When I’m in Philadelphia, I often spend weekends with friends in Washington, DC. While I would prefer to fly or take Amtrak, bus travel is so inexpensive that I usually opt for that.
Up until a few months ago, my only bus option was New Century Travel, a Chinatown bus service that offered r/t tickets from Philadelphia’s to Chinatown to Washington’s Gallery Place/Chinatown for $15 o/w or $28 r/t. Although the price was right, legroom was extremely tight, the overhead reading lights rarely worked, and there were no electrical outlets.
Enter Megabus, now offering service between Philadelphia and Washington. At $13 o/w ($26 r/t + a $0.50 booking fee [but even cheaper if you buy in advance]), not only is the price more reasonable, but legroom is better, each seat has an electrical outlet, and WiFi is free. I type this as we are rolling past Baltimore.
Busses get a bad rap in America. Please don’t rule them out, especially Megabus, if you are traveling in the Northeast corridor or along any other routes they serve.
Next stop: Park Hyatt Washington.
Megabus to Park Hyatt. I would guess you are the only one in that situation, haha.
Do you get a voucher if the light doesn’t work???
@BTA: Probably so!
@John: LOL. Maybe a fortune cookie…
You’ve go to be careful with MegaBus. I always arrive early when I take MegaBus from Was to Nyc because they have a tendency to oversell that route and put oversold customers on a backup coach with no power or wifi on a first come first serve basis. One 4 and a half hour trip on “MegaBus” with no Wifi or power or movie left me very wary of the brand, which I now only take as a last resort.
@Sean: I type this as I’m approaching Philadelphia on my return trip on MegaBus. I’ve had open seats next to me going and coming. I suspect that the busses will fill up more as this new route gains in popularity. I didn’t know they overbooked, though.
I also didn’t know they showed movies!? Nothing on my trips.
The way I look at it, my only alternative in Philadelphia is New Century Travel and even without power or WiFi, at least the legroom and price is better on MegBus.
I should add to my post that the pickup location in Philadelphia, at 30th Street Station, is much more convenient than having to trek to Chinatown in the bustle of Center City. Another plus for MegaBus.
best