Greyhound Bus trip.. Anyone have any experience?

[Penthesilea]

How much is this bus ride costing you? Flying is much more convenient and cant be that much more expensive

[TheTaru]

How much is this bus ride costing you? Flying is much more convenient and cant be that much more expensive

Greyhound is really cheap, Virginia -> New York City was like twenty dollars. Don't know how much it would cost for OP's trip, but I guarantee it'll be significantly cheaper than flying.

My grandfather met my grandmother when he sat next to her on a Greyhound bus, because she was the only one that wasn't black. Take that as you will.

[Melena]

My wife took it from Washington to Cali to visit me when we were dating. No real issues just long and boring. As others said bring music/book/video games and a pillow. Also make sure you have ones for the vending machines during your layover. Getting change is a bitch.

[Olo401]

I've used buses extensively over the past 10 years and here's some tips:

- If the trip is longer than a couple hours, BRING A GOOD FIRM LUMBAR CUSHION OR PILLOW WITH YOU. Your ass & lower back WILL be sore if you don't, especially if you're more than slightly overweight.

- The few experiences I've had with Greyhound have pissed me off. They have a habit of constantly overbooking trips, and unless there's a lotta people left to board they will bump you to the next scheduled trip. It could be an hour wait, it could be four hours, it could be overnight. Other carriers (like Peter Pan) do offer reserved seating for a minor extra charge.

- For the above reasons, take Amtrak or commuter rail whenever you can. The ride is MUCH smoother and there's plenty of room, plus you can get seating upgrades.

- No matter how you travel, the earlier you buy your ticket the less it will cost. Plan at least a month or two in advance.

[Silenka]

It's been a long time (~7 or more years) since I went to the greyhound stations in either city, but Cleveland's wasn't that awful. Columbus... I remember it being okay... but I keep hearing that now it's very bad. There are definitely some ghetto areas of Columbus so it's entirely possible that it's just awful.

[shamanelite]

Well according to the schedule on their website we dont go anywhere near columbus, any info on how accurate the schedules are? Is there usually any unscheduled or non listed stops? I'll have to make a train 3 hours after the supposed arrival so im hoping if I end up late its not too late to miss that train. Ive added +30 mins to each stop on the schedule and id be making it just in time for the train.

@Olo, its a semi emergency trip on very limited funds to help out a friend a few states away with some RL things. They'll be sending me some money for the ticket the day we plan on having me leave, there's no other choice sadly. Im hopeing that showing up about an hour and half before depart time I can get a spot and a ticket.

Edit: Atleast my friend is gonna let me borrow a DS for the trip.

[Mizango]

How much is this bus ride costing you? Flying is much more convenient and cant be that much more expensive

Back then Id go from NC to STL or STL to TX and never paid more than 70 bucks lol.

[shamanelite]

Could anyone tell me what size bag would fit in the overhead storage or under the seat? Im trying to take as little as possible and that is a full duffle bag. Id prefer to carry my stuff with me and not have to check it and have it put under the bus. Its maybe about 1 1/2 to 2" long and about 1' wide and tall.

[Gryffes]

Pillow + Jumper + book + music, sleep as much as you can.

After a bunch of travelling at weird hours across europe I just got into the habit of sleeping/snoozing on any journey> 30 mins anywhere.

[bungiefan]

Booked my GF a Greyhound trip a little over a year ago, to get her to Seattle to fly to Alaska. It was the worst trip she ever had. She had to change buses in Missouri and they wouldn't let her on the next one even with a valid ticket. They bumped her off in favor of someone with an open ticket, crammed 3 extra people in the bus entrance and aisle, and left her at the stop, taking her luggage with them and her not on the bus. The people they crowded in the steps and aisle were white, she's not, and they were behind her in line.

She was supposed to get to Seattle with 3 hours extra before her flight. They ended up geting her there two hours after boarding. Her flight went from Seattle to Portland to Anchorage, and I had enough warning to try to contact the airline. Delta wanted more money than the ticket originally cost just to cut the Seattle->Portland leg off the trip and let her board in Portland, where she would have been on time (like $400), when it would have freed up a seat on a plane they they could sell to someone else.

Greyhound refused to talk to me since my name wasn't on the ticket, and her calls kept dropping as she jumped towers on the bus. We have not had any compensation for it from Greyhound, and they refused to let her talk to a manager on the phone. She kept getting people that didn't speak English well, or would just bounce her to another grunt on the floor with no authority.

I ended up getting a buddy pass from a friend at Alaska Airlines, and got her from Seattle to Anchorage for ~$60, 10% of what a ticket would cost without the buddy pass. This was on top of the ticket she couldn't use because Greyhound made her late, and the cost of the Greyhound fare.

Don't go Greyhound, ever.

It was about $300 for her bus ticket from Charleston SC to Seattle WA, and about $350 for her plane ticket from Seattle to Anchorage. I'd not say they are cheap. I would have flown her all the way had I been warned of how Greyhound treats their customers, which is horribly.

[richardd]

advanced purchase from delray beach, FL to johnson city, TN is 89 bucks on Greyhound. kayak had the cheapest flight from Ft lauderdale to Tricities for $264. i think i might consider Greyhound. i zone out pretty easily, and music makes anything go by faster. Im not very spoiled when it comes to cramped places, but i hope they make plenty of stops for food that aren't expensive 10 star chef emerill type restaurants lol. i should research this more

[Djghost454]

AHAHAHA. Goddamn I love my city. Took 3 trips there via Greyhound, one of which was right after 9/11 (companies terrified of flying and liabilities at the time) and man niggas started fighting right at that KFC/Taco Bell across the street from the station lol. That place is too close to E. St louis, so you already know what time that is.

4 of the best years of my life loving there, but never ever once went back to that part of town lol.

I lived in St. Louis for 20 years. Still go back for the food, but thats about it. Most ghetto fucking city I've seen, and I've seen alot. The food is fucking amazing though, and yes, the greyhound station there is in a really fucking bad part.

[Shiroikage]

Watch your neck.

[The Stig]

It's fascinating reading this thread, kinda makes me scared of wanting to go to the US.

When you guys say ghetto, all I can think of is what the TV depicts as ghetto, so like that film "Coming to America" where they stay at Queens, do you guys mean that sort of ghetto?

[shamanelite]

It really depends on where you go, there will be ghetto's in every major city, but hopefully I dont go through anywhere that ghetoo. Leaving tonight /nervous ><

[AoE]

It's fascinating reading this thread, kinda makes me scared of wanting to go to the US.

When you guys say ghetto, all I can think of is what the TV depicts as ghetto, so like that film "Coming to America" where they stay at Queens, do you guys mean that sort of ghetto?

Maybe about 20 years ago but I can only speak for NY.

[archibaldcrane]

Booked my GF a Greyhound trip a little over a year ago..from Charleston SC to Seattle WA

you are a terrible fucking boyfriend

[Sonomaa]

advanced purchase from delray beach, FL to johnson city, TN is 89 bucks on Greyhound. kayak had the cheapest flight from Ft lauderdale to Tricities for $264. i think i might consider Greyhound. i zone out pretty easily, and music makes anything go by faster. Im not very spoiled when it comes to cramped places, but i hope they make plenty of stops for food that aren't expensive 10 star chef emerill type restaurants lol. i should research this more

check allegiant air, they fly from tri-cities to several places in FL, you can get a 30 dollar ticket more than often

[bungiefan]

you are a terrible fucking boyfriend

It wasn't my intent for it to turn out like that. Her parents moved from Alaska to SC and forced her to come with them. After 6 months of not being able to find a job (even McDonald's wasn't hiring within a 300 mile radius) some of her friends and I pooled funds to get her back, while her mother was out of town (ended up visiting Alaska). She voted for the bus option so she wouldn't risk running into her mother at the airport and getting beaten for leaving without consent, even though she was over 21. It was also a little bit cheaper than going by airplane.

I spent all my free time, even when I should have been sleeping, on the phone fighting them trying to get her situation resolved. They are a complete brick wall when it comes to customer service and support if you have a problem and don't have a lawyer to field against them.

[archibaldcrane]

It wasn't my intent for it to turn out like that.

You put your girlfriend on a 4-day bus trip because you were too cheap to scrounge up an extra $100 for airline fare.

I don't care if it went all hunkey-dorey, my point stands.