation, no communication at all until we were stopped at the first exit off of the NJ Turnpike.
Once at the rest stop, the driver didn't make any immediate announcements--which is fine--you don't want to misinform passengers, and I understand that. But when he did make an announcement, it was to tell us that Megabus was dispatching a mechanic, and we would be waiting at the stop until the mechanic came... absolutely unbelievable, and a completely inadequate strategy for dealing with their customer service failure. It actually took a customer calling the Megabus company for them to dispatch a new bus, which finally arrived close to 11 pm--the time that I should have just been arriving in Philly.
It was incredibly irresponsible on the part of the company to have passengers aboard a vehicle that was clearly having problems, and even more so that the bus driver made no mention and was completely incompetent in communicating with passengers and managing the situation. Follow-up customer service experience isn't looking so good, either. (I was on hold for FORTY minutes before actually reaching someone at the Customer Service Center.)
To be fair, the bus was clean, with spacious seats, and wifi (although I didn't use it). That said, it's also fair to say this was the worst bus experience I've ever had with a low-cost bus service, and I'll never take Megabus again.
Recently, I took Megabus to NYC on a Sunday morning and returned back to Philly on Monday evening. Unfortunately on the bus ride into NYC the air conditioning was broken, and it was 90 degrees that day. It was sooooo incredibly hot. Reading this you may wonder, why did I give this 5 stars? Well the bus driver handled the situation the best he could and we stopped at a rest area in NJ and switched to a cooler, air conditioned bus. Some of the passengers were really irritated by this because they had schedules to maintain, but I thought he handled the situation the best he could. If you are in that much of a hurry to get to NYC either take an earlier bus or the train... there are a million options leaving from Philly. My ride leaving NYC was on time and went well considering we left at rush hour. The bus was comfortable and it was nice sitting upstairs. It wasn't very crowded so everyone next to them had a seat free. The bathroom was also clean. I really enjoyed my Megabus experience and plan to use it again.
