Megabus or megabust?

I'm a little shaky on the details, but I think Megabus operates along the same lines as the low cost air carriers in Europe, like Ryanair or EasyJet, that offer .99 cent fares within specific time frames and on very limited seats, and then once those deals to lure people in are gone, they sell the remaining tickets at more normal prices. Megabus is a big company though – it started in the UK and operates across the US and bits of Canada. It's not anymore likely to kill you than your average Greyhound, I don't think!

I’m a little shaky on the details, but I think Megabus operates along the same lines as the low cost air carriers in Europe, like Ryanair or EasyJet, that offer .99 cent fares within specific time frames and on very limited seats, and then once those deals to lure people in are gone, they sell the remaining tickets at more normal prices. Megabus is a big company though – it started in the UK and operates across the US and bits of Canada. It’s not anymore likely to kill you than your average Greyhound, I don’t think!

Eva-

Thanks for the clarification! I visited Megabus’s website before I wrote this piece and you’re right–it seems that the advertised special is $1, but after playing around with itineraries for a good 30 minutes, I couldn’t find a single one that was lower than $14.99, right in line with the “Chinese” bus competitors. I also found their website frustratingly opaque to use. While the comapny IS established in the UK, it doesn’t have much information about the company or its history. It does, however, seem to have a better safety record than the Chinese buses, which have been under increasing scrutiny, at least in NYC, for numerous transportation and safety violations.

No experience personally, but an acquaintance of mine took one of these (I think it was Fung Wah) from NYC to Boston. Her bus got a flat and everyone on board had to sit for 2 hours on the side of the highway until the spare was ready to roll. Not necessarily a near-death experience, but certainly a pain.

Whatever the safety records of these lines, though, I bet ticket sales will continue to climb as long as gas prices remain high.

I have to admit that I am a sucker for a deal. And at $1 for a trip from DC to NYC, I'd feel like I just won the lotto! Thanks for sharing your experiences, Michelle!

You LITERALLY are risking your life ridign on these buses! Dont do it, its just not worth it! Ride with companies that actually INITIALLY, FORMERLY TRAIN all their drivers, whether they have previous experience or not, such as Peter Pan or Greyhound. Drivers for Peter Pan & Greyhound must meet all D.O.T. (Dept Of Transportation – a US Federal Agency) standards. I rode on of those cheap tickets buses from Baltimore to NYC one evening. The company was called Double Happiness (ironically). The short version of my experience was simply this: I rode on a dirty bus (keeping feeling something crawl up my leg – later had mosquito bites around my ankles) which left 50 minutes late. I sat in the very front (because I am a long time driver myself – I worked for both Greyhound & Peter Pan) and the driver talked his cell phone the entire trip, with his left leg up on the dashboard (absolute truth), could not maintain a lane (had the broken white line under the bus with other vehicles flashing their lights behind him, probably because they thought he was either sleepy or drunk), swerving, while speeding! DO NOT USE THESE CHEAP TICKET COMPANIES! Your life and your loved ones lives are not worth the risk!!

I recently rode on the megabus and it was a very simple enjoyable experience. I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

I took a Megabus yesterday going out of NYC to Amherst MA. I payed $21 for my ticket and I gotta say I was very very impressed with the service. I was riding at around 1AM so we went pretty fast and I actually got to my stop 20 mins ahead of schedule. The bus was a normal coach bus (non doudble-decker) and it was clean and comfy. Overall an A++ and I will definitely ride them more. As for safety, Ive ridden peter pan buses multiple times and I dont think one can say whether one was safer than the other.